Could anybody help with creating an exe which shows a help button on the upper right corner of the monitor? When the user clicks on it, it should launch a website which is the link to our Support website.
I want to use any jpg file as the icon.
If I put the exe and jpg together, the icon should look like the jpg file.
Well...you asked for it so here is a simple little runnable example conveniently named CornerLink.jar which I quickly whipped up. It is of course all written in Java and is commented pretty good so that you can get a relatively firm grasp of what is going on.
It is an entity upon itself which runs on a installed JVM which pretty much everyone on the planet now has installed within their systems. To be runnable we need to fire it from a Batch file which I also provide the text code for below at the end of this post (more about this file later).
The application is of course Command-Line based and contain a total of 9 command-line arguments which can be supplied to make it look the way you like and position it where you want. The first two command-line arguments are mandatory (required) but the other seven arguments are optional since there are defaults to take care of business.
The Command-Line Arguments:
Button Image Path (REQUIRED)
Default: None
(String) Path and file name from local file system OR Web URL to the image which will be displayed. Image is auto sized.
Web-Link (REQUIRED) Default: None (String) The http URL to the web page to display within the default web browser.
Button Size (Optional) Default: "100,100" String representation of numerical width,height Dimension (ie: "75,100")
Button Location (Optional) Default: Top Right corner of screen. Screen size is auto determined. String representation of numerical width,height Dimension (ie: "650,20")
Border Color (Optional) Default: Black ("#000000") String representation of a Hex Color value (ie: for red: "#FF0000")
Border Thickness (Optional) Default: "1" String representation of a Integer data type value (ie: "3"). If you don't want a border then supply "0".
Button Opacity (Optional) Default: "1.0" String representation of a Float data type value (ie: "0.75"). The 'f' designator is removed if supplied.
Close On CTRL-ALT-C-Mouse Click (Optional) Default: "true" String representation of a Boolean data type value (ie: "true" or "false") To close the Web-Link Button Application on the screen you will need to move the mouse pointer over the button then press the Control Key, the ALT key, The C Key all together and then click the left mouse button. Yes, I know it seems like an archaic way to close something but then again you won't ever see the button close accidentally :)
Allow Mouse To Move Button (Optional) Default: "false" String representation of a Boolean data type value (ie: "true" or "false")
If the Button Image Path and or the Web-Link is not supplied then this application will not run.
All command-line arguments must be supplied within quotation marks and separated by a whitespace.
All optional parameters contain default values and therefore do not need to be supplied however if a optional parameter is supplied then something must be supplied for any preceding optional parameters even if it's just a null string ("").
An optional command-line parameter that is supplied a null string ("") forces a default for that parameter to be used.
Here is the runnable code:
package cornerlink;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Desktop;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.HeadlessException;
import java.awt.Image;
import java.awt.Toolkit;
import java.awt.event.KeyAdapter;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseMotionAdapter;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.URISyntaxException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLConnection;
import java.net.UnknownHostException;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.Icon;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class CornerLink {
private static JFrame frame = new JFrame(); // globalize the button window Component
private static JLabel label = new JLabel(); // globalize the JLabel component holding the button image.
private static int keysValue = 0; // Use for determining if the CTRL-ALT-C buttons are depressed.
private static int xLoc = 0; // Used for optionally supplying a X axis location for the button.
private static int yLoc = 0; // Used for optionally supplying a Y axis location for the button.
// Command Line Options (in the same order)...
private static String buttonImage = ""; // Mandatory
private static String webLink = ""; // Mandatory
private static Dimension buttonSize = new Dimension(110,110); // Optional
private static Dimension buttonLocation = new Dimension(0,0); // Optional
private static Color borderColor = Color.BLACK; // Optional
private static int borderThickness = 1; // Optional
private static float buttonOpacity = 1.0f; // Optional
private static boolean closeOnCtrlAltCClick = true; // Optional
private static boolean allowMouseMove = false; // Optional
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Get and process the commandline arguments.
processCommandLineArguments(args);
// Build our button
setupGUI();
// Set mouse and keyboard listeners for gathering key
// combinations for closing, button movement, and mouse
// click for going to the web link supplied within the
//commandline.
