This page discusses the following Batik installation issues:

• System Requirements
• Choosing a download from the distribution
• OptionalComponents

Batik requires the following systems to be already installed in your system:

• Java Virtual Machine A Java 1.3 or greater compatible virtual machine must be present.

To install Batik, you will need to go to the download area and download one or more ZIP file containing the distribution of your choice. Here are the various components you will find in the download area and their intended use:

• batik-version.zip (e.g., batik-1.1.zip.) The binary distribution contains a compiled executable JAR files that let you get started with Batik easily. This is the recommended distribution if you want to look at Batik's features, or you want to experiment with SVG and see the fun things you can do with Batik. The binary distribution comes with a set of sample SVG files.
• batik-src-version.zip (e.g., batik-src-1.1.zip.)The source distribution contains a complete snapshot of the Batik source code, documentation, regression tools and utilities as well as the script for building Batik. That distribution is a snapshot of the CVS repository. This is the recommended distribution for developers who want to dive into the code and understand how Batik can be integrated in their applications or how Batik can be extended.
• batik-docs-version.zip The documentation bundle contains a copy of the Javadoc for the Batik source code.

In all cases, the user should:

• Make sure a Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed on the computer where Batik will be installed. See System Requirements. Make sure that the java runtime is in the PATH environment variable.
• Select the directory where he/she wants to download the distribution
• Download the desired distribution from the download area
• Open a console and go to the directory where the distribution was downloaded.
• Unpack the distribution with Java's JAR utility:
  jar xvf <distribution>
  For example, if you have downloaded batik-1.1.zip into /home/IamHere, type the following at the command prompt:
  cd /home/IamHere
jar xvf batik-1.1.zip
  IMPORTANT: UNIX users, do not use the unzip utility to unpack the various Batik zip files, as this would not set the directories access rights properly.
• From there, following the instructions specific to the application you want to use. For example, see the SVG Browser page or the SVG Rasterizer page for an explanation on how to use these tools.

By default, Batik source distribution comes with the Mozilla Rhino JavaScript Engine (js.jar).

To enable other scripting languages support, you will only need to install the correct jar files in lib directory of Batik and to recompile your distribution.

• For Python, you need to download Jython distribution at the following URL http://www.jython.org. Then you put the jython.jar file in the Batik lib directory.
• For Tcl, you need to download Jacl & TclBlend distribution at the following URL http://dev.scriptics.com/software/java. Then you put the jacl.jar & tcljava.jar files in the Batik lib directory.

Conversely, you can remove the js.jar of the Batik lib directory to remove JavaScript support and have a smaller distribution.