1. Don't use JPMS 2. Use Maven and nbm-maven-plugin. Documentation isn't the best but you can do most things with it including wrapping jars (ie. Maven Central dependencies), doing branding, doing the app. 3. I don't think anybody looked into using jlink/jpackage (which probably would need JPMS, no?) so your baseline for the release is the ZIP file 4. Once you have a zip file with the launchers it's super easy to make a macOS DMG and a Windows installer (using Inno Setup). 5. Pay Apple the $99 to sign/notarize the DMG and some Windows vendor the price of a code signing certificate (max $300 for the extended one).
My 2c, --emi On Wed, Jul 7, 2021 at 10:24 PM Chris Marusich <cmmarus...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > What's the current "best practice" or "golden path" for building and > distributing a NetBeans Platform application and managing its > dependencies (e.g., from Maven central)? That's a big general question, > so I'll ask some specifics: > > - Should I ever try to use JPMS modules when building a NetBeans > Platform application? I've found that in my projects (which are > NetBeans Maven-based projects, not NetBeans Platform projects), when I > use JPMS modules, it can cause problems for NetBeans [1], so I wonder if > it's really wise to even try mixing JPMS modules with NetBeans projects > at this time, let alone NetBeans Platform projects. > > - Should I ever try to make a Maven-based NetBeans Platform application? > I see there are Maven templates in NetBeans that offer to create a > Maven-based NetBeans Platform project. However, all the examples online > and in books that I've seen so far do NOT use Maven. In spite of this, > recent emails on this list have suggested that Maven-based NetBeans > projects are generally preferred over the older Ant-based project types. > So I'm a bit confused about what the currently prevailing wisdom on this > matter is, in the case of NetBeans Platform projects. Perhaps Maven can > be used to build NetBeans Platform applications/modules or not, > depending on the situation. As a beginner in the world of NetBeans > Platform, I just want to try making a NetBeans Platform project using > whatever approach is more likely to work without trouble and remain > supported by the community. But what approach might that be? > > - If I want to use a library that is available from Maven central in my > NetBeans Platform application, is the best option to just manually > download the JAR file, manually create a NetBeans Platform "wrapper > module" for the JAR, and then use the "wrapper module" in my > application? I tried using the nbm-maven-plugin to use dependencies > from Maven in a simple NetBeans Platform application, but I encountered > problems and couldn't figure out how to get it to work. So to me it > feels like the answer to this question is "yes, at the moment you should > manage your JARs manually in order to have the best developer experience > when working on a NetBeans Platform application," but I'm not sure. I'm > curious to hear the opinions of people who have more experience with the > NetBeans Platform. > > - If I want to build a stand-alone release of my NetBeans Platform > application that I can distribute to an end user, what's a good way to > do it? It seems that some of the features in NetBeans that build a > stand-alone release will only work when your project is not a > Maven-based NetBeans Platform application. Additionally, although > recent developments like jlink and jpackage have made it somewhat easier > to produce stand-alone application bundles that don't require the user > to first install a JRE, which is nice, it seems that these tools > sometimes require the use of JPMS modules, which can be problematic in > NetBeans (see above). And in any case NetBeans does not yet seem to > expose any way to take advantage of these new tools. So what IS the > most common way that people build a release version of a NetBeans > Platform application, anyway? > > Ultimately, I just don't understand what the current "best practice" or > "golden path" is for using NetBeans Platform. I'd like to know, though. > I am happy to help improve the tutorials, but the problem is that even > after reading various tutorials and documentation, and even after > experimenting quite a bit on my own, I don't even understand what the > path of least resistance is supposed to be. > > Footnotes: > [1] > http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/netbeans-users/202010.mbox/%3c87sg9wgt19....@gmail.com%3E > > -- > Chris --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@netbeans.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@netbeans.apache.org For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists
