Java Plugin Detection using VBScript on Internet Explorer

Question

Hi,
I need a way to detect when the plugin version is above a certain version number (such as 1.4.1 or higher) so that I can give the user some extra info as to what is happening when the plugin is downloading automatically on Internet Explorer. Something like :-
"Please wait for Java plugin to download"
At present there is a long delay when the user may not know what is happening as no info is relayed back to user.
I know that the presence of the plugin can be detected using vbscript but not with JavaScript but how do i determine that the user has 1.4.1 or higher. I use the following code:
<script language="vbscript">
If IsObject(CreateObject("JavaPlugin"))=True Then
document.writeln("some info to user")
End If
</script>
This tells me if a JavaPlugin is installed but not what version so we still dont know whether the applet will run or the plugin will download.
I have also tried:
<script language="vbscript">
If IsObject(CreateObject("JavaPlugin.141"))=True Then
document.writeln("some info to user")
End If
</script>
this works but what if the user already has a version greater than 1.4.1 this is not detected and a nonsense message saying that the Java plugin is downloading is displayed.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

Here's JavaPlugin detection for netscape and ie using JavaScript . . .
Throw this in a .js file and source it at the start of you html.
function detectPlugin() {         
     var thePlugins = detectPlugin.arguments;     // allow for multiple checks in a single pass
     var pluginFound = false;               // consider pluginFound to be false until proven true
     // if plugins array is there and not fake
     if (navigator.plugins && navigator.plugins.length > 0) {
var pluginsArrayLength = navigator.plugins.length;     
          // for each plugin loop through all desired names and check each against the current plugin name
for (pluginsArrayCounter=0; pluginsArrayCounter < pluginsArrayLength; pluginsArrayCounter++ ) {
var numFound = 0;
for(namesCounter=0; namesCounter < thePlugins.length; namesCounter++) {
                    // if desired plugin name is found in either plugin name or description     the pluginFound                     
if( (navigator.plugins[pluginsArrayCounter].name.indexOf(thePlugins[namesCounter]) >= 0) || (navigator.plugins[pluginsArrayCounter].description.indexOf(thePlugins[namesCounter]) >= 0) ) {
numFound++;
               // now that we have checked all the required names against this one plugin,
               // if the number we found matches the total number provided then we were successful
if(numFound == thePlugins.length) {
pluginFound = true;
                    // if we've found the plugin, we can stop looking through at the rest of the plugins
break;
return pluginFound;
function noJavaPlugin(){
window.open("http://plugin_location");
function redirect_users(URL){
location.href = URL;
if(navigator){
browser_string = navigator.appVersion + " " + navigator.userAgent;
if (browser_string.indexOf("MSIE")>=0) {
          document.write(' <object classid="clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93"');
          document.write(' CODEBASE="javascript:noJavaPlugin()" width=1 height=1>');
          document.write(' <param name="type" value="application/x-java-applet;version=1.4">');
          document.write(' <param name="cache_option" value="Plugin">');
          document.write(' <param name="cache_archive" value="">');
          document.write(' <param name="MAYSCRIPT" value="true">');
          document.write(' </object>');
     else {
          if (! (detectPlugin("Java Plug-in 1.4.0_01 for Netscape Navigator (DLL Helper)"))) {
               noJavaPlugin();
else{
     noJavaPlugin();
redirect_users("http://place_to_go_if_they_have_plugin");