setupAdapters();
}
private static void processCommandLineArguments(String[] args) {
try{
// Close if no Command Line Arguments are supplied. Must have at least
// 2 arguments, the Image Path and a Web Link. Others are optional.
if (args.length == 0) { System.exit(0); }
// The Image to display within button
if (args.length >= 1 && !args[0].equals("")) { buttonImage = args[0]; }
else { System.exit(0); }
// The web link to go to when image is clicked upon
if (args.length >= 2 && !args[1].equals("")) { webLink = args[1]; }
else { System.exit(0); }
// Button Size
if (args.length >= 3 && !args[2].equals("")) {
String[] bd = args[2].split(",");
buttonSize = new Dimension(Integer.valueOf(bd[0]), Integer.valueOf(bd[1]));
}
// Button Location
if (args.length >= 4 && !args[3].equals("")) {
String[] bl = args[3].split(",");
buttonLocation = new Dimension(Integer.valueOf(bl[0]), Integer.valueOf(bl[1]));
}
// The Border Color - Must be in Hex String format including Hash Mark (ie: "#FFCCFF").
// If the Hash mark is forgoten then it is automatically placed onto the Hex String.
if (args.length >= 5 && !args[4].equals("")) {
if (!args[4].substring(0, 1).equals("#")) { args[4] = "#" + args[4]; }
borderColor = Color.decode(args[4]);
}
// The Border Thickness
if (args.length >= 6 && !args[5].equals("")) { borderThickness = Integer.valueOf(args[5]); }
// The Button Opacity
if (args.length >= 7 && !args[6].equals("")) {
args[6] = args[6].replace("f", "");
buttonOpacity = Float.valueOf(args[6]);
}
// Allow the CTRL-ALT-C - Left Mouse Click sequence to close the button
if (args.length >= 8 && !args[7].equals("")) { closeOnCtrlAltCClick = args[7].equalsIgnoreCase("true"); }
// Allow the button to be dragged around the screen with mouse.
if (args.length >= 9 && !args[8].equals("")) { allowMouseMove = args[8].equalsIgnoreCase("true"); }
}
catch(Exception ex) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Error Detected While Processing Command-Line!\n"
+ "Check Command-Line Parameters For Proper Format.\n\n" + ex.getMessage(),
"Command-Line Error", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
}
}
private static void setupGUI(){
// Get the working screen size. The dimensions retrieved here will
// be used to position our button on the top right corner of our
// working screen (by default) unless a button location is supplied
// within the commandline.
Dimension screenSize = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getScreenSize();
// Establish a JPanel and set the layout manager. Our JLabel will be
// placed on this panel and will be automatically exploded to the same
// size.
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
// Gather the supplied image determined from commandline, set it into
// the JLabel but resize the image to fit in JLabel first.
ImageIcon image;
try {
// Is it a Web URL to the desired Image...
if (buttonImage.startsWith("http")){
URL img = new URL(buttonImage);
image = new ImageIcon(img);
}
// If not then it must be from the local file system.
else {
image = new ImageIcon(buttonImage);
}
label.setIcon(resizeIcon(image, (buttonSize.width - borderThickness), (buttonSize.height - borderThickness)));
}
catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
// Get outta here if a bogus URL was provided.
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Improper Image URL provided!",
"URL Error",JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
System.exit(0);
}
// Add the JLabel to our JPanel.
panel.add(label);
// Add the JPanel to our JFrame.
frame.add(panel);
// Set the size of our button (JFrame). Everything else will adjust
// in size to accomodate.
frame.setSize(buttonSize.width, buttonSize.height);
// Set the button location on screen. If button location dimensions
// we supplied in commandline then use that location otherwise use
// the default location (top-right).
if (buttonLocation.width == 0 && buttonLocation.height == 0) {
frame.setLocation((screenSize.width - frame.getWidth())-25, 25);
}
else {
frame.setLocation(buttonLocation.width, buttonLocation.height);
}
// Set the JFrame type to be UTILITY so that a Icon does
// not display within the Task Bar.
