Toni Epple

Trainer and Consultant at Eppleton IT Consulting

Munich, DE

Joined Apr 2008

About

Toni Epple works as a consultant for Eppleton (http://www.eppleton.de) in Munich, Germany. In his spare time he's an active member of the Open Source community as a community leader for JavaTools community (http://community.java.net/javatools/), moderator of the XING NetBeans User Group (http://www.xing.com/group-20148.82db20), founder of the NetBeans User Group Munich (http://tinyurl.com/5b8tuu), member of the NetBeans Dream Team (http://wiki.netbeans.org/NBDTCurrentMembers) and blogger (http://www.eppleton.de/blog).

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Articles

Styling a JavaFX Control with CSS

Change the look and feel of any JavaFX control using CSS.

January 2, 2012

· 95,849 Views · 1 Like

Creating a DateChooser Control with JavaFX 2.0

I must admit I finally came to like JavaFX. The game changer was that JavaFX 2.0 offers a path of adoption for Swing developers. I especially like the fact that it's easy to style the JavaFX user interface via CSS. And, even if you create custom controls, you can make them styleable without much extra effort. Here's a little datepicker I created as an example: You can use NetBeans IDE 7.1 for development. Here's the complete example as a NetBeans Project: [download] The JavaFX controls consist of a Control and a Skin class. We'll start with the control: DateChooser.java public class DateChooser extends Control{ private static final String DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS = "date-chooser"; private Date date; public DateChooser(Date preset) { getStyleClass().setAll(DEFAULT_STYLE_CLASS); this.date = preset; } public DateChooser() { this(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis())); } @Override protected String getUserAgentStylesheet() { return "de/eppleton/fxcontrols/datechooser/calendar.css"; } public Date getDate() { return date; } } The only important thing it does is to register the stylesheet for this Control and gives access to the date picked by the user. Next we'll define a CSS file with our default styles: calendar.css .date-chooser { -fx-skin: "de.eppleton.fxcontrols.datechooser.DateChooserSkin"; } .weekday-cell { -fx-background-color: lightgray; -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-fill: darkgray; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; } .week-of-year-cell { -fx-background-color: lightgray; -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-fill: white; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; } .calendar-cell { -fx-background-color: skyblue, derive(skyblue, 25%), derive(skyblue, 50%), derive(skyblue, 75%); -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-fill: skyblue; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; } .calendar-cell:hover { -fx-background-color: skyblue; -fx-text-fill: white; } .calendar-cell:pressed { -fx-background-color: darkblue; -fx-text-fill: green; } .calendar-cell-selected { -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; -fx-background-color: darkblue; -fx-text-fill: white; } .calendar-cell-inactive { -fx-background-color: derive(lightgray, 75%); -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-fill: darkgray; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; } .calendar-cell-today { -fx-background-color: yellow; -fx-background-radius: 5 5 5 5; -fx-background-insets: 2 2 2 2 ; -fx-text-fill: skyblue; -fx-text-alignment: left; -fx-font: 12pt "Tahoma Bold"; } The most important part here is the -fx-skin. It defines which class should be used as the Skin for our control. The third part is the Skin itself. DateChooserSkin.java public class DateChooserSkin extends SkinBase> { private final Date date; private final Label month; private final BorderPane content; final SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("MMMMM yyyy"); private static class CalendarCell extends StackPane { private final Date date; public CalendarCell(Date day, String text) { this.date = day; Label label = new Label(text); getChildren().add(label); } public Date getDate() { return date; } } public DateChooserSkin(DateChooser dateChooser) { super(dateChooser, new BehaviorBase(dateChooser)); // this date is the selected date date = dateChooser.getDate(); final DatePickerPane calendarPane = new DatePickerPane(date); month = new Label(simpleDateFormat.format(calendarPane.getShownMonth())); HBox hbox = new HBox(); // create the navigation Buttons Button yearBack = new Button("<<"); yearBack.addEventHandler(ActionEvent.ACTION, new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { calendarPane.forward(-12); } }); Button monthBack = new Button("<"); monthBack.addEventHandler(ActionEvent.ACTION, new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { calendarPane.forward(-1); } }); Button monthForward = new Button(">"); monthForward.addEventHandler(ActionEvent.ACTION, new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { calendarPane.forward(1); } }); Button yearForward = new Button(">>"); yearForward.addEventHandler(ActionEvent.ACTION, new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(ActionEvent event) { calendarPane.forward(12); } }); // center the label and make it grab all free space HBox.setHgrow(month, Priority.ALWAYS); month.setMaxWidth(Double.MAX_VALUE); month.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER); hbox.getChildren().addAll(yearBack, monthBack, month, monthForward, yearForward); // use a BorderPane to Layout the view content = new BorderPane(); getChildren().add(content); content.setTop(hbox); content.setCenter(calendarPane); } /** @author eppleton */ class DatePickerPane extends Region { private final Date selectedDate; private final Calendar cal; private CalendarCell selectedDayCell; // this is used to format the day cells private final SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("d"); // empty cell header of weak-of-year row private final CalendarCell woyCell = new CalendarCell(new Date(), ""); private int rows, columns;//default public DatePickerPane(Date date) { setPrefSize(300, 300); woyCell.getStyleClass().add("week-of-year-cell"); setPadding(new Insets(5, 0, 5, 0)); this.columns = 7; this.rows = 5; // use a copy of Date, because it's mutable // we'll helperDate it through the month cal = Calendar.getInstance(); Date helperDate = new Date(date.getTime()); cal.setTime(helperDate); // the selectedDate is the date we will change, when a date is picked selectedDate = date; refresh(); } /** Move forward the specified number of Months, move backward by using negative numbers @param i */ public void forward(int i) { cal.add(Calendar.MONTH, i); month.setText(simpleDateFormat.format(cal.getTime())); refresh(); } private void refresh() { super.getChildren().clear(); this.rows = 5; // most of the time 5 rows are ok // save a copy to reset the date after our loop Date copy = new Date(cal.getTime().getTime()); // empty cell header of weak-of-year row super.getChildren().add(woyCell); // Display a styleable row of localized weekday symbols DateFormatSymbols symbols = new DateFormatSymbols(); String[] dayNames = symbols.getShortWeekdays(); // @TODO use static constants to access weekdays, I suspect we // get problems with localization otherwise ( Day 1 = Sunday/ Monday in // different timezones for (int i = 1; i < 8; i++) { // array starts with an empty field CalendarCell calendarCell = new CalendarCell(cal.getTime(), dayNames[i]); calendarCell.getStyleClass().add("weekday-cell"); super.getChildren().add(calendarCell); } // find out which month we're displaying cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 1); final int month = cal.get(Calendar.MONTH); int weekday = cal.