Introduction to Cabinets -- A New Way to Distribute Java Classes

Updated: March 20, 1997

The problem: Loading Java applets takes a long time. While the technology to execute Java applets is getting exponentially better, sending lots of classes over a 14.4 modem is still slow. The idea: Find a backwards-compatible, open way to either send the classes over in a smaller package, or to give the user the classes they'll use often, so they don't download them again and again. The solution: Distribute classes in cabinets! Cabinets, a technology used in the packaging of Microsoft® Windows® 95, Microsoft Office, and a number of other software packages, now comes to the Java development community. What's more, cabinets can just as easily be used to compress and distribute ActiveX controls.

Java applet developers: Decrease download time by more than one-half! By putting all of your files into one package, called a cabinet (CAB for short), you only have to send one file across the wire. Even better -- this file will be compressed! By using an open compression technology, you can cut the size (and thus the speed) of the download significantly.

Java library developers: Do you have a lot of classes (which take up a lot of time to download) that are used in multiple applets? Wouldn't it be easier if users had those classes and could access them from their own machines (not across a network) every time an applet needed them? By using ActiveX™ technologies for code download and cabinets, you can send the classes over in one compressed package once and only once -- unless you want to update them.

So, if you're ready to speed up class download, and you're ready to provide users the libraries they need to run your applets, try this new way of class distribution.

Browser support

Full support for cabinets is available in the Internet Explorer 3.0 final release . Microsoft plans to release all of the information necessary for other browsers to support this standard in the very near future. Also, you can use cabinets and the regular class download style in tandem, so that your applets will still work on all Java-enabled browsers.

Additional information and downloads

Visit the links on the left for the following information:

For details on distributing Java classes and packages and the tools needed, see the new Java SDK .

Ready for the tools? See the CAB SDK page to download the Cabinet Software Development Kit and the CABView tool.

Questions? Feedback? Check out our CAB newsgroup at msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.java.cab.