frame.setType(javax.swing.JFrame.Type.UTILITY);
// Set the JFrame type to NOT have a Title Bar
frame.setUndecorated(true);
// Set the button's opacity
frame.setOpacity(buttonOpacity);
// Set the Border for our Button
frame.getRootPane().setBorder(BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(borderThickness,
borderThickness, borderThickness, borderThickness, borderColor));
// Exit the application of frame close
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// Make sure our button is always on top of everything else.
frame.setAlwaysOnTop(true);
// Display the button on screen...
frame.setVisible(true);
frame.validate();
}
private static void setupAdapters(){
// Open a Key Listener to detect key presses for
// closing the button window.
frame.addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {
@Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt) {
// Detect the CTRL-ALT-C keypress combination...
if ((evt.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_C) && ((evt.getModifiers() & KeyEvent.CTRL_MASK) != 0) &&
((evt.getModifiers() & KeyEvent.ALT_MASK) != 0)) {
keysValue = 1000;
}
else { keysValue = 0; }
}
});
// Open a Mouse Listener to detect a mouse button click
// on the displayed image so as to fire the supplied link
// or to close the button window if the proper key press
// sequence is established for closing.
label.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
@Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt) {
if (keysValue == 1000 && closeOnCtrlAltCClick == true && evt.getButton() == 1) { System.exit(0); }
if (!webLink.equals("") && evt.getButton() == 1) { gotoUrl(webLink, true, true); }
}
@Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt) {
xLoc = evt.getX();
yLoc = evt.getY();
}
});
// Open a Mouse Motion Listener to detect a mouse Drag
// on the displayed image so as to Move the image button.
label.addMouseMotionListener(new MouseMotionAdapter() {
@Override
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent evt) {}
@Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent evt) {
if (allowMouseMove) {
frame.setLocation(evt.getXOnScreen() - xLoc, evt.getYOnScreen() - yLoc);
}
}
});
}
// Use to resize the supplied ImageIcon to desired width and height.
private static Icon resizeIcon(ImageIcon icon, int resizedWidth, int resizedHeight) {
Image img = icon.getImage();
Image resizedImage = img.getScaledInstance(resizedWidth, resizedHeight, java.awt.Image.SCALE_SMOOTH);
return new ImageIcon(resizedImage);
}
/**
* This method will check to see if there is Internet access on for the work station
* (computer) that initiated the call.
* @param urlPath Optional - http:// String - Default is: "http://www.google.com" -
* You can supply your own test URL but always use a test URL that you know will be continuously
* active and reliable. You can however also use the URL to your own Website to ensure it is active.<br>
* @return Boolean true if connection can be established to the test URL and boolean
* false if it can not.
*/
public static boolean isThereInternet(String... urlPath) {
String urlp = "http://www.google.com";
if (urlPath.length != 0) { if (urlPath[0].length() != 0) { urlp = urlPath[0]; } }
if (!doesUrlExist(urlp, false)) { return false; }
try {
final URL url = new URL(urlp);
final URLConnection conn = url.openConnection();
conn.connect();
return true;
}
catch (MalformedURLException e) { return false; }
catch (IOException e) { return false; }
}
/**
* Opens the default web browser in any platform then goes to and displays the provided URL.
* If it is found that the supplied URL does not exist then a warning message is optionally
* displayed and the attempt to go to the provided URL is aborted.
* @param urlToGoTo The URL (internet address) to go to.<br>
* @param options Two Optional Parameters - Both are default true. Parameters are in the following order:<pre>
*
* <b><i>checkForInternet</i></b> - Default true. Checks to make sure an Internet Connection
* is available. If it is not then a Message is optionally
* displayed (see displayMessages parameter).