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK); // if the first day is a sunday we need to rewind 7 days otherwise the // code below would only start with the second week. There might be // better ways of doing this... if (weekday != Calendar.SUNDAY) { // it might be possible, that we need to add a row at the end as well... Calendar check = Calendar.getInstance(); check.setTime(new Date(cal.getTime().getTime())); int lastDate = check.getActualMaximum(Calendar.DATE); check.set(Calendar.DATE, lastDate); if ((lastDate + weekday) > 36) { rows = 6; } cal.add(Calendar.DATE, -7); } cal.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK, 1); // used to identify and style the cell with the selected date; Calendar testSelected = Calendar.getInstance(); testSelected.setTime(selectedDate); for (int i = 0; i < (rows); i++) { // first column shows the week of year CalendarCell calendarCell = new CalendarCell(cal.getTime(), "" + cal.get(Calendar.WEEK_OF_YEAR)); calendarCell.getStyleClass().add("week-of-year-cell"); super.getChildren().add(calendarCell); // loop through current week for (int j = 0; j < columns; j++) { String formatted = sdf.format(cal.getTime()); final CalendarCell dayCell = new CalendarCell(cal.getTime(), formatted); dayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell"); if (cal.get(Calendar.MONTH) != month) { dayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell-inactive"); } else { if (isSameDay(testSelected, cal)) { dayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell-selected"); selectedDayCell = dayCell; } if (isToday(cal)) { dayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell-today"); } } dayCell.setOnMouseClicked(new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(MouseEvent arg0) { if (selectedDayCell != null) { selectedDayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell"); selectedDayCell.getStyleClass().remove("calendar-cell-selected"); } selectedDate.setTime(dayCell.getDate().getTime()); dayCell.getStyleClass().remove("calendar-cell"); dayCell.getStyleClass().add("calendar-cell-selected"); selectedDayCell = dayCell; Calendar checkMonth = Calendar.getInstance(); checkMonth.setTime(dayCell.getDate()); if (checkMonth.get(Calendar.MONTH) != month) { forward(checkMonth.get(Calendar.MONTH) - month); } } }); // grow the hovered cell in size dayCell.setOnMouseEntered(new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(MouseEvent e) { dayCell.setScaleX(1.1); dayCell.setScaleY(1.1); } }); dayCell.setOnMouseExited(new EventHandler() { @Override public void handle(MouseEvent e) { dayCell.setScaleX(1); dayCell.setScaleY(1); } }); super.getChildren().add(dayCell); cal.add(Calendar.DATE, 1); // number of days to add } } cal.setTime(copy); } /** Overriden, don't add Children directly @return unmodifieable List */ @Override protected ObservableList getChildren() { return FXCollections.unmodifiableObservableList(super.getChildren()); } /** get the current month our calendar displays. Should always give you the correct one, even if some days of other mnths are also displayed @return */ public Date getShownMonth() { return cal.getTime(); } @Override protected void layoutChildren() { ObservableList children = getChildren(); double width = getWidth(); double height = getHeight(); double cellWidth = (width / (columns + 1)); double cellHeight = height / (rows + 1); for (int i = 0; i < (rows + 1); i++) { for (int j = 0; j < (columns + 1); j++) { if (children.size() <= ((i * (columns + 1)) + j)) { break; } Node get = children.get((i * (columns + 1)) + j); layoutInArea(get, j * cellWidth, i * cellHeight, cellWidth, cellHeight, 0.0d, HPos.LEFT, VPos.TOP); } } } } // utility methods private static boolean isSameDay(Calendar cal1, Calendar cal2) { if (cal1 == null || cal2 == null) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("The dates must not be null"); } return (cal1.get(Calendar.ERA) == cal2.get(Calendar.ERA) && cal1.get(Calendar.YEAR) == cal2.get(Calendar.YEAR) && cal1.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR) == cal2.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR)); } private static boolean isToday(Calendar cal) { return isSameDay(cal, Calendar.getInstance()); } } There are a couple of inline comments explaining what the code does. Most of the visual stuff is in the DatePickerPane. DatePickerPane extends Region, which is a base class you can use for your own layout manager. You just need to override layoutChildren. I used a simple grid. The refresh method is responsible for creating the headers and the cells that represent the days and weeks. It also assigns the style to each of the fields. Since we have a fixed number of cells, we should probably add them only once and in subsequent steps only change the labels (and save us from creating tons of Eventhandlers). But let's keep it simple, it's just an example... The cool thing is that anyone interested in changing the appearance just needs to have a look at the CSS file to find out which styles we defined and can override them with a customized stylesheet to match the overall look and feel of their own application. Finally here's how to use it in your code: public class TestApplication extends Application { /** @param args the command line arguments */ public static void main(String[] args) { launch(args); } @Override public void start(final Stage primaryStage) { primaryStage.setTitle("Hello World!"); StackPane root = new StackPane(); final DateChooser dateChooser = new DateChooser(); root.getChildren().add(dateChooser); Scene scene = new Scene(root, 300, 250); primaryStage.setScene(scene); primaryStage.setOnHiding(new EventHandler() { public void handle(WindowEvent event) { System.out.println("date " + dateChooser.getDate()); } }); primaryStage.show(); } } Have fun!

