0

I have developed and exported a small Java application (RCP). I am wondering whether there is a easy way to fix the bugs in the product on customer side by applying a patch instead of coping the whole product. Or something similar. Thank you very much!

EDIT: The application is developed with Eclipse RCP and exported as an eclipse product. This is application is still small now but it is not feasible to send the whole product via email.

user3365687
  • 91
  • 4
  • How is the application installed? Do you use Eclipse RCP? –  Feb 11 '15 at 08:22
  • 1
    You can use p2 to update an Eclipse based application. Take a look at [this tutorial](http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/EclipseP2Update/article.html) based on Eclipse 4.2 – jens-na Feb 11 '15 at 08:26
  • You say it's a *small* application -- so is it even worth worrying about it? – Thomas Feb 11 '15 at 08:27

1 Answers1

1

Since JAR files are technically ZIP files, you could relatively easily replace the class files in the JAR that need to be updated without changing the rest. just by using a ZIP tool. That said, unless the JAR is very large or the network connection very slow, it's probably not worth the effort.

Erich Kitzmueller
  • 36,381
  • 5
  • 80
  • 102
  • 1
    Specific versions of a jar have checksums (md5/sha1); this would make validation of the application/version problematic. Downloading new (unmodified) "patch" jars to replace/obsolete existing jars would, for this reason, be preferable. – michael Feb 11 '15 at 08:57