RTEJava

(beta version)

Copyright © 2003-2006 Mark K. Davis. All rights reserved.

How was RTEJava developed?

RTEJava's source code was written completely from scratch in Java using information published in the text file distributed with version 1.00 of that other utility, as well as personal communciation (December 2003) with the author of that utility. RTEJava is a "clone" of the original utility, but uses a completely different style of user interface.

All work on the alpha version was done starting in early December 2003, and ending on February 2, 2004. Work on the beta version was done during January and February 2006.

RTEJava was developed on an ancient Beige Power Mac G3 running Mac OS 8.6, the Mac OS Runtime for Java Software Development Kit 2.2, and Sun JFC 1.1/Swing 1.1.1. Other software used: BBEdit Lite, HexEdit, Poser 4 (Mac), GraphicConverter, and Netscape. For the beta version, the animations were done on Windows XP using Poser 6 and Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Why did you create RTEJava?

I was a frustrated Mac Poser user who decided to do something other than complain.

I volunteered to work on the Mac OS 9 native version of the original utility in January 2003, but at that time the author of the original utility told me that he was waiting for a friend to make progress on the Mac version, and did not accept my offer.

I could never get the original utility to work correctly in VirtualPC on my Mac. More specifically, the first (and only) file I ever tried to decode was the Netherworks-Viomar V3/V2 hybrid character. I thought there was a problem with VirtualPC, and that I'd be able to decode if I had a native Mac or Java version of the utility. However, I had unknowingly discovered the flaw in the original utility!

By December 2003, I was tired of waiting for a native Mac version of the original utility. I also wanted to learn Swing user interface programming in Java. I decided to build a clone of the original utility that would not require an emulator like VirtualPC. I contacted the author of the original utility to make sure that the Mac native version was not ready for imminent release (he said it was not), to make sure that I wasn't stepping on any toes by planning to release my Java clone (he said I was not), and to try to establish a cooperative relationship.

Why did you name your utility "RTEJava"?

The intended name was "(original utility's name) for Java". Later, the author of the original utility asked that I not use his name or trademark (that is, the name of his utility), so I shortened the name to "RTEJava".

Why did you use Java? There was already a native Windows version, so why didn't you build a native Mac utility?

I was programming on Mac OS 8.6, but planned to buy a new Mac OS X G5 within a year. To develop on the older Mac OS and be able to run the same application on the newer one, I had to build either a Carbon application or a Java application. I had been wanting to learn more about Java and Swing, and tools and tutorials for Java development were freely available, so it was the convenient choice for me.

Java was a fortunate choice, also. RTEJava will run on the newer Mac OS X Intel computers, but a Carbon application won't.

Will there be a final version of RTEJava?

RTEJava has been fully functional since its alpha release in early February 2004.

The only major feature planned for RTEJava that is not yet implemented is internationalization to let users choose a language other than English.

Since it is not clear when version 2 of the other utility will be released, and what demands on my time may arise, there may not be an opportunity to add internationalization to RTEJava.

Hasn't version 2 of "the original utility" been released?

A "demo" of version 2, that apparently does not encode or decode, was released in late December 2005. It is not clear when a fully functional version 2 will be released.

Why don't you and the author of the original utility work together to finish version 2 of the original utility?

I made attempts during 2003 to collaborate and/or cooperate with the author of the original utility. Those attempts failed.

Have you considered going "open source" with RTEJava?

Yes, but it is unlikely that I'll offer RTEJava's source code to the public:

RTEJava is written in Java 1.1.8 so that it can run on pre-OS X Macs as well as OS X Macs. Developers likely would be tempted to alter the code by adding features available only in Java 1.2 or later, which would destroy compatibility with the old Mac OS.
I did not create the .rte file format, and feel that the author of the original utility should be the only one allowed to make or approve changes to the file format. It would be harder to protect the file format if my code was available to the public.

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