The JClic applications run with a system named Java WebStart. To run the JClic for the first time, you should go to the JClic’s installation page and click on the JClic application button. The webStart will download the program files and start Jclic.

From now, every time we want to run the application, it’s not necessary to click on the webpage button. The files are already installed, we just need to create a shortcut in the start menu. How to create a shortcut? ok... there are two ways:

1. The Java WebStart used to ask if you want to create a shortcut. The application prompts us to create a shortcut the second time we run the application from the web.
2. If we have already been asked but we said "no" because we didn’t know what we were being asked, or we don’t remember or someone has deleted the shortcut or the shortcut is not working... we can create it manually. To create a shortcut for a WebStart application you should do the following:
   
   • Open the Java WebStart application manager. You can do it from the Start Menu, searching the icon called "Java WebStart" or, even easier, following this link.
   • Search for the downloaded application group, inside we should find the JClic. Select it.
   • Open the application menu and if there is a line saying Remove shortcut, select it.
   • Open again the application menu and you will find now there is a line to Create shortcuts. Select it and an icon will appear in the start menu and another one in the desktop.Once the shortcuts are generated, this shortcuts can be copied and pasted wherever you want.
   If you’re using Mac OS X the shortcuts are named "applications" and are generated in the desktop. The procedure is the same described before: open the application manager, remove the object(if it was previously created) and create it again. Once the "applications" are created, it can be moved to another folder or to the application launch bar.
   
   In Linux and Solaris, the shortcuts for WebStart application can not be created (at least, currently). You can download the JNLP file which starts the application manager and create a shortcut pointing, labeled as "Java applications", for instance. Once the users click on this shortcut, a windows containing, among others, the JClic icon appears. We can also download the JNLP file that starts JClic and create a shortcut, but this option is not advisable because this will block the automatic application update.

The installers include a new element to the JClic project library of your computer. When you start the JClic, the library is automatically loaded. You will find the buttons to start the projects you have installed there.

During the first download or the update process of the Java WebStart applications, some elements could break down blocking the proper working order. The fastest solution is to remove the applications and reinstall them.

Start opening the Java WebStart control window clicking this link, search the downloaded JClic applications and, one by one. Select and remove them. Afterwards, repeat the installation of the applications clicking on the icons found in the downloading and installation page.

JClic is free software released by the Ministry of Education of the Government of Catalonia under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). This allows you to freely use, distribute and modify it whenever certain conditions, like the persistence of the GPL license in any derived work, are respected. The source code of JClic is available at the development portal.

Yes. It's very simple. Start JClic author and go to File - Open. Select in Files of type the option "Clic 3.0 packages (*.pac, *.pcc)". Find the Clic package and confirm the operation. The package will be imported and converted. Once opened, it can be edited and modified. The final step will be to save it as a JClic project (File - Save as...), with the extension .jclic.zip.

We are preparing a document with more details about the steps to follow, and with some tricks and suggestions about how to obtain the best results.

The most recommendable way is to create a common library of projects, lodged in a file server, and to configure JClic in all the computers in order to have it as main library. This will facilitate enormously the installation of the applications, the organization of shortcuts and the backup of data. All projects installed in the server will automatically appear in the JClic screens of the clients.

We are preparing a document with more details about how to carry out this configuration in the server and in the clients.

The list of languages that appears when JClic is launched for the first time, and those that are shown in the configuration dialogs, correspond to the international standard ISO 639-2. Of course, JClic is not translated into all the languages of this list.

The JClic development project has different working groups formed by volunteers. One of this working groups will be in charge of creating and managing translations of JClic into other languages. The new translations will be added to the JClic modules, which will be automatically updated thanks to Java WebStart.

Of course! In the downloading and installation page, you will find the files required to run Jclic in "unplugged" computers. A detailed explanation of the process for the application and project installation can be found in this document. (Sorry! By now, this document is only available in Catalan and in Spanish).

The fastest way to open a Jclic project is through an embedded applet in a web page. A web page can be created while a JClic project is being edited through the JClic author. This solution can be only used if we jointly publish the page and the JClic project.

To run a JClic project already published in Internet just follow the steps described below:

First, we must have the URL (also known as internet address) of the jclic.zip file that contains the project. At the zonaClic, the URL is shown at the bottom left of the project boxes

For example, the JClic demo activities URL is:

http://clic.xtec.cat/projects/demo_eng/jclic/demo.jclic.zip

It’s not mandatory to store the project at zonaClic, it can be located in any other web.

To run the applet, we will call for a special page at the server that generates the code from the parameters provided. It’s this:

http://clic.xtec.cat/db/jclicApplet.jsp?project=xxx&lang=yy

Then, we have to edit the expression generated. We should substitute xxx by the file jclic.zip and yy by the two-letter code for the language we want to use with JClic. The English code is "en".

So, the call to open a web page in English using the JClic demo must be:

http://clic.xtec.cat/db/jclicApplet.jsp?project=http://clic.xtec.cat/projects/demo_eng/jclic/demo.jclic.zip&lang=en

In addition, we could add more parameters to the call. To add a parameter first we must write the symbol & followed by the parameter name, the equal symbol and its value. The most useful parameters are:

• title
  To show the web title. The blank spaces must be replaced by “+”, and code the symbols with “%”. For example: &title=Demo+activities
• skin
  To set the visual aspect. The standard values are @orange.xml, @blue.xml, @green.xml and @simple.xml. It’s required to include an @ before the noun. For example: &skin=@orange.xml
• exitUrl
  To set the address to another web page where the browser will go when the JClic reaches a place with the command "Exit". This command can be set in a cell with active content or from a sequence element. For example: &exitUrl=http://www.xtec.cat

We will have the URL ready with all these parameters. Then, we can create desktop shortcuts, an embedded object in a presentation program, a Flash animation or a link from another webpage.

The easiest way to download and install a project from clicZone is searching for it in the library of activities and click on the button Install. This system uses Java WebStart to run the installation wizard which will finish the installation process automatically. But... What can we do if our computer does not have JavaWebStart or if we have chosen the JClic manual installation? Very easy:

Remember that JClic Player can read three filetypes: JClic projects (files which end up with .jclic.zip), Clic 3.0 packages (files which end up .pac or .pcc) and project installers (files which end up with .jclic.inst). In this example we have directly run a project installer from its internet address.

First of all, check the "root certificate requirement", explained in this page. Then, if the problem persists, go ahead with other possibles issues explained in this article:

Java keeps a copy of all software elements in a computer place called the "cache" . The function of this stock is reduce waiting time and the amount of information to download in each application run.

Sometimes you can have one of these components have been damaged by a transmission error or problems with the file system. In this case the execution of the application is blocked, and the best solution is to clear the cache, so the Java downloads again the files you need for the next execution.

Here's the procedure for clearing your cache. The steps are different depending on the version of Java you are using.

Steps to follow with Java 1.5 | Steps to follow with Java 1.6 or later

Clearing the Java cache in computers running with Windows Xp and Java 1.5

Go to Start | Configuration | Control Panel | Java

Go to General tab and click on Delete Files...

Select all and click Ok.

Once the cache has been cleared, close all the windows and reboot the computer to apply changes.

Clearing the Java cache in computers running with Windows Xp and Java 1.6

Go to Start | Configuration | Control Panel | Java

Go to General tab and click on Settings.

A new windows will pop-up, then click on Delete Files...

Select all and click Ok.

Once the cache has been cleared, close all the windows and reboot the computer to apply changes.