NetBeans Platform: Who needs the Web Browser ?

During my lobby period for the NetBeans Platform at my workplace I did
with a coleague a quick port to the NetBeans Platform of a Swing application.
Of course, nothing too Platform-dependent, just module with
TopComponents instead of JFrames, library wrappers, etc.

Now, one of the complaints was: "hell, in another tab I had a *web browser* !"

Tonight I was looking at the new NetBeans 6.0 M2 Platform and it hit
me: the View->Web Browser is there ! It's there in 5.5 too.

Now, why would my standalone application need it ? It's not like
people use some other "internal" broser that each application has, so
why is it there? Or at least -- why the menu item ?

There was a comment in a blog at some point with something like "we
like Eclipse RPC because there we have to put things in, on the
NetBeans Platform we have to take things out first" which kinda made
sense (although I haven't used the Eclipse RCP, only the IDE).

I've dugg into the sources and it seems the Web Browser is used by the
*autoupdate* module. But even if I don't use the autoupdate module,
it's still there. Ok you'll say: "there is a trick! You never actually
remove autoupdate entirely", which is true. Autoupdate also has the
little update piece generated from libsrc/ that has low-level module
update/install code.

But the Web Browser usage in autoupdate isn't in the *libsrc/* part,
it's in the module, that you can disable.

Also, in Tools->Options->Advanced Options->System there is a Web
Browser option (with Swing Browser as the default). And that is needed
... why ?

Of course, one can always set a _hidden in tha layer for the folder or file and thus hide the Web Browser menu item or the whole View menu but this seems indeed a little odd. In the end -- what is the purpouse of the Web Browser that makes it so hard to remove altogether ?

If this was helpful for you then maybe you'll like reading the other NetBeans Platform-related posts.

--
Emilian Bold
Java-loving consulting services from Timisoara, Romania.

NetBeans Platform: Options Dialog and SPI

A nice thing in NetBeans Platform and IDE 5.0 is the nice Options dialog from the Tools menu. I've developed platform modules on NetBeans Platform 3.6 and skipped the whole 4 release so I'm not sure if it was introduced in release 4 or 5.

Anyhow, it's a nicer way to present options to the user than the usual tree display (now in Advanced Options). Also note that the Properties Window is also getting somehow deprecated and not recommended (unless in 3.6 where everyone was drooling to use it).

The NetBeans IDE Wizard for a new Options Panel is great. It generates the Bundle, the OptionsCategory , the OptionsPanelController , the swing JPanel, copies the icon and modifies your layer.xml .

An Option panel may reside in it's own "tab" or in the Misc area. This means that your class (subclassing AdvancedOption or OptionsCategory ) is registerd in the layer in

<folder name='OptionsDialog'>
<!-- here for OptionsCategory file/class -->
 <folder name='Advanced'>
   <!-- here for the AdvancedOption file/class-->
 </folder>
</folder>

Basically the AdvancedOption and the OptionsCategory represent the name and icon of your Option panel and also the factory for your Controller.

The controller takes care of stuff such as saving your options and loading them, offer listeners and provide data outside such as "does this panel need to be saved ?" Easy short methods that are generated for free by the Wizard.

The controller is the one that provides the Swing JComponent for your panel. Of course that people usually have a JPanel (as the wizard generates).

Now, a nice thing about this API is that it even takes into account the situation when the settings are invalid. For example the user changed the Country but forgot to update the phone number or something. Because usually it's easy to provide a GUI warning (like a little red icon) but the API must also help.

Basically only the load() and store() methods from the JPanel must be filled after you generate the GUI interface with the form editor. I think the SystemOption -s are going to be deprecated or rewritten soon so I use the standard java Preferences.

Of course, if your panel may also be in an invalid state, the valid() method must also be implemented. Take a look at a simple valid/invalid Panel:




Hiding the Misc Options tab

And if you have a standalone application and you want to have only our option in the dialog (withou the Misc option), it's easy. Just edit the layer.xml and

<folder name="OptionsDialog">
  <file name="Advanced.instance_hidden"/>
</folder>

If this was helpful for you then maybe you'll like reading the other NetBeans Platform-related posts.

--
Emilian Bold
Java-loving consulting services from Timisoara, Romania.