Applet Life Cycle not respected in IE browser family

[shortpasta]

Description
After an applet is supposedly destroyed, it's init () and start () methods are called again when in fact they should not be called again.
I reproduced this with gwt and no smartgwt in the picture, but I am posting anyway in case somebody has a workaround?

Use case:
1. Create a Tab
2. Add an applet
3. Applet's init () and start () methods are called, as expected
4. Close the tab via tabSet.remove ()
5. Applet's stop () and destory () methods are called, as expected
6. Applet's init () and start () methods are called again, NOT as expected
Not only that, when init () is called, it contains the same applet parameters specified in #1.
Note that in Chrome, this works fine, meaning that the applet's init () and start () methods are not called again, and the applet object seems to be gone from the Java console...

1. the SmartGWT or SmartClient version and browser version(s) involved;
SmartGWT 2.3-2010-10-05 and 2.3-2010-12-05
GWT 2.0.3
Does not work in IE 6, IE 7, and IE 8
Works fine in Chrome 8.0.552.224

I reproduced this with simple GWT code and so I do not think this is a SmartGWT issue, but I figured I'd ask and see if anybody has any advice.
Here is the GWT groups thread I started:
http://groups.google.com/group/googl...33ccfbe13c530#

2. for a server-side problem, the complete logs generated during processing of the request;
DNA

3. for a client-side problem, the contents of the Developer Console (see FAQ for usage);
DNA

4. if there is a JavaScript error, the stack trace logged in the Developer Console (from Internet Explorer if possible); and
DNA

5. sample code.
Stand-alone case (GWT)

import com.google.gwt.core.client.EntryPoint;
import com.google.gwt.core.client.GWT;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Button;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.ClickListener;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.Widget;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.VerticalPanel;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.TabPanel;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.RootPanel;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.HTML;

public class TestAppletLifecycleGwt implements EntryPoint {

  // my variables
  private int tabNumber = 0;
  final TabPanel tabPanel = new TabPanel ();

  /**
   * The EntryPoint interface
   */
  public void onModuleLoad () {
    
    final VerticalPanel verticalPanel = new VerticalPanel ();

    // Make a new button that does something when you click it.
    final Button button = new Button (
      "Create Tab with Applet",
      new ClickListener() {
        public void onClick (final Widget sender) {
          
          createTabWithApplet ();
        }
    });
    verticalPanel.add (button);

    // add a tabset
    tabPanel.setWidth ("100%");
    tabPanel.setHeight ("100%");
    verticalPanel.add (tabPanel);

    // draw
    GWT.log ("onModuleLoad (): drawing main Layout", null);
    RootPanel.get ().add (verticalPanel);
  }

  /**
   * Creates the first tab
   */
  private void createTabWithApplet () {
    
    // next tabNumber
    tabNumber ++;
    GWT.log ("createTabWithApplet (): adding AND loading tab #" + tabNumber, null);
    
    // organize vertically
    final VerticalPanel verticalPanel = new VerticalPanel ();

    // add the applet
    final String htmlCode = getAppletHtmlCode ();
    GWT.log ("htmlCode: " + htmlCode);
    final HTML html = new HTML ();
    html.setHTML (htmlCode);
    verticalPanel.add (html);
    
    // Close button
    final Button button = new Button (
      "Close",
      new ClickListener() {
        public void onClick (final Widget sender) {
          
          tabPanel.remove (verticalPanel);
        }
    });
    verticalPanel.add (button);
    verticalPanel.setWidth ("100%");
    verticalPanel.setHeight ("100%");
    
