Tested OS/browser: XP-pro(sp2)/ IE 6
                   32-bit Windows Vista/ IE 7
(the issue appears to be specific to IE)

Tested build:   jre 6u10-b08 (current Plug-in and the next generation Java Plug-in)
                jre.exe nightly build (12/07/2007)

There is different behavior in loading applet in current Plug-in mode v/s the next generation Java Plug-in. (applet loaded with exception v/s applet wasn't loaded at all)


Steps to reproduce:
- Browse http://vrxstudios.com/hotel_program
- Click "DEMOS" on the left frame
- Click the blue camera icons to view virtual tour (ex: Venetian Bella Suite)

Attached are 3 screenshots when Venetian Bella Suite blue camera icon clicked:

1) <6u10-b08-xpie6-hotel-demos.bmp>: Used 6u10-b08 and current Plugin mode. There was exception on Java console but the demo applet loaded fine.

2) <6u10-b08-jpi2-xpie6-hotel-demos.bmp>: Used 6u10-b08 and Enable the next-generation Java Plug-in. There was exception on Java console and the demo applet wasn't loaded at all

3) <nightly-jre.exe-120707-jpi2-xpie6-hotel-demos.bmp> Used nighly build (12/07/2007) and Enable the next generation Java Plug-in. There was no exception on the java console and the demo applet wasn't loaded at all


One can claim that the demo applet stops working in plugin2. (in comparison with the current plug-in). The simliar behavior is also noticed for applet from games.iwon.com.
Posted Date : 2007-12-10 02:29:53.0

N/A

Reproducible on current build. Likely related to introduction of legacy applet lifecycle support in b09, which mandated the fetching of the document base in IE. Exception on the browser side is the following:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalStateException: Can not fetch the document base before SetClientSite is called
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.IExplorerPlugin.getDocumentBase(IExplorerPlugin.java:326)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.JVMInstance.startApplet(JVMInstance.java:212)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.JVMManager.startAppletImpl(JVMManager.java:237)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.JVMManager.startApplet(JVMManager.java:119)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.JVMManager.startApplet(JVMManager.java:92)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.IExplorerPlugin.maybeStartApplet(IExplorerPlugin.java:875)
        at sun.plugin2.main.server.IExplorerPlugin.SetObjectRects(IExplorerPlugin.java:223)
Posted Date : 2007-12-12 03:09:49.0

The failure is likely unrelated to the changes made for the legacy applet lifecycle. The calls to the methods on our ActiveX control are made in a much different order than we have seen for any other applet so far. The applet also works correctly in Firefox 3 with the new plug-in. Continuing to investigate.
Posted Date : 2007-12-12 03:28:46.0

The web pages containing these applets had a strange initialization
sequence causing our ActiveX control to be deactivated and
reactivated. We were eagerly releasing our handle to the client site
which we received in SetClientSite during InPlaceDeactivate. It turns
out that the semantically correct thing to do (for which we already
had code) is to only do this when SetClientSite is called again with a
null site. Removed the incorrect code from InPlaceDeactivate. This
fixes the problems both with the VRX Studios hotel applets as well as
the game applets from IWon.com.
Posted Date : 2007-12-12 20:14:19.0

Thanks to analysis from   xxxxx@xxxxx  , it turns out this is very
similar to an earlier bug around dynamic generation of the applet tag
in IE, 4751259, and it was possible to write a regression test for
this bug.
Posted Date : 2007-12-13 19:55:26.0