The Visual Examinator application provides different views of a Java Class File.
Supported Views are:
To get started you need to download the installation program Visual Examinator from SourceForge. Note: the first version of this software is a beta release and is only available for Windows Platforms. In addition, the application is distributed as a jar (vexaminator.jar) which contains all the the java class files and can run be from the jvm with the application's dependent jars (see dependencies). The last distribution is a zip file (vexaminator-src.zip) with the src code, javadoc, and all the dependent jars.
Assuming you've installed the application with the installer, you can execute the application my clicking the "Start" menu, then "Programs", "Visual Examinator", and "Visual Examinator".
Give the application a few seconds to start then you should see the application as below.
Now before you parse a class file, you need to select the views that you would like to see. Views are only generated if they are selected before the application starts to parse the class file. From the "View" menu select all the views you would like to see.
Note: that the application will generate *.p files for class files that select "Javap Source Code"; *.j files for class files that select "Jasmin Source Code"; *.java files for class files that select "Java Source Code" as their views. These generate files will be located in the application's "repository" directory under the installation directory. Since there is no supported printing (yet), I wanted to provide other ways of viewing jasmin, java, and javap files.
Once the appropriate views are selected, you can parse class file. You can do this from the "File" menu and selecting "Open Class File".
A file dialog will appear and you may select the Java class file to be parsed. Once the file is selected it will take a few seconds to generate all the views and they will show up gradually. The application will notify you of this process, click " OK".
Upon completing, the application will create views on the class file desktop panel (the application's right panel). Here I've selected all of the views.
In addtion to the views, the application displays some general information about the class in the class information tab in the lower right-hand side of the application. Even more interesting is the class "Constant Pool" View tab.
To view the class constant pool, click on the tab "Constant Pool" tab after the class has been parse. You will see all the contents of the constant pool and the entry number in the pool.
To view a different class file, simply repeat the above steps. The application will ask if you want to clear all views, in which case it will remove all views from the application's desktop and generate new views for the new class file.
One last bit of information, when a class file is loaded into the application, the application has the ability to verify the class file. What does this mean? This will determine whether or not your class file will get loaded by a jvm. Thus if you're generating class files, you will know before hand if they are valid or not. To verify a class file, select "Verify" and click "Verify Class File"
The application will display a new verification view that will notify you if the class file passes the four step verification process. If your class file fails, the application will display a red box for the particular step that failed. Note, that you must have all dependent classes in your classpath for a file to pass verification. For more information on verification please see the Java Language Specification.
This is the first release of application, if you find bugs you may report them at
the Source Forge site, http://sourceforge.net/projects/vexaminator. If you have suggestions, feel free to email them to Brad at brippe@fullcoll.edu.
Thank you for your interest in the Examinator!
The Examinator depends on two other Open Source projects: