I've made a GUI at work that interacts with the DB and performs file I/O operations within the company network. Now I'm trying to make this into an applet to be used over the web (not for the public, my boss just wants to show something to someone 500 miles away over the web) so I'm not too concerned about security issues. But, it seems that Java has a built-in security countermeasure that prevents potential hacking/cracking behavior which could stem from an applet performing these actions. I've scoured the web and it seems that signing applets are the only way to go? Any other easier method of allowing the applet these DB and file permissions? Remember, I'm not looking for security here, it's just a one-time thing that my boss wants to use to show someone how our software works.

Btw, how about Java servlets? Do they have similar constraints as Java applets? Or would this method be "easier" and less constricting? Thanks for your help guys.

 

A Java applet runs on the PC with the browser, not the server where the applet was downloaded from. So 2 problems: 1) it only has file i/o access to the PC 2) network access to only the exposed IP of your company.

Unless your admin is willing to punch these holes in your company's firewall for your demo, I'd suggest a remote-window program like VNC or BackOrifice. edit: I just realized these programs need firewall access too. How about VPN?

 

Applets can only open connections back to the originating server (at least with the old specification). So one way around it is to put your webserver and database server on the same box.

File I/O won't work for the reasons foolio stated.

Servlets are not thus constrained. However, you need a servlet container to be able to use servlets. Also, you can't do GUI applications (I'm assuming awt or Swing, etc) with servlets, you can only use those to generate HTML output.

Or of course you could just write a standalone Java app, and connect directly to your database, and do file I/O via RMI. (this would be pretty complicated though)

Easiest solution is probably what foolio suggested.

 

i gotta do a java application for a similar thing. i hate java.