java webstart System.getProperties() or Syste.setProperties() is ignored

Question

I have an java swing project with a zoomable UI using JXLayer and pbjar-Framework. There was an issue with JTextComponents that is fixed with the following Method in TransformUI.java:

/**
 * {@link JTextComponent} and its descendants have some caret position
 * problems when used inside a transformed {@link JXLayer}. When you plan to
 * use {@link JTextComponent}(s) inside the hierarchy of a transformed
 * {@link JXLayer}, call this method in an early stage, before instantiating
 * any {@link JTextComponent} .
 * <p>
 * It executes the following method:
 * 
 * <pre>
 * System.setProperty(&quot;i18n&quot;, Boolean.TRUE.toString());
 * </pre>
 * 
 * As a result, a {@link GlyphPainter} will be selected that uses floating
 * point instead of fixed point calculations.
 * </p>
 */
public static void prepareForJTextComponent() {
  System.setProperty("i18n", Boolean.TRUE.toString());
}

All JARs are sign with a valid certificate, and the jnlp looks like

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<jnlp spec="7.0+" codebase="https://__HOST_IP____HOST_HTTPS_PORT__/test"
  href="client/1024.jnlp">
  <information>
    <offline-allowed />
  </information>
  <security>
    <all-permissions />
  </security>
  <resources>
    <j2se version="1.8+" java-vm-args="-Xmx512M" />
    <jar href="client.jar" />
    ... more JARs
  </resources>
  <application-desc main-class="de.test.Frame">
    <argument>__HOST_IP__</argument>
  </application-desc>
</jnlp>

The client.jar MANIFEST.MF contains following

...
Permissions: all-permissions
Codebase: *
Trusted-Only: false
Trusted-Library: false
...

Because javaws accept only secure properties I call in the main class

static
{
  TransformUI.prepareForJTextComponent();
}

The problem is that the fix for the JTextComponent not work if I use Java webstart per browser.

For java webstart I tested 4 cases:

1. java
2. javaws [url]
3. javaws [local file]
4. browser

tests using oracle java 8u141, 32 or 64 bit, windows 7 64bit, linux debian 7 64 bit, firefox java

If I call the client as java application the fix works fine

javaws [url]

this call works fine in linux and windows. But in an older version of the jnlp-file we use extensions to include 3rd-party JARs and in windows this call work one time until I delete the cached files

javaws [local file]

does not work

browser

does not work

Any suggestions why the system properties not work?

Answer 1

in javax.swing.text.AbstractDocument.AbstractDocument(Content, AttributeContext) the SystemProperty "i18n" is readed:

...
if (defaultI18NProperty == null) {
  // determine default setting for i18n support
  String o = java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(
    new java.security.PrivilegedAction<String>() {
      public String run() {
        return System.getProperty(I18NProperty);
      }
    }
  );
  if (o != null) {
    defaultI18NProperty = Boolean.valueOf(o);
  } else {
    defaultI18NProperty = Boolean.FALSE;
  }
}
putProperty( I18NProperty, defaultI18NProperty);
....

In my case the property should set always "true" so i use my own JTextField-class:

class MyTextField extends JTextField {
  MyTextField() {
    super();
    Document doc = new PlainDocument();
    doc.putProperty("i18n", Boolean.TRUE);
    this.setDocument(doc);
  }
}