December 26, 2011

· 61,055 Views

NetBeans Lookups Explained!

Lookups are one of the most important parts of the NetBeans Platform. They're used almost everywhere and most of the time when you ask something on a mailing list the answer is "Use Lookups!". Many times when the use of Lookups is explained it's in a very specific context, e.g. selection management or ServiceLoaders. That makes Lookups look complicated and hard to understand, while actually they are very simple and extremely powerful. That's why I guess it's time to write an article that explains what lookups actually are and how they work. In the subsequent parts I'll explain how they can be used to solve some common problems. Lookup as a Data Structure So first let's have a look at Lookup as a data structure. A Lookup is a map with Class Objects as keys and a Set of instances of the key Class object as values. An additional feature of a Lookup is that you can listen for changes of what's in there. It's as simple as that! If you want to ask a lookup for it's contents, you can do so like this: Lookup lookup = //get a lookup somewhere... Collection strings =lookup.lookupAll(String.class); If you want to listen for changes, you add your Listener to Lookup.Result an inner class that represents a query result. This way you add a Listener that listens for addition or removal of objects of a certain class: Lookup.Result strings = lookup.lookupResult(String.class); strings.allItems(); strings.addLookupListener(new LookupListener(){ @override public void resultChanged(LookupEvent e){ // do something } ); This is how you usually use an existing lookup. If you want to create one, there are some implementations to help you. The most basic one is Lookups.Singleton, a Lookup that only contains one object: Lookup simple = Lookups.singleton("Hello World!"); There's also an implementation for creating a lookup with more than one entry, still with fixed content: Lookups moreElements = Lookups.fixed( "Hello", "World", new Integer(5) ); If you want to use a Lookup to dynamically put in stuff you'll need to choose an implementation that supports that. The most flexible one is using an InstanceContent Object to add and remove stuff: InstanceContent content = new InstanceContent(); Lookup dynamicLookup = new AbstractLookup(content); content.add("Hello"); content.add(5); Listeners registered for the matching class will be informed when something changes. If you would like to query more than one Lookup at a time you can use a ProxyLookup. This for example, combines two of the Lookups created above into one: ProxyLookup proxy = new ProxyLookup(dynamicLookup, moreElements); Lookup.Provider If your Object has a Lookup to store a bunch of stuff, you can make it accessible to others by implementing Lookup.Provider an interface with only one method: public Lookup getLookup(); Again, extremely simple. Someone interested in what's in your Objects Lookup can ask for it and register a listener. In NetBeans TopComponents implement this interface, so you can ask any TopComponent for it's Lookup. The easiest way to get hold of most of the TopComponents is via their ID: TopComponent tc = WindowManager.getDefault().findTopComponent("AnInterestingTopComponent"); Lookup tcLookup = tc.getlookup(); As most TopComponents put into their Lookup whatever is selected, for example the entries in a list, you can add a Listener to track the Selection in a TopComponent. If your for example interested in the selected Nodes you can do it like this: Lookup.result noderesult = tcLookup.lookupResult(Node.class); result.allInstances(); noderesult.addLookuplistener(myLookupListener); That's especially handy when you want to provide a Master-Detail-View. If you want to provide your own Lookup in your TopComponent you do it like this: associateLookup(mylookup); Global Selection Sometimes you might be interested not only in what is selected in one specific TopComponent, but in whatever TopComponent currently has the focus. That's easy as well because NetBeans provides a Lookup that proxies the Lookup of the TopComponent that currently has the focus. To use this you simply need to do this: Lookup global = Utilities.actionsGlobalContext(); You can use this like any other Lookup and register your listeners, no magic involved. Nodes Nodes also implement Lookup.Provider so you can ask them for their Lookup as well. Something useful to store inside a Node's Lookup is the DataObject it may represent. If you're using Nodes you probably do so in combination with the Explorer API to display them. If you do that you'll usually create a lookup for your TopComponent with the help of the ExplorerManager: associateLookup(ExplorerUtils.createLookup ( explorermanager, this.getActionMap() ) ); The resulting Lookup also proxies the content of the selected Nodes Lookup. This way everything someone might be interested in shows up in your TopComponent's Lookup. Service Loader and other uses As you've seen Lookups are actually a very simple yet powerful concept. Some articles here on NetBeans Zone also cover the use of Lookups for loading services in a NetBeans RCP application, which is also an important use. To do that NetBeans provides a default Lookup that looks in certain places for service registrations, e.g. in the META-INF/services folder of a modules jar file and in the modules layer.xml. If you're interested in getting an instance of a Service implementation you can do it like this: Collection services= Lookup.getDefault.lookupAll(ServiceInterface.class); If you register your service in the layer.xml you can get a lookup for a certain Folder like this: Lookup lkp = Lookups.forPath("ServiceProviders"); I guess that's all you need to know to get started with Lookups, so have fun trying it out, it's really simple.

February 12, 2009

· 70,982 Views · 7 Likes

How Do NetBeans Extension Points Work?

