Run localhost Java Applet from PHP script on website

Question

Is it possible to run a Java Applet loaded onto a users machine using a PHP script on a website and send a couple of variables from the PHP to the Applet?

This is a controlled environment that this is running in, so exploitation is not a concern.

It (the PHP) gives the applet 3 pieces of data, the applet goes out to another site that cannot be interacted with using PHP, gets the information from that site and stores it in a database. The current hosting is not capable of running Java.

Code the applet to connect to the server and wait for instructions. What is supposed to happen when the variables are sent? What does all this achieve? — Andrew Thompson
– Andrew Thompson, Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 12:34
"the applet goes out to another site that cannot be interacted with using PHP" What?!? The 'About 99,300,000 results' for 'php proxy' suggests that any site that an applet can connect to (/interact with), can be connected using PHP. — Andrew Thompson
– Andrew Thompson, Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 13:41
Yikes, what a nasty workaround for what seems like a simple firewall issue. — maksimov
– maksimov, Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 13:45
@billBsquare, perhaps you could elaborate on what exactly you're trying to accomplish, and the limitations you believe you're running into. My answer addresses the question you asked, but the other commenters may be correct, there may be a simpler solution than passing work off to a separate java application, depending on exactly what you're trying to do. — dimo414
– dimo414, Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 14:59

dimo414 · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-20 12:49:37Z

3

PHP script serves up an applet (or a Java Web Start program - I've written a tool to make that easier in PHP: PHP JNLP generator), and you can pass arbitrary arguments in the JNLP file, presumably also to an applet.
Java program runs on client side, with no access or connection to PHP or the server side data stores.

Java program generates a request to your server, which hits a PHP page and writes the appropriate content to the DB:

URL url = new URL("http://example.com/storeindb.php?username=xxxxx&arg1=yyyyy&arg2=zzzzz");
new URLConnection(url).getInputStream();

This of course is potentially a security risk, since there's nothing stopping the client, or someone else, from loading that page as well, with whatever data they want, so you'll want to take whatever additional precautions are necessary for your use case. Any solution involving a client passing data to a server has similar risks which will need to be taken into account.

answered Jun 20, 2012 at 12:49

dimo414

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7 Comments

Andrew Thompson Over a year ago

See the edited question and my 2nd comment. I think there is no Java necessary here.

Andrew Thompson Over a year ago

"and you can pass arbitrary arguments in the JNLP file, presumably also to an applet." Yes. The attributes in the JNLP override (or add to) any that are specified in the applet element in HTML.

dimo414 Over a year ago

I disagree. You could solve this problem without Java, but obviously OP is trying to pass off some amount of processing to the client, so PHP proxy is/may not be the right solution. The underlying issue of this question is "How can I transfer information between my server and a java applet?". The answer is pass args to applet/JWS, have applet make request back to server. Since JNLP is XML, not HTML, I'm not sure what exactly you mean by the JNLP overriding applet args (applet != JWS) but yes, I'm sure there's a simple way to pass arguments to an applet, if you don't want Java Web Start.

Andrew Thompson Over a year ago

"(applet != JWS)" Applets can be launched free-floating or embedded in a web page using JWS. I put links to the details on the applet & JWS info. pages.

dimo414 Over a year ago

Applets are not JWS applications. While they serve a similar purpose, "An applet must be a subclass of the java.applet.Applet class," while a JWS application does not. You can migrate an applet to a JWS application but they are not compatible by default, and are different concepts. An applet is described in the HTML of the page providing it, JWS applications are described by JNLP files.

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maksimov · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-20 12:32:56Z

0

Running Java Applet on client machine using server-side PHP exec()? No, not possible.

answered Jun 20, 2012 at 12:32

maksimov

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2 Comments

Andrew Thompson Over a year ago

See the edited question and my 2nd comment. I think there is no Java necessary here.

maksimov Over a year ago

I guess we are dealing with a sort of a service that has Java API, but no other API, OR a firewall issue. Me personally, I'd still like to implement a substitute for Java in PHP to keep the design robust. If it's a firewall - then this has to be addressed, and workarounds like this are the last resort really.

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