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Last modified: 18 September 2012

URL: http://cxc.harvard.edu/csc/soft_req.html

CSCview Software Requirements

CSCview is a Java applet designed to run in a web browser with Java version SE 6 (developer version 1.6); support for Java SE 7 is not yet available. You can download Java or check your current Java configuration on the Sun site. Note that you may have to adjust your web browser settings to prevent pop-up windows from being blocked, to ensure that all CSCview menu options are active.

Mac users

  • OS X 10.4: CSCview is no longer supported on this platform.
  • OS X 10.5: This platform uses an unsupported version of Java by default, though it is equipped with the required Java SE 6 for running CSCview. You can change the default Java version in Applications -> Utilities -> Java Preferences, to point to Java SE 6.
  • OS X 10.8: In order to be able to launch CSCview on this platform, you must go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General, and change "Allow applications downloaded from:" to "Anywhere."
  • Java version 1.6.0_24 from Apple has been found to cause problems with Java applets in both the Google Chrome and Firefox 4 web browsers. As a result, Mac users may find that the CSCview Java applet does not run properly in these browsers. Users are encouraged to run CSCview in the Safari web browser, or a pre-4.0 version of Firefox. You can learn more about this issue on the Apple Support site.
  • Some Mac users find they cannot use their mouse cursor to drag and drop source properties among the various interactive fields of the CSCview Query tab in order to build a query; refer to the CSC Caveats page for several ways of working around this issue.

Linux users: There are special instructions to follow for those using a default installation of the Linux operating system who find they do not have support for Java applets.

Please ensure that both Java and JavaScript are enabled in your browser:

Mozilla Firefox (2.x and up)
1. Select 'Edit' from the top menu
2. Choose 'Preferences'
3. Choose 'Content' from the top menu
4. Select the checkbox next to 'Enable Java' and 'Enable JavaScript'
Apple Safari
1. Select 'Safari' from the top menu
2. Choose 'Preferences'
3. Choose 'Security'
4. Select the checkbox next to 'Enable Java' and 'Enable JavaScript'
Internet Explorer (6 and 7)
1. Select 'Tools' from the top menu
2. Choose 'Internet Options'
3. Click on the 'Security' tab
4. Click on 'Custom Level'
5. Scroll down until you see section labeled 'Scripting of Java applets' under 'Active Scripting'
6. Under 'Scripting of Java applets', select 'Enable' and click OK
7. Repeats steps 1 and 2
8. Choose 'Advanced'
9. Scroll down to 'Java (Sun)'
10. Check the box for your version of Sun Java
Netscape Navigator (7)
1. Select 'Edit' from the top menu
2. Choose 'Preferences'
3. Choose 'Advanced'
4. Choose 'Scripts & Plugins'
5. Select the 'Enable Java' checkbox and 'Enable native object scripting' checkbox, then click OK

Please keep in mind that upgrading your browser or installing new security software or security patches may affect your JavaScript settings. Refer to the Java site "Help Resources" pages for troubleshooting.

Using CSCview on some Fedora machines

If you are using a Fedora Linux machine and get the "CSCview encountered an error during initialization ...." message, you may not have support for Java applets. The 'iced-tea' implementation of Java which is standard in Fedora installations does not include it, therefore you need to obtain Sun's 32-bit version.

If typing 'java -version' at the Unix prompt returns information containing the string 'IcedTea', e.g. 

unix> java -version
java version "1.6.0_0"
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (IcedTea6 1.6) (fedora-30.b16.fc11-x86_64)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.0-b16, mixed mode)

unix>

then you have this problem.

In this case, you need to install a 32-bit version of Firefox, and retrieve the file jre-6u18-linux-i586.bin from http://java.sun.com.

Then, as the root user: 

unix> cd /opt
unix> sh ./jre-6u18-linux-i586.bin   # This unpacks into /opt/jre1.6.0_18

You need to also make the following soft link and restart Firefox. 

ln -s /opt/jre1.6.0_18/plugin/i386/ns7-gcc29/libjavaplugin_oji.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/libjavaplugin_oji.so

On a 32-bit Ubuntu machine, the process is simpler: 

unix> sudo apt-get install sun-java6-plugin

Last modified: 18 September 2012
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The Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) is operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA.   Email: cxcweb@head.cfa.harvard.edu Smithsonian Institution, Copyright © 1998-2012. All rights reserved.