Learning Java, 4th Edition

Running BeanShell

All you need to run BeanShell is the Java runtime system (version 1.1 or greater) and the bsh JAR file. Under Mac OS X and Windows, you can launch a graphical desktop for BeanShell by simply double-clicking the JAR file. More generally, you can add the JAR to your classpath:

    Unix:     export CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:bsh.jar
    Windows:  set classpath %classpath%;bsh.jar

You can then run BeanShell interactively in either a GUI or command-line mode:

    java bsh.Console       // run the graphical desktop
    java bsh.Interpreter   // run as text-only on the command line

Running BeanShell with the GUI console brings up a simple, Swing-based desktop that allows you to open multiple shell windows with basic command history, line editing, and cut-and-paste capability. There are some other GUI tools available as well, including a simple text editor and class browser. Alternately, you can run BeanShell on the command line, in text-only mode.

You can run BeanShell scripts from files, like so:

    % java bsh.Interpreter myfile.bsh

Within some versions of the NetBeans and Sun Java Studio IDEs, you can create BeanShell script files using the New File wizard or run any file with a .bsh extension just as you would execute Java code.