Distributing JavaFX Applications that use automodules
I have created a JavaFX application. It runs perfectly in my Intellij IDE. Now I want to distribute the application - i.e. I want to obtain an installer that users could download and then it would install the application for them.
I found a very interesting article about this here. This blog article basically describes what I want to achieve. There are two differences though:
I am using Maven and not Gradle
I have dependencies which use automodules such as iText7 and apache.commons.lang3
The usage of automodules is making things very complicated. There is a GitHub project called ModiTect (here) that has been written to solve these issues. I have no experience in using ModiTect though and even my Maven knowledge is barely existent (meaning: I don't really know what I am doing in the pom.xml).
What I am looking for is an explanation (step-by-step) as on how to integrate ModiTect (and if necessary jpackage) into my pom.xml in order to obtain an installer for my JavaFX application that uses automodules (and also a sqlite database, which shouldn't be a problem though).
Can somebody provide this explanation or refer me to a tutorial?
I provide a MWE at the end of this question. The MWE ist a TestApp. To illustrate the problem, run the application and press the "Print PDF" button. A pdf is created in resources --> pdf
The MWE will compile and run when executing javafx:run There will be an error related to the usage of automodules when executing javafx:jlink
I don't know how to fix this. ModiTect appears to be a promising addon. Another possible way can be found in this GitHub repo. But as I said before: My Maven knowledge is not sufficient to really grasp what is going on here. Any help would mean a lot to me!
MWE:
pom.xml:
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.company</groupId>
<artifactId>TestApp</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<properties>
<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
<maven.compiler.source>15</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>15</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
<artifactId>javafx-controls</artifactId>
<version>15.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
<artifactId>javafx-fxml</artifactId>
<version>15.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>de.jensd</groupId>
<artifactId>fontawesomefx-fontawesome</artifactId>
<version>4.7.0-9.1.2</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.xerial</groupId>
<artifactId>sqlite-jdbc</artifactId>
<version>3.34.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
<version>3.12.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>kernel</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>layout</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>io</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-jdk14</artifactId>
<version>1.7.30</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.8.0</version>
<configuration>
<release>15</release>
<source>15</source>
<target>15</target>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
<artifactId>javafx-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>0.0.5</version>
<configuration>
<mainClass>com.company.TestApp</mainClass>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</project>
module-info.java:
module com.company {
requires javafx.controls;
requires javafx.fxml;
requires java.sql;
requires org.apache.commons.lang3;
requires kernel;
requires layout;
requires io;
requires sqlite.jdbc;
requires javafx.graphics;
opens com.company to javafx.fxml;
opens com.company.controllers to javafx.fxml;
exports com.company;
exports com.company.controllers;
}
TestAppController.java:
package com.company.controllers;
import javafx.event.ActionEvent;
import javafx.fxml.FXML;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.control.TextArea;
import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.layout.element.Paragraph;
import com.itextpdf.layout.Document;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
public class TestAppController {
@FXML
private TextArea taText;
@FXML
private Button btnPrint;
public void handleButtonAction(ActionEvent event) {
if (event.getSource() == btnPrint) {
setTaText();
printPdf();
}
}
public void setTaText() {
taText.setText(StringUtils.leftPad("Random Text left padded by 50", 50));
}
public void printPdf() {
String directoryString = "src/main/resources/com/company/pdf";
try {
String filepath = directoryString + "/" + "pdf_1" + ".pdf";
PdfWriter writer = new PdfWriter(filepath);
PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(writer);
Document document = new Document(pdf);
document.add(new Paragraph(taText.getText()));
document.close();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
System.out.println(e.getMessage());
return;
}
}
}
TestApp.java:
package com.company;
import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader;
import javafx.scene.Parent;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.stage.Stage;
public class TestApp extends Application {
public static void main(String[] args) {
launch(args);
}
public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception {
Parent root = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("testApp.fxml"));
Scene scene = new Scene(root);
primaryStage.setScene(scene);
primaryStage.setTitle("Test");
primaryStage.show();
}
}
testApp.fxml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?import javafx.scene.control.Button?>
<?import javafx.scene.control.TextArea?>
<?import javafx.scene.layout.AnchorPane?>
<?import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane?>
<?import javafx.scene.text.Font?>
<BorderPane maxHeight="-Infinity" maxWidth="-Infinity" minHeight="-Infinity" minWidth="-Infinity" prefHeight="400.0" prefWidth="600.0" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/15.0.1" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="com.company.controllers.TestAppController">
<top>
<AnchorPane prefHeight="60.0" prefWidth="600.0" style="-fx-background-color: #337DFF;" BorderPane.alignment="CENTER" />
</top>
<center>
<AnchorPane prefHeight="200.0" prefWidth="200.0" BorderPane.alignment="CENTER">
<children>
<Button fx:id="btnPrint" layoutX="240.0" layoutY="155.0" mnemonicParsing="false" onAction="#handleButtonAction" prefHeight="25.0" prefWidth="120.0" style="-fx-background-color: #337DFF;" text="Print PDF" textFill="WHITE">
<font>
<Font name="System Bold" size="15.0" />
</font>
</Button>
<TextArea fx:id="taText" layoutX="125.0" layoutY="44.0" prefHeight="82.0" prefWidth="350.0" />
</children>
</AnchorPane>
</center>
</BorderPane>
Solution
Instead of the javafx maven plugin you could use the moditect plugin to create missing module-info to auto module dependencies and then build the image with moditect.
