Hi, Roll.
Sorry for the late response - I have just returned from some vacation time.
What Java SE release are you using? There have been reports of problems with icon handling in Java Web Start under JDK 6 and you may be seeing that problem if you are using JDK 6.
The codebase and the references to files within that codebase are handled quite separately from the application's context, which is why as you pointed out the codebase does not use the application's context directly. The server-side support for launching using Java Web Start converts the URL for a file, such as an icon image, from the codebase to the appropriate location locally on the server to find the actual file for transmission back to the client.
- Tim
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