ChartDirector for Java contains the ChartDirector Java library, complete documentation, and sample code as JSP and as standalone Java programs.

ChartDirector for Java is distributed as a zip file, with a directory structure compatible with that of a JSP Web Application Archive (WAR). This allows ChartDirector for Java to be directly installed to a JSP web server as a web application. This is useful if you plan to use ChartDirector in a JSP web application.

The advantages of installing ChartDirector as a web application are that the system will be set up automatically for running the sample code and testing ChartDirector. You can also easily uninstall ChartDirector by uninstalling the web application.

To install ChartDirector as a JSP web application, simply rename the ".zip" file extension to ".war" and use it as a WAR. Virtually all JSP web servers support installing WAR. Please refer to your web server's documentation for details.

After installing ChartDirector as a JSP web application, you can access the ChartDirector documentation and sample code using:

    http://server_name/context_path

where "context_path" is the path of the servlet context that you use during installation.

Most web servers will automatically extract (or unzip) the WAR file during installation. However, some web servers, such as Tomcat configured with unpackWARs="false", may use the WAR file directly without extracting it. In this case, ChartDirector will work normally, but you will be unable to modify the sample code and experiment with ChartDirector. If your web server does not automatically extract WAR files, you may unzip the WAR file to a directory first, and install the extracted directory to the web server. You may then modify the sample code and experiment with ChartDirector.

If you prefer not to install the ChartDirector distribution as a web application at the moment, or if you are planning to use ChartDirector in standalone Java programs, you may simply unzip the ChartDirector for Java distribution. You may then refer to the "Installation" section of the ChartDirector documentation on how to run the sample code, and how to use ChartDirector in your own applications.