4KJO (four Kilobyte game JAR optimiser)

[moogie]

if it were not for the need to sign the jar the byte saving  would be much greater...

[appel]

Pretty impressive work I might revisit the code and add some nice features that I had to cut out thanks!

[oNyx]

Ehem... p200 isn't allowed.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[moogie]

it is not allowed on the server side, i.e. the server is not allowed to send the jar via pack200 as it is deemed unfair as many web hosts do not have a pack200 transport system inplace.

By embedding the pack200 in the jar itself, the web server does not need to have the pack200 transport system as it it the client that extracts itself, i.e. it is still vaid as part per the rules as i under stand them.

[oNyx]

http://javaunlimited.net/contests/java4k.php

Contest Rules
Basic rules are as follows:
[....]
* No Pack200
[...]

[moogie]

That is true, for the server side...

http://www.java-gaming.org/forums/index.php?topic=14771.0

see the second paragraph. Pack200 is disallowed on the webhost.

[oNyx]

>see the second paragraph

That one simple outlines the reasoning. And it doesn't matter what has been said in some thread or on irc, if there is a page with rules. "No Pack200" means no pack200. No matter how you look at it. Even some lawyer with mad law bending skills couldn't work around that.

(Btw you aren't the first one who had that idea )

[Riven]

The reason Pack200 is disallowed is, it "relies on server-side configurations".

I think woogley meant to disallow the Pack200 way of distributing your file, not using the technology, if it doesn't "rely on server-side configurations"


It's like saying "It is against the law to carry guns, because it lowers the threshold to commit murder" (sorry, Americans)

That doesn't mean "It is against the law to carry guns" for the military.


(aaaah, don't you love those scewed examples?)

[moogie]

I guess we both had different interpretations of that rule.

Can woogley or someone or someone involved in the organisation please advise?

If it is decided that embedding a pack200 compressed jar in an self executing jar is against the spirit of the rule then I am more than willing to concede.

[appel]

Well, it says "no pack200", so I guess that means no pack200 

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[Riven]

there is something called a 'context', which I tried to show in my example..

[moogie]

UPDATE!

I have made a new version which fixes some bugs (but introduces others due to feature creep ).

Major addition is the ability to automatically make embedded pack200 self executing JAR files. This will on average give you between 50-100 extra bytes ON TOP OF any bytes gained using the 4KJO tool.

To use run the EmbeddedPack200.jar with no command line parameters to get help.  *IMPORTANT NOTE* since it is a very brittle tool you may have to launch the jar from the same directory where you have extracted all the files to.

Also, it is best to steer clear of the JShrink option in the 4KJO tool as it has not been correctly implemented.

The new version can be found at:

http://www.sharebigfile.com/file/55424/4KJO-7z.html

You may need 7-zip or the latest version on winrar to extract the archive.

Let me know if you have any trouble using the new tool.

[moogie]

Some other notes:

You will need to remove the main method from your main class when using the EmbeddedPack200 tool.

Not all projects will benefit from this tool. e.g my previous j4k entry (java rally racer 4k) gained 100 bytes, while the Starship Invaders entry saved 59 bytes. Your project may likewise not recieve any benefit from the tool.

[Riven]

The previous version took my JAR, and reduced it to 3937 bytes (and threw a bunch or errors)

The current version only manages 4068 bytes...

[moogie]

hmm...

what was the original size of the input JAR?
Do both version produce a working JAR?

would you be able to post your input JAR so I can fead it through the system to see what is going on?