Must PATH be set for java.exe?

[Joe]

Hi. I've written a Java app that's about ready to distribute. I want
to make sure that users can run it without too much hassle -- after
installing the JRE on their machines. I'm wondering if it's necessary,
for those who are Windows users, to set the DOS PATH variable so that
the java command can be run from a DOS prompt. This doesn't seem
necessary, since java.exe gets installed under C:\Windows, but I
wanted to be sure.

Thanks.

 

[Andrew Thompson]

Hi. I've written a Java app that's about ready to distribute. I want
to make sure that users can run it without too much hassle -- after
installing the JRE on their machines.

If aim is 'use with no hassle', think 'java web start'..

 

[Erich Reimberg N.]

Joe,

As long as you install just the JRE, you don't need to modify the PATH
variable in a Windows box. This is true for windows located in c:\winnt
and c:\windows (ie, Win2k, WinXP and also Win98).

Maybe you should just verify that the PATH variable includes the Windows
directory, but most probably you will find that the Windows directory
is already there.

Erich