FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.5.0_04"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_04-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_04-b05, mixed mode, sharing)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
According to the documentation, javaws.exe is supposed to return an exit code of 1 to indicate failure and an exit code of 0 to indicate success. The problem is that even if one applies the workaround specified in bug #6281477, the javaws process *never* returns an exit code of 1. A quick code inspection of com.sun.javaws.Main reveals that the code never returns 1 on failure.

As a simple testcase, try invoking javaws.exe or com.sun.javaws.Main with the following arguments:

-silent -wait -import http://nonexistanturl.com/

This will always return an exit code of 0 even though an exit code of 1 is expected.

Also, as part of this fix please ensure that javaws returns success/failure regardless of whether the -silent command-line switch is specified. That is, so long as the user specifies -import, javaws should return some sort of indication of success or failure. Currently the documentation only guarantees a success/failure exit code if -silent is used.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
See description


REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.
###@###.### 2005-06-24 17:23:23 GMT
Jacob (###@###.###) is the writer for Java Web Start and will be resolving this bug.
I fixed this bug by updating the javaws.html page to be in sync with the man page format. Also, I fixed the return values as specified in the bug report.

- Jacob Royal