Klings.NoWires.How-To()

JBuilder X How-To

This document came to life during my 30 days trial period with JBuilder X. JBuilder X is great software, but is unfortunately quite expensive. Mobile development is included in the JBuilder X Developer Edition. Check Borland's shop for pricing.

JBuilder 9 Mobile Edition is expensive too. However, a 30 day trial version is available. Since our research group unfortunately has less research funds than some companies from Redmond, we are now using the NetBeans IDE. If you're rich, this How-To may help you set up JBuilder for mobile development.

Borland's latest JBuilder release is JBuilder X. The Developer Edition supports MIDP programming. With a few extensions, this software should be more than enough for developing MIDP applications. This document guides you through the steps needed to install and configure JBuilder X for MIDP programming on Redhat Linux 9. This guide targets users who know their way around linux, these steps rely on commands from a terminal window.

Download required software

First, you should go to www.borland.com and download JBuilder X Trial. This download includes both the JBuilder core needed to develop J2SE applications and the Mobile Edition add-on needed to develop MIDP applications. Registration is required, but free at the Borland site.

You should also get the wireless toolkits from Sun. Two toolkits are available, Wireless Toolkit (WTK) version 1.04 and version 2.0. I recommend getting them both. They are available from http://java.sun.com/products/j2mewtoolkit/. Note that this page contains several downloads. The downloads you are looking for are J2ME Wireless Toolkit 1.0.4_01 and J2ME Wireless Toolkit 2.0_01 Production Release (the latest versions at the time of writing). These downloads require login, register for free if you lack a username at Sun.

OEM JDKs like Nokia Developer Suite (NDS) can also be installed and used in the same manner as the WTKs. Go to http://forum.nokia.com to download NDS 2.0.

Install it all!

Start of by installing JBuilder. Installation instructions are included in the download. JBuilder can be installed as root or regular user. It works fine in either way, I installed it as user. A piece of advice, create a directory in your home folder where you can gather your installed applications. Then you only have to look one place to find your applications. Though JBuilder works fine when installed by root, the wireless toolkits do not. Install everything as regular user if you want to be sure everything works as excpected.

The WTKs are not included in the Linux installation of JBuilder X. That's why you had to download them seperately. Installation instructions are include in the downloads, you should, as always, read them. Install them to a folder of choice, preferably the folder containing your other applications. To install Wireless Toolkit 1.0.4 you need the uudecode function. This is not available in the standard Redhat 9 installation. To check if you've already got it, run

uudecode -version

from a terminal. This will print uudecode version if present.

To get it, run the following command as root:

[root@aragorn root]# up2date -i sharutils

This will install the package containing uudecode, and you're ready to install Wireless Toolkit 1.0.4.

Run the installers and follow the instructions on screen.

If you downloaded NDS it is time to install this to. You may choose integration with JBuilder during this installation (I did not, I just added it as a jdk like the WTKs). Remember to install it in the folder where you install all your applications. You will be prompted for your Nokia username and serial key during this installation. Don't panic, you'll be able to register for free and get your key during installation. Just keep cool and follow the instructions.

Configure JBuilder X

Then the hard part is done. Configuration of JBuilder X is still remaining. First you should add the JDKs to JBuilder settings. This is done through the Tools -> Configure JDKs menu.



You will probable have only one JDK in this screen. Click New to add a new JDK. In the following example I am adding the WTK 1.0.4. Repeat this procedure for WTK 2.0 and NDS if you wish to add them too.



When you have selected the JDK home path JBuilder X will automagically supply the JDK name. Note that you must specify the path to an emulator in the Devices directory of the NDS installation when adding a Nokia JDK.

The JDKs will show up in the Configure JDKs menu as they are added.

That's it!

JBuilder X is now ready for some heavy MIDP development. When starting a new project, remember to choose the correct JDK. You may change the default JDK for future projects through the Projects -> Default Project Properties menu.

This page was last updated 14. Jul. 2006

Comments and feedback are highly appreciated.

You can reach me at: klings (at) nowires (dot) org