Installing Simulacrum

Simulacrum is a Java applet/application that requires no additional modules or libraries. It is extremely easy to run and install.

Prerequisites

Java 1.3+

This is a Java application, and therefore requires a Java Virtual Machine. Java may be downloaded from Sun at http://java.sun.com

Files

simulacrum.jnlp

This is the Java Web Start configuration file. If Java Web Start is installed, this will launch Java Web Start, and start up the application, and prompt the user for security priveledges. This is the preferred method of running the application. This file automatically downloads the latest version of the application from http://simulacrum.sourceforge.net, and verifies its security.

sSimulacrum.jar

This is the main application file, signed. This signed application will run in any major browser, and prompt the user before launching. This is because the applet requires access to the local file system to store the preferences file. This only occurs if the application is run as an applet or through Java Web Start.

Simulacrum.jar

This is the main application file. It is unsigned, and therefore will not work over the network. However, it will be able to run locallly from the command line no problem. The additional security restrictions on applets require that only a signed applet may request additional security permissions.

<USER_HOME>/.simulacrum/rsshosts.properties

This is the main preferences file. It is created when you start the application, and saves any feeds that you load. When the feeds are changed, this file is modified. If you wish to load the program with many feeds pre-loaded, you may create the file like this example:

  feed0=http\://my.photoblog.org/rss.xml
  feed1=http\://my.privateblog.net/rss.xml

Where each feed is labeled with a number "feed#=". This is all the information stored in the properties file.

sSimulacrumApplet.html

This is the html file for the signed applet, running on Windows Active Desktop. This file is different than the normal applet page, since Windows Active Desktop will not recognize the Java plugin with the typical <applet> code, even though IE will (on the same computer!).

Installing

There is no specific place in which the application must reside. The application may be run from anywhere, so the installation is very flexible.

  1. Download the file simulacrum.jnlp or Simulacrum.jar.
  2. If you have Java Web Start installed, double-click on simulacrum.jnlp.
  3. Most modern operating systems will recognize the .jar file as a Java application, so you may also double-click on Simulacrum.jar.
  4. In the case that the .jar file was not recognized, you can create a link or script that calls "java -jar Simulacrum.jar."
  5. If you are running Windows, and you have the Active Desktop enabled, you can put Simulacrum on your desktop.
    1. Right-click on the desktop, and select "Properties".
    2. Select the "Web" tab.
    3. Make sure "Show Web content on my Active Desktop" is enabled.
    4. Click on the "New..." button.
    5. Enter in the URL for the Simulacrum desktop applet, which is the location of sSimulacrumApplet.html, or the url on the simulacrum site:
      http://simulacrum.sourceforge.net/sSimulacrumApplet.html
    6. Click on the "OK" button, after reading the "Add item to Active Desktop" window.
    7. A dialog will appear that shows the progress of the downloading and synchronizing Active Desktop performs. This dialog will disappear automatically.
    8. Click on the "OK" button, and Simulacrum will be added to your desktop!
  6. Enjoy!

Problems

At this time, there are no known problems. If you run into any, please email schnozmeiser@users.sourceforge.net, or post a message to the forums online at http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=107093

Thanks, and enjoy!