Temporary Files for Content Handlers

When HotJava displays an application within the browser, it uses a content handler to do so. A content handler may create temporary files. By default, these are created in the /tmp directory on Solaris systems, or the c:\temp directory for Windows systems. Windows users who do not have a c:\temp directory should edit the Java Runtime Environment file:

<hotjava-install-directory>\runtime\lib\content-types.properties

Change the temp.file.template property near the top of the file to use an alternative directory for the temporary files.

NOTE: You should not edit the content-types.properties file other than to change the value of the temp.file.template property. Also, note that the "\" character is the escape character in this file. Therefore, to specify "\" in a directory name for Windows systems, you'll need to type "\\".

The HotJava Browser never deletes the temporary files created by content handlers.

Temporary Files for Unknown Viewer Applications

When the HotJava Browser doesn't know how to handle content of a particular type, it displays the "Unknown Viewer" dialog page to ask the user what to do with the content. If the user specifies that an application is launched, a temporary file is created to pass the data to the application. In this case, temporary files are created in one of the following directories:
  1. If possible, they are put in a temp subdirectory of the .hotjava directory. The .hotjava directory lives in your home directory if you have one. Windows users without home directories will find the .hotjava directory under the directory where HotJava is installed.
  2. If that fails, the temporary files are created in the directory specified by the HOTJAVA_HOME environment variable.
  3. If that fails, they are created in the directory in which the HotJava Browser was started.

By default, the HotJava Browser does not delete these temporary files. This is because some applications, especially on Solaris systems, spawn other applications which try to access the temporary file. If HotJava deletes the temporary file after the application it creates is finished, and that application has started another application, the child application may attempt to read the temporary file after it has been deleted.

If you know that the applications you launch do not create child applications, you can safely change the HotJava Browser to delete the temporary files it creates. To do so, set the property viewerunknown.delete.tmpfile to be true in your personal properties file. See Customizing the HotJava Browser for information about how to edit HotJava Browser properties.

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