One of the main benefits of the NetBeans Platform is its module system. Regardless of which module system is best (my guess is there will soon be a version of NetBeans that can also run as OSGi bundles), it’s important to have a system that enables you to create a modular architecture for your application. A module system is an invitation to create a clean and maintainable architecture with defined dependencies and nice APIs with clearly defined and easy-to-use extension points. If you follow these principles, others can extend your application easily. Maybe the easiest way to provide extension points in NetBeans is via the layer.xml file (also known as the "layer file"). In a NetBeans module (also known as a "plugin"), the layer file is its central configuration file. NetBeans IDE uses the layer file to provide extension points for APIs. Objects can be created declaratively in the layer file and you can use the NetBeans Lookup API to listen for changes. You will use this approach whenever you create new Actions (which are invoked via menu items, toolbar buttons, and/or shortcut keys) or TopComponents (which provide "views" or "windows"), for example. This quick tutorial shows how you can provide your own extension points via the layer file. The source code of the sample is found here in the NetBeans Plugin Portal. Prerequisites NetBeans (I’m using 6.1, but this will also work with older/newer versions). Create a new module suite: Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N). Under Categories, select NetBeans Modules. Under projects, select "NetBeans Platform Application" or ("Module Suite Project" in older versions) and click Next. In the Name and Location panel, type "layerextensionpoints" in Project Name. Change the Project Location to any directory on your computer, to store the application. Click Finish. Now create four modules inside the suite, called "extensionpointinterface", "messagereader", "messageprovider1" and "messageprovider2": Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N) again. Under Categories, select NetBeans Modules. Under Projects, select Module and click Next. In the Name and Location panel, type the name in Project Name (i.e., one of the four names listed at the start of this step). The default in the wizard should be to create the module underneath the directory where you just created the suite, which is fine. Click Next. In the Basic Module Configuration panel, replace the Code Name Base with de.eppleton.. Make sure to let the IDE create a layer file, by filling out the XML Layer field with de/eppleton//layer.xml. Click Finish. Here is what you should now see: Create a Service Provider Interface We will use the module "extensionpointinterface" to define an interface that will be used by the two extension point providers as well as by the "messagereader" module, which uses the two extension points. Inside that module create interface "MessageProviderInterface" with the single method getMessage() that returns a String: public interface MessageProviderInterface { public String getMessage(); } To make this part of the public API right click the project node, select API Versioning and select the check box of de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface. Now this package is accessible to other modules. Create Service Provider Implementations Now we need some modules that implement the MessageProviderInterface. We will use the modules "messageprovider1" and "messageprovider2" to do that. To implement the interface they both need a dependency on module "extensionpointinterface". For each of them do the following: Right click the project node, click Properties and, in the Project Properties dialog, select the "Libraries" category. Click "Add Dependency". Select "extensionpointinterface", and click "OK" twice. Now that we have access to the interface in our two message providers, we can implement it. Again, for both modules, do the following: Select "New" > "Java Class". In the Wizard type "MessageProvider1" or "MessageProvider2" in the Class Name field, respectively, and select the main package in each case, for stroring the new class. Implement the interface. Each of them should provide a different String. In other words, we will provide "Hello " in MessageProvider1 and then we will provide "World!" in MessageProvider2: import de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface.MessageProviderInterface; public class MessageProvider1 implements MessageProviderInterface { public String getMessage() { return "Hello "; } } import de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface.MessageProviderInterface; public class MessageProvider2 implements MessageProviderInterface { public String getMessage() { return "World!"; } } } In order to make our MessageProviders available as services, add these entries in the layer of the two modules. Between the the layer file's tags, add the following, i.e., in the first module add the first set of tags and add the second set of tags in the second module: and This will create an instance of our MessageProviders using the standard constructor. The trick is that those instances will be accessible from outside the modules, via the NetBeans System FileSystem. Now that you have created your services, the next step shows how you can access them, without even needing to set a module dependency for them. Find and Use the Service Providers We will use the module "messagereader" to display the messages provided by our two MessageProviders. To do so we will create a TopComponent, within the "messagereader" module: In the Project Properties dialog for "messagereader", set a dependency on "extensionpointinterface", exactly as shown earlier. Right-click on the "messagereader" project node and choose "New" > "Window Component". Choose "Output", which will determine where the new window will be displayed. Make it show on startup by ticking the checkbox. Click Next. Enter "MessageReader" for the class name prefix and click "Finish". The TopComponent class will open in Design View. Drop a JScrollPane from the palette in the window and make it fill the whole area. Add a JTextArea to it, making it fit the whole area too. In the source view (i.e., click "Source" at the top of the Design view) add this to the end of the constructor: Lookup lkp = Lookups.forPath("MessageProviders"); for (MessageProviderInterface mi : lkp.lookupAll(MessageProviderInterface.class)) { jTextArea1.append(mi.getMessage()); } The code above will lookup the folder you created via the layer file (Lookups.forPath("MessageProviders")), search for classes implementing the interface (lookupAll(MessageProviderInterface.class)) and call the interface method on all instances. Let’s try it out! Run the Module Suite. You will see the window either displaying "Hello World!" or "World!Hello ". As we can see in this very simple example, the order in which the ServiceProviders are called can be important for the result. So in the next step I will show you a trick to guarantee the correct order. Sort the Service Providers The NetBeans Platform provides a way to sort layer entries. This mechanism is used, for example, to provide the order of actions in menus and toolbars. Since 6.0, this is done via the position attribute in the layer file. So this won’t work in older versions: In the layer file of the two modules, insert the "position" attributes that you see below, i.e., the first set of tags below belongs to "messageprovider1", while the second belongs to "messageprovider2": and Now the messages will always be displayed in the correct order: "Hello world!". Simply swap these values to reverse the order of the messages. When you do something like this, make sure that you choose your values large enough to add services in between the initial ones, so that there’s room for your application to grow! Now try and see what happens when you set the same value for both attributes! Summary The intention of this article is to illustrate how simple it is to implement loose coupling in a NetBeans Platform application. Note that the module that uses the services (i.e., "messagereader") has no dependencies on the modules that provide the services ("messageprovider1" and "messageprovider2"). And not only does the NetBeans Platform provide a very simple mechanism to provide and lookup services, but it also provides an easy way to declaratively order them. Appendix: Alternative Registration Mechanism, Using "META-INF/services" In the previous sections, I showed how to register the Service Providers via the layer file. As stated correctly in the comment to this article, by Casper Bang, there's an alternative way to register the service providers. Using the META-INF/services folder is the standard approach that is supported by Java since version 1.3. This additional sections below show how it works. Register the Services There are only some small changes needed to change the registration mechanism: In module messageprovider1 create a folder via the context menu of "Source Packages" > "New" > "Other" > "Folder". Enter "META_INF/services" as Folder Name; the folder will show up like a normal package. Create a file via the context menu of this new package "META-INF.services" > "New" > "Other" > "Empty file", name the file "de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface.MessageProviderInterface". Edit the file and enter "de.eppleton.messageprovider1.MessageProvider1" Copy and paste the "META_INF" folder to the "Source packages" folder of module messageprovider2 and change the content of file "de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface.MessageProviderInterface" to "de.eppleton.messageprovider2.MessageProvider2" There are different ways to lookup the services. You can either use the default lookup to do so, or you can use the ServiceLoader mechanism introduced in Java 1.6. Let's begin with the method using the default lookup. Using Lookup to retrieve ServiceProviders The global lookup will automatically provide these services for you, so only a little change is needed. In the module "messagereader", edit "MessagereaderTopComponent", and replace this line: Lookup lkp = Lookups.forPath("MessageProviders"); with this line: Lookup lkp = Lookup.getDefault(); Afterwards, you can build and run the application as before. You may notice that the order of the services has changed. As before you can fix this by adding an additional position attribute when you define the ServiceProvider. Edit both "de.eppleton.extensionpointinterface.MessageProviderInterface" files in modules messageprovider1 and messageprovider2. Add the lines "#position=10" and "#position=20" respectively. Run the application and play with the values to change the order as before. Using ServiceLoader to Locate the ServiceProviders If you're using JDK 1.6 or later, you can edit "MessagereaderTopComponent" and replace the code we've added before with the following: ServiceLoader serviceLoader = ServiceLoader.load(MessageProviderInterface.class); for (MessageProviderInterface mi : serviceLoader) { jTextArea1.append(mi.getMessage()); } Note that the position attribute is now ignored, since it's not a part of the standard JDK but an extension added by the NetBeans Platform.

