ok so this is a terrible java question, especially since I have a cpe degree, but I always just coded on campus, and I'm having trouble using an sdk on my home pc.

I'm using jcreator and I can't get my file to compile, I don't mean I'm getting compiling errors, I mean the specified path is invalid. Now I would think that jcreator would come with a built-in compiler, but I'm not sure it does anymore.

Please help me either get jcreator to compile, or recommend a "turn-key" sdk with built in compiler, I just need something really easy to use.

8/20/2006 2:24:20 PM

one time i installed jcreator and it was fine. the next time i installed it (a year later), it didnt work at all. i have no clue why it was messed up so i didnt use it anymore.

perhaps they changed something or perhaps i magically did it right once and somehow fucked up the next. maybe it has some weird compatibility issue. i dunno, but letting you know it has happened before.

[Edited on August 20, 2006 at 2:28 PM. Reason : i didnt try very hard though, to be fair]

8/20/2006 2:28:41 PM

No, jcreator doesn't have a built in compiler. You have to point it to the jdk on your hard drive and then you can use the compile button at the top if I'm not mistaken. I started off using jcreator and it's not bad but I really really like eclipse.

8/20/2006 2:31:47 PM

see i also set it up to work with the current jdk, but it still wouldnt compile. i really liked jcreator too.

8/20/2006 2:32:45 PM

does eclipse have a built-in compiler?

I mean I like jcreator just fine, if I was gonna download the jdk I should get it from sun's website?

8/20/2006 2:34:01 PM

Yeah, I think you go get the jdk from sun and then in JCreator go to Configure -> Options -> JDK Profiles

and yes, eclipse automatically compiles the code for you

[Edited on August 20, 2006 at 2:37 PM. Reason : eclipse]

8/20/2006 2:37:34 PM

ok I'll try that, thx guys

8/20/2006 2:38:08 PM

ok new question:

I need to have my java program go to a website follow a couple links, crop out a table, and post the table into excel or a flat file.

I think I have the excel or flat file part down, but what classes should I look at to automatically go to a website and follow some links? I can think of how to find the links using tokenizer or whatever, but how would I actually automate the process of taking links on the web, I tried google, and I really don't even know where to begin with this question.

8/20/2006 9:59:35 PM

I had to do a WebCrawler for CSC 216 a while back and granted, mine wasn't the greatest, I think we used either the URL class or the URLConnection class and then kinda scanned the html for <a href= tags. I don't remember much about it but if you still want some more help PM me and I'll see if I can find the class we used.

8/20/2006 11:27:33 PM

ok thanks man, but see I came across webcrawlers, but it seemed that they were used more for compiling lists of websites, can these actually be used to take links? probably right? I've been looking at this for a while so I'm sort of out of it, I feel like that is a bad question.

But humor me and let me ask it again anyway. can web crawlers/spiders be used to actually navigate back and forth between pages and crop out different information, or do they only compile lists of urls?

8/20/2006 11:31:07 PM

I would think as soon as you found the <a href> tag you could Tokenize whatever came after it and then make a new URLConnection for that string but like you, I haven't done it in a while.

8/20/2006 11:33:59 PM