*
* <b><i>displayMessages</i></b> - Default true. If true will force this method to display
* warning messages with regards to No Internet Connection
* or URL Not Found or Network Error Codes. If false no
* messages are displayed.</pre>
*/
public static void gotoUrl(String urlToGoTo, boolean... options) {
boolean checkNet = true;
boolean doMsgs = true;
String errMsg = "";
if (options.length != 0) {
checkNet = options[0];
if (options.length == 2) { doMsgs = options[1]; }
}
if (checkNet) {
if (!isThereInternet()) {
if (doMsgs) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "No Internet Connection Detected! Check Your Network Connections.",
"GotoUrl() - No Internet Connection",JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
}
return;
}
}
if (!doesUrlExist(urlToGoTo, doMsgs)) {
if (doMsgs) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null,"The Supplied URL Does Not Exist In Network!\n\n" + urlToGoTo,
"GotoUrl() - Address Not Found",JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
}
return;
}
if(Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
try {
desktop.browse(new URI(urlToGoTo));
}
catch (IOException | URISyntaxException e) { errMsg = e.getMessage(); }
}
else {
Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
try {
runtime.exec("xdg-open " + urlToGoTo);
}
catch (IOException e) { errMsg = e.getMessage(); }
}
if (doMsgs && !"".equals(errMsg)) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, "Error encountered while trying to display the supplied\n"
+ "URL in default Web Browser.\n\n"+ errMsg,
"GotoUrl() - Error Encountered",JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
}
}
/**
* Test to see if the supplied network URL actually exists on the network (Internet),
* for example:<pre>
*
* Debug(DoesURLExist("http://www.google.trg")); // displays false in Output.
* Debug(DoesURLExist("http://www.google.com")); // displays true in Output.</pre><br>
*
* This method can also check to see if the URL to a specific file is valid or not, like perhaps
* the image on a web page or a file repository of sorts. Here is an example:<pre>
*
* Debug(DoesURLExist("http://www.picswalls.com/images/logo.png"));</pre><br>
*
* If the URL exists then boolean true is returned but if the URL doesn't exist then boolean
* false is returned. If the URL exists but there was an error loading the web page then a
* Response Code is issued by the web server and is detected by this method which in turn then
* forces a boolean false to be returned. A message is displayed indicating the error unless boolean
* false was supplied to the optional <font color=green><b>showResponseError</b></font> parameter.
* @param urlString The http:// or https:// URL to check.<br>
* @param showResponseError Optional - Boolean true or false - Default is <font color=blue><b>true</b></font> -
* Turns the Response Code Error display On or Off. True is ON and false is OFF.<br>
* @return
*/
public static boolean doesUrlExist(String urlString, boolean... showResponseError) {
if (urlString.equals("") || !urlString.matches("((http)[s]?(://).*)")) { return false; }
boolean showResponse = true;
if (showResponseError.length != 0) { showResponse = showResponseError[0]; }
try {
final URL url = new URL(urlString);
HttpURLConnection huc = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
int responseCode = huc.getResponseCode();
huc.disconnect();
//Does responseCode not equal 200 (which is the code for: OK)...
if (responseCode != HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
if (showResponse) {
String msg = getResponseCodeString(responseCode);
msg = "There was a problem connecting to:\n\n" + urlString + "\n\n" +
"Response Code: [" + responseCode + "] - " + msg;
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, msg, "Network Connection Error",JOptionPane.WARNING_MESSAGE);
}
return false;
}
return true;
}
catch (UnknownHostException | FileNotFoundException ex) { }
catch (IOException | HeadlessException e) { }
return false;
}
/**
* Response Codes are code numbers issued by a network server when connecting to an URL. This
* method will return the string description of the response code number supplied. This is
* handy if you want to connect to an Network URL but can and you want to find out why.
* @param codeNum The integer response code number received from server.<br>
* @return The string description for the response code number supplied.
