You may have been puzzled by links in the Java glossary to the J:
disk drive. This refers to the drive where you store your Java
stuff, i.e. JDK, J2EE and possibly a mirror copy of the mindprod website in J:\mindprod.
You would map it to the drive where this stuff really
exists, e.g. C: or E:.
Why have a J: Drive?
If you map your J: drive to whatever drive you
installed the JDK, then you can use the J: links in
the Java glossary to rapidly navigate the documentation on your local hard disk.
e.g. Sun’s JDK Technote Guide on
2D Drawing : available:
or a link like this: J:\mindprod\jgloss\jdk.html
into your local hard disk mirror of the Java glossary kept up-to-date via the Replicator.
This way you can browse the Java Glossary and the Sun documentation rapidly,
even when you are off-line.
Browser Support for the J: links
For security reasons, most browsers deliberately do not supported the J:
links, directly. However, you can indirectly use the link with:
- In Opera right click copy link and paste
into the command line. Then hit enter. Then it will go.
Just clicking once does nothing.
- In Mozilla and Firefox, use Copy Link Location and paste
to the command line.
- In Netscape, use Copy ShortCut and paste
to the command line..
- IE and directly support the J: link. Just click as
you would any other link.
All browsers also directly support the link with a single click, but only if you
have downloaded the website and are clicking a J:
link in a downloaded document. IE directly supports the link whether you download
the website or use it online.
Setting Up Your J: Drive
Lets assume you installed the JDK on drive E:. To map
your entire E: drive so you can also access it as J:,
first click My Computer ⇒ right click E:
properties ⇒ sharing ⇒ share this folder ⇒ ok. Then click My
Computer ⇒ right click E: ⇒ open ⇒
tools ⇒ map network drive. Choose J: as
the drive and type in the name
//roedy/E$
as the share name where roedy is your computer’s
name. Infuriatingly, you can’t simply browse to the E:\
directory.
Alternatively you could compose a bat file like this and install it as your login
script:
subst J: E:\
SUBST is quicker and does not fail when other network
connections fail. You can undo the subst, with subst
J: /D
While you are at it you can create fake drive shortcuts to directories you use
often, or you can use subst to dynamically assign the P:
and Q: drives on the fly when you are working with
pairs of directories to save you a lot of typing.
The best way to use the J: drive feature is to
download the website using the Replicator
and put it in a directory called \mindprod on your J:
drive or a drive you subst to be your J: drive.