Preparing to distribute BlackBerry Java Applications

To send a BlackBerry Java Application to BlackBerry devices, the application developer must create a .zip file that contains the necessary application files and an .alx file that contains information about the application. If a directory structure is described in the .alx file, that directory structure must be represented in the .zip file.

For more information about creating BlackBerry Java Applications and .alx files, visit www.blackberry.com/developers to see the BlackBerry Java Development Environment Development Guide.

Before you distribute BlackBerry Java Applications, you must specify a shared network folder for BlackBerry Java Applications using the BlackBerry Administration Service. This shared network folder must not be the same network share location that is used for BlackBerry Device Software, and it must not be located in <drive>:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion. The BlackBerry Administration Service accesses the shared network folder to install BlackBerry Java Applications on BlackBerry devices. Do not add application files to the shared network folder or make changes to the files that the BlackBerry Administration Service stores in the shared network folder.

To make a BlackBerry Java Application available for installation on BlackBerry devices, you must add the application to the BlackBerry Administration Service application repository. After you add an application to the application repository, you can add the application to a software configuration, specify whether the application is required, optional, or not permitted on BlackBerry devices, and assign an application control policy to the application to control the access permissions for the application. You assign software configurations to user accounts to install or upgrade BlackBerry Java Applications on BlackBerry devices, or to remove BlackBerry Java Applications from BlackBerry devices.