java again

I got a new computer and tried the openinfocard id selector with it; but Boom the Java code did not run. Hm, I forgot to install a new version. Preinstalled was some Java 1.4 version... I installed Java 1.6 update 10 and tried again, but again it failed. Ahh, the new java plugin for Firefox hit me again.
Error calling method on NPObject! [plugin exception: java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.security.SecurityPermission getPolicy)]

I had to set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Plug-in\1.6.0_10\UseNewJavaPlugin from 1 to 0 to disable the new plugin.

After that the openinfocard selector worked again.

Sun promised to fix this in Java 1.6 update 12 but there is no early access version available...
Another bug in the new plugin is that it does not implement the instanceof operator for Java objects.

Kenneth from Sun suggested a workaround: Have to change
if (!(bootstrapClassLoader instanceof java.net.URLClassLoader)) {
to
if (!(bootstrapClassLoader.getClass().isInstance(java.lang.Class.forName("java.net.URLClassLoader")))) {

For this bug there is not even a promise to fix it... Well, thank you SUN for making my life interesting; NOT.

Bugzilla@Mozilla – Bug 457068

The number of bugs in Firefox and the Firefox Java plugin that affect the openinfocard id selector increased in the last days/weeks. Not funny.

- eval(..., scope) regression
- javascript instanceof not working with Java classes
- AccessControlException for java based Firefox extensions
- javascript array constructor not working with Java classes
- window.java is sometimes defined but sometimes not

Sun says they can not fix the java plugin for java 6 update 10...

Aaargh.

Maybe it is time to build Information Card support into Firefox and other Mozilla applications directly?! This is worth a post on its own.

Minefield defused

The openinfocard id selector now works with Firefox3.

The bug in Firefox3 is not fixed but circumvented. Firefox3 treats arrays of java objects differently than before.

In a javascript script the call "java_method([aElement])" formerly worked but now it fails. It has to be replaced with
var urlArray = java.lang.reflect.Array.newInstance(java.net.URL, 1);
urlArray[0] = aElement; // aElement beeing a java.net.URL
java_method(urlArray);

Please download the latest version in the openinfocard download area.

Novell's javascript mania

Today I was looking for a mailing list that announces new versions of the DigitalMe identity selector. I started looking at the Bandit's project home page. And surfed to "bandit-announcements" which sounded interesting too. From there the browser gets redirected to Novell's login page where I choose "create account". This looks like this when you have scripts disabled:



And like this when javascript is allowed for novell.com:



CSS anyone? And than: this is another example of a page that has a "XHTML strict" doctype but that is NOT "XHTML strict" (120 errors). Sad.

Another, more important thing, comes to mind: Why can't I use a self-issued information card to provide account information and why can't I login with that same card afterwards? Please...

BTW: I did not create an account.