August 25, 2008

· 27,515 Views

Comments

The basic syntax of F# - keywords and constructs

Oct 30, 2013 · Tony Thomas

For me it's the integration of HTML5 features from Project Easel with Java Web Projects. That really is the way development should be like. You've got a complete set of tools for everything, debugging of Java and JavaScript in one debugging session, live CSS Editing, testing on mobile browsers. That really is a huge step forward.

.NET Cheat Sheets

May 07, 2013 · Tony Thomas

Here's some additional code to keep the enabled state. Make toolbarButton final and add:

final Button toolbarButton = new Button();
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
final boolean enabled = instanceObj.isEnabled();
Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
toolbarButton.setDisable(!enabled);
}
});
}
});

instanceObj.addPropertyChangeListener(new PropertyChangeListener() {
@Override
public void propertyChange(final PropertyChangeEvent evt) {
if (evt.getPropertyName().equals("enabled")) {
Platform.runLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
toolbarButton.setDisable(!(Boolean) evt.getNewValue());
}
});

}
}
});

.NET Cheat Sheets

May 07, 2013 · Tony Thomas

Hi Geertjan,

I'm reading your series on adding JavaFX to NetBeans in many places inside NB Platform. Great idea! I also tried this one, but it seems whenever I press a button the application stalls.

Edit: Ah, found it: it's the invokeAndWait. Replace with invokeLater and it works fine!

Thanks,

Toni

SQL Server Security Model

Jan 24, 2012 · Tony Thomas

Hi Leonard,

have you tried the NetBeans Project I uploaded, or did you implement it yourself? In the latter case make sure that getUserAgentStylesheet returns the correct path to the css file.

Styling a JavaFX Control with CSS

Jan 24, 2012 · Toni Epple

Hi Leonard,

have you tried the NetBeans Project I uploaded, or did you implement it yourself? In the latter case make sure that getUserAgentStylesheet returns the correct path to the css file.

Developing AutoComplete Textbox using ASP.NET AJAX 1.0, Web Service and JavaScript

Jan 08, 2012 · Tony Thomas

It was great to meet the Javeleon Team at J1. Keep up the good work!

--Toni

reducing the footprint of python applications

Jan 02, 2012 · Mr B Loid

Hi Sergey, it's funny how different our impressions are :-). In my opinion JavaFX is on the right track for the first time. JavaFX will be Open Source and available on all major platforms in 2012. The CSS-styling is excellent. With FXML we've got a declarative way of defining UIs. And finally the integration with Swing gives developers a nice path of adoption and a way to provide missing functionality (Window Systems, etc.).

The only thing missing is decent tooling and a couple of controls. But the number ofavailable controls has increased significantly already and a DateChooser will probably be available soon ("This is a control that is planned for a future release of JavaFX").

reducing the footprint of python applications

Jan 02, 2012 · Mr B Loid

reducing the footprint of python applications

Jan 02, 2012 · Mr B Loid

reducing the footprint of python applications

Jan 02, 2012 · Mr B Loid

Creating a DateChooser Control with JavaFX 2.0

Jan 02, 2012 · Toni Epple

Creating a DateChooser Control with JavaFX 2.0

Jan 02, 2012 · Toni Epple

Creating a DateChooser Control with JavaFX 2.0

Jan 02, 2012 · Toni Epple

Creating a DateChooser Control with JavaFX 2.0

Jan 02, 2012 · Toni Epple

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Dec 15, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hierarchical ClassLoaders are always sources of delight for developers. Especially when dealing with two independent classloader hierarchies, each aiming for world domination like here. I just got a mail from a user trying to use the above example from inside a TopComponent, and it doesn't work. Obviously the Module ClassLoader in NetBeans is updated in a way that conflicts with the example.

To fix it you need to switch to the EJBUtils classloader as explained in the TroubleShooting section:

Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(com.sun.ejb.EJBUtils.class.getClassLoader());

This will solve the Lookup part of the problem and leave you with a new ClassNotFoundException, because EJBUtils classloader can't see the GreeterBeanRemote. To fix it, put your HelloWorldEJB.jar on the application classpath in the project.properties:

run.args.extra=-J-da -J-Dorg.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialHost=localhost -J-Dorg.omg.CORBA.ORBInitialPort=3700 \
-cp <path to your NetBeansProjects>/simple3tier/GreeterClientPlatform/HelloWorldEJB/release/modules/ext/HelloWorldEJB.jar:<path to yourglassfish-3.1.1>/glassfish/lib/gf-client.jar

Then it should work again...

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Oct 07, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Kim,

which version of Glassfish and NetBeans do you use? Did you also follow the advice in the troubleshooting section?

Toni

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Oct 07, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Kim,

which version of Glassfish and NetBeans do you use? Did you also follow the advice in the troubleshooting section?

Toni

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Oct 07, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Kim,

which version of Glassfish and NetBeans do you use? Did you also follow the advice in the troubleshooting section?

Toni

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Right, but the package-appclient copies everything for you and you should be able to put it on the classpath using the endorsed mechanism. Unpack the jar created by that and add everything you need from there (the jars) to your application installer. Then you can use the endorsed (-J-Djava.endorsed.dirs=${GFCLIENT_PATH}) mechanism in your app.conf to put it on the application classpath. This way you should be able to deploy it together with your client.

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 06, 2011 · Gerd Storm

30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of

Sep 05, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Geoff,

library wrappers won't work. They are only used for compilation ( Actually the above example should be cleaned up, because also the library modules we created here are not needed at runtime )

To deploy on a remote client, you need to carry the dependencies with you. Most importantly, you'll have to take a look at the manifests of the jars and make sure that all dependencies are there. E.g. gf-client.jar has these dependencies:

