The installation process creates a program group for JSX on the Windows start menu, containing choices to launch JSX, read JSX documentation, or uninstall JSX. Also created is a desktop shortcut with an associated hot key, enabling JSX to be conveniently launched by pressing Control+Alt+Shift+J. Another shortcut is placed in the Send To folder so that a zip archive may be loaded into JSX via the context menu in Windows Explorer. Finally, the installation program silently installs--if not already present--the freely distributable "Inno Setup" program by Jordan Russell (from JRSoftware.org), which JSX uses whenever you create executable packages of scripts.
At the end of the installation process for the complete JSX application, six script sets are offerred. These options are unchecked by default. You can check one ore more of them to install their zip archives with JSX, i.e.,

BX, the Jaws toolbox, by Doug Lee (BSD license)

HomerKit, the Homer script library and editor interface, by Jamal Mazrui (LGPL license)

JFW Technical, menu-driven inspector of Windows environment, by Michael Curran

JLS Utilities, advanced alternative to JAWS home row mode, by Jim Snowbarger

Script Template, a template for event-based scripting of JAWS, by Jamal Mazrui (LGPL license)

Scripts for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or 2008, by contributors from the blind programming community (public domain)

The zip archives are stored in a zip subfolder of the JSX program folder. Shortcuts for installing them are included in the JSX program group on the Start Menu, so they may be installed at a later point, not just during installation of JSX.

The Recompile choice is unchecked by default. If checked, JSX will use the JAWS command-line compiler to produce new binary, .jsb files from the source, .jss files. This ensures the scripts are optimized for the JAWS version that you chose. If the script files are not compatible with that version, however, you may be informed of a compilation error. If you cannot manually correct the source files so they properly compile, then you may wish to install the scripts from the backup archive, if one was created.

The View choice is unchecked by default. If checked, JSX will launch Windows Explorer after the script installation process, browsing the folder of zip archives.

JSX examines each file in the zip archive of new scripts to be installed. If an existing file with the same name is not found in the scripts folder, then JSX copies the new file there. If an existing file is found and it has an extension of jss, jsl, or jsd, then the new file is appended to the existing one--its content is placed at the end. On the other hand, if an existing file has an extension of jkm, jcf, or jgf, then JSX writes all key values of the new file into the existing one--either adding or replacing values depending on whether they already exist.

Since recompiling would be necessary after such a merging of script files, JSX automatically checks the Recompile check box if you select the Merge radio button. Conversely, JSX automatically deslects the Merge radio button if you uncheck the Recompile check box.

JSX 1.4 introduced a second, usually better way of merging. The Merge radio button should not be selected for this. In this example, the file HomerIE.jss contains enhancements to the Internet Explorer scripts supplied with JAWS. Place the following line at the top of the file:

;Merge "BrowseUI"

This tells JSX to merge HomerIE.jss into the script set associated with the base name BrowsUI (the file name is BrowseUI.dll). JSX looks up the association in ConfigNames.ini. With JAWS 8 and above, the main file of the script set is "Internet Explorer.jss." With lower JAWS versions, it is "Internet Explorer 5-6.jss."

JSX creates a container file with a set of Use statements that load script components in a particular order, thereby governing the inheritance chain of scripts and functions. The file also contains a dummy function at the bottom, which is needed so that the JAWS script compiler considers the file to be a valid script file, thus creating a valid .jsb version after compilation. The factory-supplied version of the .jsb is copied from the All Users script folder to a file in the user script folder with a modified name. A suffix of _fs (standing for Freedom Scientific) is added to the base name, e.g., Internet Explorer.jsb would become Internet Explorer_fs.jsb, or default.jsb would become default_fs.jsb. If a file with the same name as the container file already exists, it is backed up with a numeric suffix, e.g., to Default_01.jss.

The order of Use statements in the generated container file is determined by the following algorithm. If there is an existing container file, its component order is the starting sequence; otherwise it is an empty string. If there is a vertical bar (|) delimited list of components after the Merge word on the top line, its sequence is appended to the starting sequence after removing any duplicate items from the starting sequence. If the resulting sequence does not contain the _fs component, it is prepended to the sequence (so it serves as base functionality at the top level of the inheritance chain). If the current script component is not contained in the sequence, it is appended.

In our example, a container file called Internet Explorer.jss would be created and compiled with the following content:

; This is a container file, structured with conventions to support merging by the JAWS Script Exchange program.
; Rather than code of its own, the file contains a sequence of Use statements, followed by a dummy function to satisfy the JAWS script compiler.

Use "Internet Explorer_fs.Jsb"
Use "HomerIE.jsb"

Void Function _Filler()
SayString("This is to complete a container .jss so that it compiles to a valid .jsb")
EndFunction

Suppose we wanted to add AnotherIE.jsb to the sequence. We could do so with the following syntax on the top line:

;Merge AnotherIE.jsb "BrowseUI"

Now the container file would begin with the following statements:

Use "Internet Explorer_fs.Jsb"
Use "AnotherIE.jsb"
Use "HomerIE.jsb"

The merge algorithm is intended to accomplish several objectives:

* Previous JSX syntax for merging remains compatible.

* If no container file already exists, the component sequence will be the _FS file followed by the current file.

* If a container file already exists and no post sequence is specified, the existing sequence will be preserved.

