DESCRIPTION

This is the PAR-WebStart distribution, which is a Perl
version of Java's WebStart technology; see
  http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/jws/developersguide/overview.html
for details.

PAR-WebStart is a helper application associated
with a browser. When a user clicks on a link that points to a 
PNLP [PAR Network Launch Protocol] launch file (a special XML file), 
it causes the browser to launch PAR-WebStart, which then 
automatically downloads, caches, and runs the specified
PAR-based application. 

INSTALLATION

Installation proceeds in the usual fashion:

  perl Makefile.PL
  make
  make test
  make install

The following CPAN modules will be required:

  LWP
  XML::SAX::ExpatXS
  PAR
  Module::Signature
  File::Which
  Archive::Zip

For Win32 (builds 8xx), ppm packages of all necessary prerequisites 
are available from ActiveState's default repository, 
http://www.bribes.org/perl/ppm/, or http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/.

After installation, documentation is available for:

  PAR::WebStart: an overview
  PAR::WebStart::PNLP: description of the PNLP file syntax
  PAR::WebStart::Util: some helper utilities
  make_par.pl: a script to make a suitable par archive
  perlws.pl: a script to register as the application to open .pnlp files
  pnlp_registry.pl: a script to add the necessary file association on Win32
  Apache2::WebStart: a mod_perl-2 handler for generating PNLP files

USAGE

An overview of the use is as follows (more details are found in
the embedded pod documentation in the above modules/scripts):

For the server:

- using PAR, make up one (or several) par archives containing necessary
modules for the application. One such archive must have a main.pl
script, which will be run by the client.

- each par file must have an associated file containing the
md5 checksum of the archive. This is a mild check on the
integrity of the downloaded archive, and also will be used
as a test for the client to see if an update for a cached
par file is available. An included script, make_par, can
be used for making up a suitable archive.

- although it's possible to turn this feature off, it's
strongly recommended to sign each archive using Module::Signature.

- place the par files on a server, and make up a PNLP file
describing the application.

For the client:

- install PAR-WebStart, and associate the perlws.pl script
with files with a .pnlp extension (the associated content
type is application/x-perl-pnlp-file). How to do this depends
on the browser and platform. For Win32, this is done through
the registry - a script, pnlp_registry.pl, is included
in this distribution to handle this task.  For linux, with
KDE, for example, one uses the File Associations menu item
under Control Center -> KDE Components to associate the perlws.pl
script with an application/x-perl-pnlp-file (for *.pnlp files), 
or alternatively, right-click a .pnlp file within 
the file explorer window and choose "Edit File Type".

- point your broswer to http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/hello.pnlp
to test out the installation; after confirming that you do
want to run this application, you should see a few simple
"Hello" messages appearing in a console window (the associated
par and .pnlp files for this application are included in the
ex/ subdirectory of this distribution).

NOTES AND CAVEATS

This is an alpha version; not all features may
work as documented. The specs for the current PNLP files
are subject to change.

AVAILABILITY

As well as on CPAN, the distribution is available via cvs at
  http://cvs.sourceforge.net/viewcvs.py/cpan-search/Par-WebStart/  
A ppm package for Win32 is available at
  http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/
for ActivePerl 8xx builds, and at
  http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppmpackages/
for 6xx builds.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright, 2005, by Randy Kobes <r.kobes@uwinnipeg.ca>.
This software is distributed under the same terms as Perl itself.
See http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html.
