Scilab 5.1.1 fails to start on Mac OS X 10.5.6

[Steve Revilak]

Hello Scilab users.

I recently installed scilab-5.1.1-alpha-1 on an Intel Mac Pro, running
Mac OS X 10.5.6.  I've had some difficulty getting the application to
launch.

When I double-click /Applications/scilab-5.1.1-alpha-1.app, the
program icon appears in the Dock for a few seconds, then disappears.

Trying to run Scilab from the command line shows that the problem is a
library load error.

   $ /Applications/scilab-5.1.1-alpha-1.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/scilab
   Could not load JVM dynamic library (libjava).

   Scilab cannot open JVM library.

I see the same results with scilab-5.1.

After some trial and error, I think I've found the cause of the
problem.  On this machine, Java 1.6 is configured as the default Java
version (I need Java 1.6 for development work).

   $ java -version
   java version "1.6.0_07"
   Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_07-b06-153)
   Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 1.6.0_07-b06-57, mixed mode)

It appears that Scilab doesn't work with Java 1.6's libjava.  But, I
can get Scilab to launch by doing the following:

   env DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Libraries /Applications/scilab-5.1.1-alpha-1.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/scilab

I have two questions as a result

  - Am I correct in concluding that the Mac OS X Scilab 5.1.1 works
    only with Java 1.5, and not Java 1.6?

  - If the above is correct, is there a preferred method of telling
    Scilab to use a Java version that's not the system default?

Thank you for any assistance.

Steve Revilak