ThinkingRock Forum

hi,

i´m new to ThinkingRock and i must say, that´s a great piece of software!

i would like to use Thinkingrock on a USB-Stick to use it at home and at office. Unfortunately in my office there is no opportunity for me to install Jave Runtime 1.5 nor to install any software.

My Question is, can i install a Java Runtime Environment directly on the USB Drive?

sincerly,
Chris

Yes. I've tried it and it works okay. I don't use it this way though. You might need to write a small script to invoke the thumb-drive-resident JVM.

I agree that it is a wonderful program! I also have the same problem with the inability to install the software. I have tried to install Java Runtime 1.5 on the USB drive, but when I attempt to run TR, the application does not launch. Is it possible to run entirely on USB, or does some registry entry need to be made in the PC? Hopefully you have a solution! Really looking forward to using TR!

Sincerely,
JDP

Here's how I got TR working on a USB drive:

1) Copy your TR folder to the USB drive.
2) Copy your Java Runtime Environment folder to the USB drive.
3) Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable in the thinking-rock.bat file.
4) Make a couple of changes to the thinking-rock.bat file in the TR folder on the USB drive.
5) Run TR by double clicking on the thinking-rock.bat file.

Here is my thinking-rock.bat file:

set JAVA_HOME=e:\programs\jre1.5.0_08
%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java -jar thinking-rock-win32-1.2.3.jar

You will need to change the drive and folder names.

Hope this helps,

Bobby

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it did not work for me. I made sure I changed the drive and folder names. Starts to execute, but does not launch. The executed file (?) goes away too fast to see what error it may be encountering. Was really hoping this would work for me!

Thanks anyway! Still hoping for a solution!

Best regards,
JDP

[quote="Claire"]You can put the Mac, Windows and Linux versions on the same USB key. They don't need to be in the same folder. They can all open the same data file - only one at a time though.

You will need Java 1.5 on all the machines you run it on - unless you install Java for the different platforms on the USB key - which I think is still possible, I did it about a year ago and got them all working on a 256 MB USB key.[/quote]

Claire,
I found this post in another thread. Do you have detailed instructions on how to make this work completely from a USB? I imagine there are many others who are not able to install Java on corporate network pc's that this would benefit.

Best regards,
JDP

Try running the batch file from the command line instead of double clicking the batch file from explorer.

1) Click on the "Start" menu.
2) Choose "Run..."
3) Type in cmd.exe and hit enter
4) Change the current drive to the USB drive letter.
5) cd to the TR directory.
6) type thinking-rock.bat and hit enter.

Paste the output into this thread and maybe we can see what is up.

Thanks,
Bobby

You may want to also post the contents of your modified thinking-rock.bat file.

thanks,
Bobby

Hi all,

thanks for your replies.

I copied the complete directory of my Java VM to the usb-drive.

Then i used the following batch-file and it works via double-klick:

SET JAVA_HOME=\jre1.5.0_10
SET PATH=%PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%\bin
java -jar thinking-rock-win32-1.2.3.jar

I didn´t want to change the path according to the usb drives position, because you can not be sure, that it is allways the same e.g. e:\ or f:\. So
i just tried \jre1.5.0_10 without the drive letter, e.g. e:\jre1.5.0_10.

Maybe it will work for you too.

Another opportunity may be to use a wrapper tool like JSmooth.

http://jsmooth.sourceforge.net/

JSmooth allows a more sophisticated search process. It has a very useful
step by step help file. JSmooth will search for the Java VM automatically e.g. in Windows registry and then on the usb-stick, if you want. So you could use the same start file at home and at office. At home it would use the installed Java VM of the host machine, at work it would use the one on the stick.

sincerly,
Chris

Thanks for all the suggestions! Still no go! Here is what I get when I execute the updated BAT file:

G:\Program Files\ThinkingRock>java -jar thinking-rock-win32-1.2.3.jar
'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

I have installed Java on the USB drive. I am not sure if it has somehow installed something on the hard drive of my home PC that I need on the USB drive to make it run (not sure that makes sense or not).

Hopefully someone has a solution for me. Really want to use ThinkingRock! Thanks for your help!

JDP,

please copy and paste your complete batch-file.

If you start the programm like this:



it will not work.

Where did you place the Java VM, please tell us the path.
Tell us the path of the batch file as well.

sincerly,
Chris

I have installed the Java VM here:

G:\Program Files\Java

I have installed ThinkingRock here:

G:\Program Files\ThinkingRock

The batch file (located here G:\Program Files\ThinkingRock) looks like this:

SET JAVA_HOME=\jre1.5.0_10
SET PATH=%PATH%;%JAVA_HOME%\bin
java -jar thinking-rock-win32-1.2.3.jar

Hopefully this will help!

Best regards,
JDP

Change

SET JAVA_HOME=\jre1.5.0_10

To

SET JAVA_HOME=\Program Files\Java

Should work after that. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,
Bobby

Made the change and executed the file. It executes, but after it executes the SET JAVA HOME, it executes SET PATH=C:\Program Files\Dcoumentum\Shared:C\Oracle.....etc. (I don't know how to paste the results here). It then returns the same message as before, that 'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

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jdp,

please make sure that you have copied all of the subfolders of your Java VM directory to the stick.

Does a folder

G:\Program Files\Java\bin

exist on your stick?

Does this folder contain java.exe?

Maybe you could provide us with a screenshot of your filestructure and give us a download link. or send it per e-mail.

cu,
Chris