Mac OS X and Java and Gradebook

The short story is:

- For the Gradebook, use Firefox or Safari. Do NOT use Chrome.

- EVERY time you use Gradebook, you should RE-download the Gradebook .jnlp file from the PowerTeacher web portal. Entering new grades on an old Gradebook file can cause you to lose those new grades. So if you close out of the Gradebook and it leaves a .jnlp file behind, don't re-use it, trash it.

- Macs on 10.7 or 10.8 need to get Java from Oracle, and update it to v7u11, aka "Java 7." This is detailed below.

- Macs on 10.5 or 10.6 need to run Apple Software Update until it runs out of updates, at which point they will have the last possible version of Java 1.6, aka "Java 6." THEN, you must

a) Open /Applications/Utilities/Java Preferences.app;

b) Check the box to enable jnlp/webstart files;

c) Make sure that Java "1.6.whatever" is at the top of the list of what may be multiple versions of Java. If Java 1.5 is in there too, it should be BELOW 1.6 in the list, or disabled (unchecked) altogether.

- Macs running an OS older than 10.5 can NOT run the gradebook, full stop.

To determine what version of the Mac OS you are running, click the Apple logo menu and choose "About This Mac" and note the numbers after the word "Version."

Apple no longer includes Java as part of Mac OS X versions 10.7 and up -- in fact, a software update released in October 2012 actually uninstalled Java. The first time you try to launch the gradebook after this OS update, you will get a dialog box as shown below. When this happens, click "More Info..."

2. Safari will open and take you to the Java download page. Click the big button that says "Agree and Start Free Download"

3. When the download is finished, double-click the "jre-7u11-macosx-x64.dmg" file to mount the disk image:

4. Double-click the "Java 7 Update 11.pkg" file and follow the prompts. Enter your computer's password if it requests it.

5. When it finishes, try the gradebook again. It should launch, and you'll get a dialog as shown below; check the box for "Always trust content from this publisher" and then click "Run."

From now on, the gradebook should work as expected.

If you are prompted to update Java, please do so.