*/
public static String getResponseCodeString(int codeNum) {
String strg;
switch (codeNum) {
case 100:
strg = "Informational - Continue";
break;
case 101:
strg = "Informational - Switching Protocols";
break;
case 200:
strg = "Success - OK";
break;
case 201:
strg = "Success - Created";
break;
case 202:
strg = "Success - Accepted";
break;
case 203:
strg = "Success - Non-Authoritative Information";
break;
case 204:
strg = "Success - No Content";
break;
case 205:
strg = "Success - Reset Content";
break;
case 206:
strg = "Success - Partial Content";
break;
case 300:
strg = "Redirection - Multiple Choices";
break;
case 301:
strg = "Redirection - Moved Permanently";
break;
case 302:
strg = "Redirection - Found";
break;
case 303:
strg = "Redirection - See Other";
break;
case 304:
strg = "Redirection - Not Modified";
break;
case 305:
strg = "Redirection - Use Proxy";
break;
case 306:
strg = "Redirection - (Unused)";
break;
case 307:
strg = "Redirection - Temporary Redirect";
break;
case 400:
strg = "Client Error - Bad Request";
break;
case 401:
strg = "Client Error - Unauthorized";
break;
case 402:
strg = "Client Error - Payment Required";
break;
case 403:
strg = "Client Error - Forbidden";
break;
case 404:
strg = "Client Error - Not Found";
break;
case 405:
strg = "Client Error - Method Not Allowed";
break;
case 406:
strg = "Client Error - Not Acceptable";
break;
case 407:
strg = "Client Error - Proxy Authentication Required";
break;
case 408:
strg = "Client Error - Request Timeout";
break;
case 409:
strg = "Client Error - Conflict";
break;
case 410:
strg = "Client Error - Gone";
break;
case 411:
strg = "Client Error - Length Required";
break;
case 412:
strg = "Client Error - Precondition Failed";
break;
case 413:
strg = "Client Error - Request Entity Too Large";
break;
case 414:
strg = "Client Error - Request-URI Too Long";
break;
case 415:
strg = "Client Error - Unsupported Media Type";
break;
case 416:
strg = "Client Error - Request Range Not Satisfiable";
break;
case 417:
strg = "Client Error - Expectation Failed";
break;
case 500:
strg = "Server Error - Internal Server Error";
break;
case 501:
strg = "Server Error - Not Implemented";
break;
case 502:
strg = "Server Error - Bad Gateway";
break;
case 503:
strg = "Server Error - Service Unavailable";
break;
case 504:
strg = "Server Error - Gateway Timeout";
break;
case 505:
strg = "Server Error - HTTP Version Not Supported";
break;
default:
strg = "Unknown Response";
}
return strg;
}
}
Continued in next post.......
And here is the batch file text to run the Jar file on the JVM. You'll notice that I have already taken the liberty to supply a web link to a button image as the first command-line argument and I have supplied a web-link to www.google.com as the second command-line argument. When the button is clicked on the screen the systems default web browser will open and Google Search will be displayed.
There is really only one line in the batch file that starts the application. All other lines are Comment lines:
::COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS (in presented order)
::=========================================
::Button Image Path (REQUIRED)
::Default: None
::(String) Path from local file system OR Web URL to the image which will be displayed. Image is auto sized.
::Web-Link (REQUIRED)
::Default: None
::(String) The http URL to the web page to display within the default web browser.
::Button Size (Optional)
::Default: "100,100"
::String representation of numerical width,height Dimension (ie: "75,100")
::Button Location (Optional)
::Default: Top Right corner of screen. Screen size is auto determined.
::String representation of numerical width,height Dimension (ie: "650,20")
::Border Color (Optional)
::Default: Black ("#000000")
::String representation of a Hex Color value (ie: for red: "#FF0000")
::Border Thickness (Optional)
::Default: "1"
::String representation of a Integer data type value (ie: "3")
::If you want no border then supply "0".
::Button Opacity (Optional)
::Default: "1.0"
::String representation of a Float data type value (ie: "0.75"). The 'f' designator is removed if supplied.
::Close On CTRL-ALT-C-Mouse Click (Optional)
::Default: "true"
::String representation of a Boolean data type value (ie: "true" or "false")
::Allow Mouse To Move Button (Optional)
::Default: "false"
::String representation of a Boolean data type value (ie: "true" or "false")
::- If the Button Image Path and or the Web-Link is not supplied then this application will not run.
::- All command-line parameters must be supplied within quotation marks and separated by a whitespace.
::- All optional parameters contain default values and therefore do not need to be supplied however if
:: a optional parameter is supplied then something must be supplied for any preceeding optional parameters
:: even if it's just a null string ("").
::- An optional commandline parameter that is supplied a null string ("") forces a default for that parameter to be used.
::Start the Web-Link Image Button:
start javaw.exe -jar "CornerLink.jar" "http://www.radiatorwholesalers.com.au/images/clickforHelp_btn.gif" "http://www.google.com" "120,20" "" "" "0" "" "" "true"
exit
I hope this has helped you in some way.