Indexing with Linux

[rmrichesjr]

What's /etc/.java? I haven't done indexing for several months, but all the files are around from when I did. I don't have a /etc/.java. On the other hand, my Java JRE/JDK is installed in /usr/local from Sun tarball rather than from the OS's package management system. I wonder if a /usr/local java installation and no /etc/.java might be a solution.

[Matt-p40]

What's /etc/.java? I haven't done indexing for several months, but all the files are around from when I did. I don't have a /etc/.java. On the other hand, my Java JRE/JDK is installed in /usr/local from Sun tarball rather than from the OS's package management system. I wonder if a /usr/local java installation and no /etc/.java might be a solution.

/etc/.java information, specifically related to Indexing, can be located here:
http://ph.ubuntuforums.com/showthread.php?t=900897

--Matt

[rmrichesjr]

There's a lot of good information in that thread--enough that I got lost partway through it.

I had one other thought on /etc/.java apparently needing to be writable by the indexing user. On my system, there's a $HOME/.java (where $HOME is the user's home directory) that is apparently used by indexing and perhaps other Java webstart stuff. Could it be that indexing or Java is getting confused about where it should be finding .java? If so, I suspect that might lead to a better solution.

[jbfriend43-p40]

From a command line run the following command. The link below came from the "Install Now" button on the front page of familysearchindexing.org.

Code: Select all

javaws http://familysearchindexing.org/iis-apps/apps/iude.jnlp

In the future you can run the program with the following command line.

Code: Select all

javaws -viewer

here is the result of running the "javaws http.... command above:

jack@ubuntu:~$ javaws -viewer
jack@ubuntu:~$ javaws http://familysearchindexing.org/iis-apps/apps/iude.jnlp
java.lang.NullPointerException
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.tools.JarSigner.verifyJars(JarSigner.java:192)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.verifyJars(JNLPClassLoader.java:609)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:302)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)
netx: Initialization Error: Could not initialize applet. (net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.)
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: Could not initialize applet.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:519)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)
Caused by: net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:308)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
... 2 more
Caused by:
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:308)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)

running javaws -viewer now says:
javasw: command not found

i am not understanding this at all.

please help. i can index in windows fine, but want to use Ubuntu 8.10 instead.

jbfriend43

[rmrichesjr]

I've seen many a nullpointer error in Java code (mostly in my own code during debug). It looks like the Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) is having some difficulty verifying the jars it thinks have been downloaded to run inside Java Web Start (JAVAWS). I did some indexing a year or two ago on a Mandriva Linux platform, but I never saw anything like that. It could be a bug in the indexing code base that is only tickled on Linux. Or, there could be a compatibility issue, with a potential workaround or not. Are you sure you're using a JDK installation that matches what the indexing site lists as a system requirement? If you only installed a JRE, you might try installing a full JDK to see if that might help. (JRE is Java Runtime Environment, and JDK is Java Development Kit.)

The last part, "javasw" vs. "javaws" is a simple typo. However, until the nullpointer problem is solved, fixing the typo isn't going to help.

If you do get it to come up but not respond to any UI events, you might try the program I think I posted a year or two ago that moves the indexing dialog windows onto the screen so you can see them. If you can't find the program, PM me.

[jbfriend43-p40]

here is the result of trying to run the following command.

jack@ubuntu:~$ javaws http://familysearchindexing.org/iis-apps/apps/iude.jnlp
java.lang.NullPointerException
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.tools.JarSigner.verifyJars(JarSigner.java:192)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.verifyJars(JNLPClassLoader.java:609)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:302)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)
netx: Initialization Error: Could not initialize applet. (net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.)
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: Could not initialize applet.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:519)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)
Caused by: net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:308)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
... 2 more
Caused by:
net.sourceforge.jnlp.LaunchException: Fatal: Initialization Error: A fatal error occurred while trying to verify jars.
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:308)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.<init>(JNLPClassLoader.java:134)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.getInstance(JNLPClassLoader.java:191)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.createApplication(Launcher.java:509)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher.launchApplication(Launcher.java:334)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.Launcher$TgThread.run(Launcher.java:600)

[rmrichesjr]

here is the result of trying to run the following command.

jack@ubuntu:~$ javaws http://familysearchindexing.org/iis-apps/apps/iude.jnlp
java.lang.NullPointerException
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.tools.JarSigner.verifyJars(JarSigner.java:192)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.verifyJars(JNLPClassLoader.java:609)
at net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.JNLPClassLoader.initializeResources(JNLPClassLoader.java:302)
...

That's definitely a bad nullpointer. Unfortunately, I think most of the news I would have is bad news. With the stack that deep, it's very doubtful anyone from the outside will be able to do much with it. Last I heard, the official line from FamilySearch is they don't support Linux. You might report it and see if they'll take any action. The worst they can do is say they won't fix it.

One possible solution would be to run indexing from inside Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator). I don't know whether that would work, but it might be worth trying. I doubt I'd be able to squeeze out enough time to do that experiment myself.

[marianomarini]

I use correctly familysearch indexing with my linux box:
1. Linux 2.6.28-15generic #49
2. Ubuntu SMP Tue Aug 18 18:40:08 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
3. java version "1.6.0_0"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.4.1) (6b14-1.4.1-0ubuntu11)
OpenJDK Client VM (build 14.0-b08, mixed mode, sharing)

Hope this help.