18 Aug 09 JME on .Net Framework – A Workaround

Introduction

JME is the most popular molecule structure editor on the web. We can integrate it to any web pages or Java applications. Now, we’re going to integrate JME into .Net applications via IKVM.NET .

Method

Although JME can be obtained at no cost, it’s still a private software as it’s not open source. Any port method at source code level would not work on JME. The only way is work with JME Java byte-code.

IKVM.NET is an implementation of Java for Mono and the Microsoft .NET Framework.To be brief, IKVM.NET is a JVM for .Net. With IKVM.NET, we’re able to run Java byte-code on .Net Framework. IKVM.NET has uncomplete support for AWT and Swing.

With several simple steps listed below, you’re able to integrate JME into your VB.Net or C# applications.

1. Download IKVM.Net and compile JME.jar into .Net assembly.
2. Wrap JME applet into a Java Swing container JWindow.
3. Popup the JWindow.

Let’s have a look at how we can do it.

Compiling JME into .Net assembly

Under the directory of IKVM.NET executables, this command below can simply covert JME from Java byte-code into .Net IL code.

C:\ikvm-0.40.0.1\bin>ikvmc.exe -target:library JME.jar
Note IKVMC0002: output file is "JME.dll"

Add JME.dll and other IKVM.NET dependencies into your Visual Studio project as reference and then you can access JME class in C#.

Display JME

JME applet = new JME();
JWindow floatingWindow = new JWindow();
floatingWindow.setSize(300, 300);
floatingWindow.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 1));
floatingWindow.add(applet);
applet.init();
applet.start();
floatingWindow.setVisible(true);

With this code snippet you can display JME in C# applications and invoke the applet’s Java methods in C#.

Tags: .Net, Applet, C#, Chemoinformatics, JME