* If a post sequence is specified, it can override the existing sequence.

JSX would also merge related .jkm and .jcf files, which are in .ini format, as follows. It iterates through all sections of the new file, and all keys within each section, writing the key/value pair to the existing file. Thus, if a key already exists, its value is replaced. If it does not already exist, it is created.

The merge target may be a delimited list of files rather than a single file, e.g.,

;Merge "BrowseUI|IEFrame"

If a question mark follows the semicolon, JSX asks for confirmation about whether to perform the merge, prompting with a warning on the remainder of the line, e.g.,

;?Merge "Microsoft Outlook.jss|Microsoft Outlook XP-2003.jss" For Homer benefits that require configuring Outlook for plain text email,

Press Enter (for the OK button) to accept the selections, or Escape to abort. If you had specified a name for the zip archive, it will be used for the new archive based on the files you selected. If you did not specify a name, then JSX will pick a name corresponding to the root name of the last .jss file you selected (e.g., skype.zip will be created based on skype.jss). If a zip archive with the same name already exists, JSX will ask whether to add files to that archive. Answer Yes to do so, or No to create a new archive based only on the items you just selected. You can also press Escape to abort the operation.

If you included a subfolder in your selection, e.g., one called skype containing additional support files for the skype scripts, the contents of the subfolder will be included in the zip archive, including relative paths to the lower items in the folder tree. The JSX Installer will recreate this subfolder from the zip archive.

If you only want to create a package in the form of a zip archive, then you are done. More likely, however, you will want to create a package in the form of a self-installing executable. The default, Package button creates this. Using the command-compiler of Inno Setup, it creates a compressed executable containing both the zip archive you specified and a copy of the JSX utility. For example, you might create the skype.exe package in the same folder as skype.zip. You can email skype to others or post it on a web site. When executed, it launches the included jsx.exe with the included skype.zip as the choice for the zip archive to install.

JSX does try to display documentation automatically, however, at the end of installation. It looks for a .htm or .txt file with the same root name as the archive e.g., skype.htm or skype.txt. If not found, it looks for one with the same root name as the last .jss file in the archive. If found, JSX opens it with the default program for that file extension, e.g., the default web browser or text editor.

Guiding Installation Choices
One more control deserves mention in the JSX Packager dialog. A check box before the Package button lets you recommend settings to the end-user during installation of the packaged scripts. This control, labeled "Guide package with current settings," is unchecked by default. If checked, the following JSX settings will be transmitted as starting values when the resulting package is executed: JAWS version, Language, Current/All Users, Exe association, Backup, Recompile, View, and Keep copy. The user can press the Defaults button (Alt+D) to set those values instead.

Adding functionality to the base template, a custom.iss file can contain nearly any Inno Setup sections except the initial [Setup] section. a developer may add custom.iss to a zip archive so that the resulting executable package performs tasks in addition to installing JAWS scripts to the scripts folder. For example, a help file for the JAWS scripts could be installed in another folder, or a configuration file for the application could be installed in the folder that it examines for such files.

An example custom.iss file is located in the JSX program folder, containing Inno Setup commands to install a .NET Framework assembly (lbc.dll) in the JFW program folder, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (timesheet.xls) in the My Documents folder, and an associated JAWS personalized settings file (timesheet.jsi) in the PersonalizedSettings subfolder of the scripts folder. Other commands run a .NET utility (regasm.exe) to register the assembly as a COM server, and launch a program (Notepad.exe) at the end of installation. Note that the custom.iss commands can make use of values for the JFW, scripts, and .NET folders (previously determined by code in the scripts.iss file). This sample custom.iss contains the following eight lines (which are long and may wrap in your viewing program):

[Files]
Source: "c:\jsx\tmp\timesheet.xls"; DestDir: "{userdocs}"; Flags: IgnoreVersion; Check: DirExists(ExpandConstant('{code:ScriptDir}'));
Source: "c:\jsx\tmp\timesheet.jsi"; DestDir: "{code:ScriptDir}\PersonalizedSettings"; Flags: IgnoreVersion; Check: DirExists(ExpandConstant('{code:ScriptDir}'));
Source: "c:\jsx\lbc.dll"; DestDir: "{code:JFWDir}"; Flags: IgnoreVersion; Check: DirExists(ExpandConstant('{code:JFWDir}'));

[Run]
FileName:"{code:NETDir}\regasm.exe"; Parameters: "/nologo /silent ""{code:JFWDir}\lbc.dll"" /tlb"; Description: "Install Layout by Code COM library"; Flags: runhidden
FileName:"Notepad.exe"; Flags: postinstall nowait

When creating an executable, JSX replaces the string "c:\jsx\tmp\" with the path to the temporary folder that it creates in the current session for unzipping the archive of script and other files to be installed. Based on scripts.iss, custom.iss, and string replacements at run time, JSX creates a temporary file, temp.iss, which it passes to Inno Setup for compilation. You can examine temp.iss in the JSX program folder to check what was used the last time JSX tried to create an executable. If JSX cannot create an executable, you may wish to debug temp.iss within the Inno Setup editor, then create a revised custom.iss once temp.iss compiles successfully. The JSX program folder also contains isetup.txt, a plain text version of the Inno Setup help file, isetup.hlp, which details the capabilities and syntax of this software.