    // add the tab
    tabPanel.add (verticalPanel, "Tab #" + tabNumber);
  }

  /**
   * Uniformely generates the HTML code to render the applet
   * @return String
   */
  private String getAppletHtmlCode () {

    final String appletCode = "org.shortdesktop.portal.applet.server.test.LifecycleTestApplet";
    final String appletArchive = "/applet/shortdesktop-applets.jar";
    final String appletId = "LifecycleTestApplet";
    final String appletAlign = null;
    String htmlCode =
      "<applet mayscript='true' " +
      (appletArchive != null ?
        "archive='" + appletArchive + "' " :
        "") +
      (appletAlign != null ?
        "align='" + appletAlign + "' " :
        "") +
      "code='" + appletCode + "' " +
      // "width='" + appletConfig.getWidth () + "' " +
      // "height='" + appletConfig.getHeight () + "' " +
      "width='" + "100%" + "' " +
      "height='" + "100%" + "' " +
      // "name='" + appletConfig.getName () + "' " +
      "id='" + appletId + "' " +
      "alt='Java Runtime Environment is not working on your system'" +
      ">";
    
    htmlCode += "<param name='" + "param1" + "' value='" + "value1" + "'>";

    // close
    htmlCode += "</applet>";

    // done
    return htmlCode;
  }
}

Stand-alone case (SmartGWT)

import com.google.gwt.core.client.EntryPoint;
import com.google.gwt.core.client.GWT;
import com.google.gwt.user.client.ui.HTML;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.tab.TabSet;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.tab.Tab;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.layout.VLayout;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.IButton;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.events.ClickHandler;
import com.smartgwt.client.widgets.events.ClickEvent;

public class TestAppletLifecycle implements EntryPoint {

  // my variables
  private final TabSet tabSet = new TabSet ();
  private int tabNumber = 0;

  /**
   * The EntryPoint interface
   */
  public void onModuleLoad () {

    // layout
    final VLayout mainLayout = new VLayout ();
    mainLayout.setWidth100 ();
    mainLayout.setHeight100 ();

    // add a button to add a tab with an applet
    {
      final IButton button = new IButton ();
      button.setAutoFit (true);
      button.setTitle ("Create Tab with Applet");
      button.addClickHandler (new ClickHandler () {
        public void onClick (final ClickEvent clickEvent) {

          createTabWithApplet ();
        }
      });
      mainLayout.addMember (button);
    }
    
    // add a tabset
    tabSet.setWidth100 ();
    tabSet.setHeight100 ();
    mainLayout.addMember (tabSet);
    
    // draw
    GWT.log ("onModuleLoad (): drawing main Layout", null);
    mainLayout.draw ();
  }

  /**
   * Creates the first tab
   */
  private void createTabWithApplet () {

    // helpers
    GWT.log ("createTabWithApplet (): adding AND loading tab #" + tabNumber, null);
    final VLayout layout = new VLayout ();
    layout.setWidth100 ();
    layout.setHeight100 ();

    // add the applet
    final String htmlCode = getAppletHtmlCode ();
    GWT.log ("htmlCode: " + htmlCode);
    final HTML html = new HTML ();
    html.setHTML (htmlCode);
    layout.addMember (html);

    // add the tab
    tabNumber ++;
    final Tab tab = new Tab ();
    tab.setTitle ("Tab #" + tabNumber);
    tab.setPane (layout);
    tab.setCanClose (true);
    tabSet.addTab (tab);
    tabSet.selectTab (tab);
  }

  /**
   * Uniformely generates the HTML code to render the applet
   * @return String
   */
  private String getAppletHtmlCode () {

    final String appletCode = "LifecycleTestApplet";
    final String appletArchive = "/applet.jar";
    final String appletId = "LifecycleTestApplet";
    final String appletAlign = null;
    String htmlCode =
      "<applet mayscript='true' " +
      (appletArchive != null ?
        "archive='" + appletArchive + "' " :
        "") +
      (appletAlign != null ?
        "align='" + appletAlign + "' " :
        "") +
      "code='" + appletCode + "' " +
      // "width='" + appletConfig.getWidth () + "' " +
      // "height='" + appletConfig.getHeight () + "' " +
      "width='" + "100%" + "' " +
      "height='" + "100%" + "' " +
      // "name='" + appletConfig.getName () + "' " +
      "id='" + appletId + "' " +
      "alt='Java Runtime Environment is not working on your system'" +
      ">";

