An installer that provides a Java-programmable, platform-independent installation environment.
Platform(s):	AIX, OS/2, Windows 95, Windows NT
Date Posted:	3 July 1997
Updated:

BeanBag is an installer that provides a Java-programmable, platform-independent installation environment that is also capable of using platform specific features. The installation programmer uses either the automatically generated installation options or customized options to generate a single installation object (a Java class file) capable of running on any Java 1.1-enabled platform. BeanBag installs single files or filesets (zip/jar archives) into predetermined or user-prompted locations. It then creates directories and links/shortcuts as required. Although originally intended for the delivery of Java classes, it also installs normal executables, batch or text files, etc. The BeanBag packager (bagMan) generates a control Java file from a list of installation instructions. This file can be used for simple installation, or it can be customized for more complex situations (such as choice of installation location or selection of packages to install). The installer takes care of problems with platform-specific filename conventions (for example, which way do the slashes go?) and line endings on text files. Source files can be prepared using whichever conventions are most convenient to the user.