Better cross version support (Java 8 vs 11)

[Col-E]

Better cross version support

Releases have always been targeting Java 8 due to it's continued popularity. However those that have adopted Java 11 can't run Recaf as easily as the Java 8 users because:

• The autoupdate pulls these targeted versions regardless of the current Java environment
• Java 11 can't run the Java 8 targeted releases due to missing dependencies
  • Java 11 no longer includes JavaFx by default
• The updated Java 11 dependencies (Like the ControlsFx dependency) don't match the NameTypes in classes compiled in the 8-centered releases

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Potential Solutions:

• Multi-release jars (Should support existing auto-update mechanic)
• Multiple target jars per release (May conflict with existing auto-update mechanic, causing a breakage of forward compatibility)
• Have dependencies downloaded & resolved at runtime

[andylizi]

How about... checking the JVM version when Recaf starts, and (if it's the first time) automatically downloads the required version of JavaFx/ControlsFx, then immediately restarts itself using the accorded launch arguments? Won't be the most elegant of the solutions, but it should work. It's not like there're any rules about a Java application must only consist of a single jar.

[Col-E]

How about...

With 549305b1829a2e540a19c0db3a3adda0cfb20723 I basically did just that.

• If Recaf launches under Java 8 it runs normally
• If Recaf launches under Java 9 or 10 it asks you to update to 11 or downgrade to 8.
• If Recaf launches under Java 11 it checks if JavaFX is in the classpath. If it is, it runs normally. Otherwise it checks for recaf-$version-patched.jar. If it exists, it'll rerun using that. If not, it'll create it by cloning the Recaf files into it, then overlapping all the required dependencies on top.

[Col-E]

andy's approach works and has been implemented as of 1.14.0