    // close
    htmlCode += "</applet>";

    // done
    return htmlCode;
  }
}

Applet:

import java.util.Date;
import java.awt.Color;
import javax.swing.JApplet;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.Box;
import javax.swing.JTextField;
import javax.swing.border.Border;

public class LifecycleTestApplet extends JApplet {
  
  // my attributes
  private JTextField textField;

  /**
   * The Applet interface
   */
  @Override
  public void init () {

    // helper
    log ("init ()");

    // delegate
    super.init ();
    
    // log param1
    final String value1 = getParameter ("param1");
    log ("init (): param1=" + value1);
    

    // create simple UI
    final JPanel panel = new JPanel ();
    final String title = "LifecycleTestApplet";
    final Border border = BorderFactory.createTitledBorder (title);
    panel.setBorder (border);
    panel.setBackground (Color.WHITE);

    // add a log lines
    final Box box = Box.createVerticalBox ();
    textField = new JTextField (40);
    textField.setHorizontalAlignment (JTextField.LEFT);
    textField.setEditable (false);
    box.add (textField);
  }

  /**
   * The Applet interface
   */
  @Override
  public void start () {

    // helper
    log ("start ()");

    // delegate
    super.start ();
  }

  /**
   * The Applet interface
   */
  @Override
  public void stop () {

    // helper
    log ("stop ()");

    // delegate
    super.stop ();
  }

  /**
   * The Applet interface
   */
  @Override
  public void destroy () {

    // helper
    log ("destroy ()");

    // delegate
    super.destroy ();
  }

  /**
   * Uniformely logs the given message
   * @param message
   */
  private void log (final String message) {

    System.out.println ("<" + new Date () + ">");
    System.out.println ("<" + toString () + ">");
    System.out.println ("<identityHashCode: " + System.identityHashCode (this) + "> ");
    System.out.println ("<" + message + ">");
    if (textField != null) {
      textField.setText (message);
    }
  }
}

GWT Console Logging

00:00:38.719 [INFO] Loading module portal
00:00:43.375 [INFO] onModuleLoad (): drawing main Layout
00:00:43.375 [INFO] onModuleLoad (): drawing main Layout
00:00:43.375 [INFO] onModuleLoad (): drawing main Layout
00:00:51.406 [INFO] htmlCode: <applet mayscript='true' archive='/applet.jar' code='LifecycleTestApplet' width='100%' height='100%' id='LifecycleTestApplet' alt='Java Runtime Environment is not working on your system'><param name='param1' value='value1'></applet>

Java Console Logging

<Sun Dec 19 04:53:26 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel0,0,0,0x0,invalid,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,invalid,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 16602326> 
<init ()>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:26 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel0,0,0,0x0,invalid,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,invalid,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 16602326> 
<init (): param1=value1>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:26 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel0,0,0,0x0,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 16602326> 
<start ()>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:29 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel0,0,0,235x1,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,235x1,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 16602326> 
<stop ()>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:29 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel0,0,0,235x1,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,235x1,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 16602326> 
<destroy ()>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:29 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel1,0,0,0x0,invalid,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,invalid,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 24408544> 
<init ()>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:29 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel1,0,0,0x0,invalid,hidden,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,invalid,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 24408544> 
<init (): param1=value1>
<Sun Dec 19 04:53:29 PST 2010>
<LifecycleTestApplet[panel1,0,0,0x0,layout=java.awt.BorderLayout,rootPane=javax.swing.JRootPane[,0,0,0x0,layout=javax.swing.JRootPane$RootLayout,alignmentX=0.0,alignmentY=0.0,border=,flags=16777673,maximumSize=,minimumSize=,preferredSize=],rootPaneCheckingEnabled=true]>
<identityHashCode: 24408544> 
<start ()>

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