Such a pom for you could be something like:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.company</groupId>
<artifactId>TestApp</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<properties>
<appName>TestApp</appName>
<launcherName>testapp</launcherName>
<moduleName>com.company</moduleName>
<mainClass>com.company.LoginApp</mainClass>
<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
<maven.compiler.source>15</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>15</maven.compiler.target>
<version.java>15</version.java>
</properties>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
<artifactId>javafx-controls</artifactId>
<version>15.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
<artifactId>javafx-fxml</artifactId>
<version>15.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>de.jensd</groupId>
<artifactId>fontawesomefx-fontawesome</artifactId>
<version>4.7.0-9.1.2</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.xerial</groupId>
<artifactId>sqlite-jdbc</artifactId>
<version>3.34.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
<version>3.12.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>kernel</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>layout</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>io</artifactId>
<version>7.1.14</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
<version>1.7.30</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.8.1</version>
<configuration>
<release>${version.java}</release>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.1.2</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>copy-dependencies</id>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/modules</outputDirectory>
<overWriteReleases>false</overWriteReleases>
<overWriteSnapshots>false</overWriteSnapshots>
<overWriteIfNewer>true</overWriteIfNewer>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.moditect</groupId>
<artifactId>moditect-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.0.0.RC1</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>add-module-info-to-dependencies</id>
<phase>package</phase>
<configuration>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/modules</outputDirectory>
<overwriteExistingFiles>true</overwriteExistingFiles>
<modules>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>kernel</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>kernel</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>layout</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>layout</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>com.itextpdf</groupId>
<artifactId>io</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>io</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>org.xerial</groupId>
<artifactId>sqlite-jdbc</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>sqlite.jdbc</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-lang3</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>org.apache.commons.lang3</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
<module>
<artifact>
<groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
<artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
</artifact>
<moduleInfo>
<name>org.slf4j</name>
</moduleInfo>
</module>
</modules>
<module>
<mainClass>${mainClass}</mainClass>
<moduleInfoFile>${project.build.sourceDirectory}/module-info.java</moduleInfoFile>
</module>
<jdepsExtraArgs>
<args>--multi-release</args> <args>15</args>
<args>--ignore-missing-deps</args>
</jdepsExtraArgs>
</configuration>
<goals>
<goal>add-module-info</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
<execution>
<id>create-runtime-image</id>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>create-runtime-image</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<modulePath>
<path>${project.build.directory}/modules</path>
</modulePath>
<modules>
<module>${moduleName}</module>
</modules>
<launcher>
<name>${launcherName}</name>
<module>${moduleName}</module>
</launcher>
<compression>2</compression>
<stripDebug>true</stripDebug>
<outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/jlink-image</outputDirectory>
<ignoreSigningInformation>true</ignoreSigningInformation>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>com.github.akman</groupId>
<artifactId>jpackage-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>0.1.2</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>package</phase>
<goals>
<goal>jpackage</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<name>${appName}</name>
<type>IMAGE</type>
<runtimeimage>${project.build.directory}/jlink-image</runtimeimage>
<module>${moduleName}/${mainClass}</module>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</project>
My first tests seems to be successful but a few items might need more work (e.g. I do not like to have the --ignore-missing-deps argument)
Maybe this helps a little to get you forward.
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