Updating Your .java.policy File
We have a new name!
This project changed its name from MIDF (Mission Independent Data Format)
to MIDL (Mission Independent Data Layer), and subsequently the web address
for the project was changed from http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/MIDF
to http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/MIDL.
If you were using the software under the older name, you may need to
update the .java.policy file which you originally created
for the older MIDF site. This is only true if you are interested in using
the MIDL analysis tools for saving data to your own computer.
What's with the new name?
The new name more accurately reflects that nature of our project. The core
of our software is not really a data format, but rather a programming interface.
Data can be in any possible format, but as long as you implement our programming
interface, then you will be able to view your data on the web through
our analysis tools. So it really is a layer of software, not another
data format. And the world does not need another data format!
Why do I have to change my .java.policy file?
The 'why' is not essential, but might be interesting for some curious folk.
In order
to give our Java program permission to write data onto your personal hard drive,
you must explicitly specify that programs coming from our web address have
write permission on your machine. This is done through the .java.policy
file, which contains the web address for our program. Sice this web address has
changed slightly, you also need to update your .java.policy to
reflect the change.
Making the change
One option is to simply overwrite the old file with a new one. Just follow the
directions under Requriement 2
on the Setup Requriements page
to install a new copy of the .java.policy file.
Or, if you already have an existing .java.policy file for the
older (MIDF) version of the software, you can simply edit it and change
the MIDF to MIDL, so that the new file looks like this:
grant codeBase "http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/MIDL/midl_v1/analysis/*" {
permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
Recall that the .java.policy file is located in your home directory.
See the
table of home directory locations to find this for your operating system.
Note that when editing the file, your operating system may try to add a .txt
extension. There are instructions just below the
home directory table
about how to avoid this. The bottom line is that the file MUST have exactly
the name .java.policy and it MUST be in your home directory.
back to Space Department home page
back to MIDL home page
Maintainer:
Jon D. Vandegriff
Last modified: Thu May 23 13:03:10 Eastern Daylight Time 2002