Class-Path: ../modules/woodstox-osgi.jar ../modules/jtype.jar ../modul
es/tools.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba-asm.jar ../modules/glassfish-
corba-codegen.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba-csiv2-idl.jar ../modules
/glassfish-corba-internal-api.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba-newtimer
.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba-omgapi.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba
-orb.jar ../modules/glassfish-corba-orbgeneric.jar ../modules/auto-de
pends.jar ../modules/config.jar ../modules/config-types.jar ../module
s/hk2.jar ../modules/hk2-core.jar ../modules/osgi-adapter.jar ../modu
les/grizzly-comet.jar ../modules/grizzly-config.jar ../modules/grizzl
y-framework.jar ../modules/grizzly-http.jar ../modules/grizzly-http-s
ervlet.jar ../modules/grizzly-lzma.jar ../modules/grizzly-portunif.ja
r ../modules/grizzly-rcm.jar ../modules/grizzly-utils.jar ../modules/
grizzly-websockets.jar ../modules/javax.mail.jar ../modules/pkg-clien
t.jar ../modules/jaxb-osgi.jar ../modules/activation.jar ../modules/e
l-api.jar ../modules/jaxrpc-api-osgi.jar ../modules/endorsed/jaxb-api
-osgi.jar ../modules/junit.jar ../modules/javax.persistence.jar ../mo
dules/org.eclipse.persistence.antlr.jar ../modules/org.eclipse.persis
tence.asm.jar ../modules/org.eclipse.persistence.core.jar ../modules/
org.eclipse.persistence.jpa.jar ../modules/org.eclipse.persistence.jp
a.modelgen.jar ../modules/org.eclipse.persistence.oracle.jar ../modul
es/endorsed/javax.annotation.jar ../modules/javax.ejb.jar ../modules/
javax.enterprise.deploy.jar ../modules/javax.jms.jar ../modules/javax
.management.j2ee.jar ../modules/javax.resource.jar ../modules/javax.s
ecurity.auth.message.jar ../modules/javax.security.jacc.jar ../module
s/javax.servlet.jar ../modules/javax.servlet.jsp.jar ../modules/javax
.transaction.jar ../modules/simple-glassfish-api.jar ../modules/admin
-core.jar ../modules/admin-util.jar ../modules/config-api.jar ../modu
les/monitoring-core.jar ../modules/acc-config.jar ../modules/gf-clien
t-module.jar ../modules/gms-bootstrap.jar ../modules/amx-core.jar ../
modules/amx-j2ee.jar ../modules/annotation-framework.jar ../modules/c
ommon-util.jar ../modules/container-common.jar ../modules/glassfish-a
pi.jar ../modules/glassfish-ee-api.jar ../modules/glassfish-naming.ja
r ../modules/internal-api.jar ../modules/scattered-archive-api.jar ..
/modules/stats77.jar ../modules/connectors-inbound-runtime.jar ../mod
ules/connectors-internal-api.jar ../modules/connectors-runtime.jar ..
/modules/work-management.jar ../modules/glassfish.jar ../modules/kern
el.jar ../modules/logging.jar ../modules/deployment-common.jar ../mod
ules/deployment-javaee-core.jar ../modules/dol.jar ../modules/ejb-con
tainer.jar ../modules/ejb-internal-api.jar ../modules/ldapbp-repackag
ed.jar ../modules/libpam4j-repackaged.jar ../modules/management-api.j
ar ../modules/flashlight-agent.jar ../modules/flashlight-framework.ja
r ../modules/gmbal.jar ../modules/ha-api.jar ../modules/class-model.j
ar ../modules/asm-all-repackaged.jar ../modules/bean-validator.jar ..
/modules/jms-core.jar ../modules/endorsed/webservices-api-osgi.jar ..
/modules/webservices-extra-jdk-packages.jar ../modules/webservices-os
gi.jar ../modules/orb-connector.jar ../modules/orb-iiop.jar ../module
s/eclipselink-wrapper.pom ../modules/jpa-connector.jar ../modules/per
sistence-common.jar ../modules/cmp-internal-api.jar ../modules/appcli
ent.security.jar ../modules/ejb.security.jar ../modules/jaspic.provid
er.framework.jar ../modules/security.jar ../modules/ssl-impl.jar ../m
odules/websecurity.jar ../modules/webservices.security.jar ../modules
/jta.jar ../modules/jts.jar ../modules/transaction-internal-api.jar .
./modules/el-impl.jar ../modules/jsp-impl.jar ../modules/war-util.jar
../modules/web-cli.jar ../modules/web-core.jar ../modules/web-embed-
api.jar ../modules/web-glue.jar ../modules/web-gui-plugin-common.jar
../modules/web-naming.jar ../modules/jsr109-impl.jar ../modules/mimep
ull.jar ../modules/tiger-types.jar ../modules/shoal-gms-api.jar ../..
/mq/lib/imq.jar ../../mq/lib/imqadmin.jar ../../mq/lib/imqutil.jar ..
/../mq/lib/fscontext.jar ../lib/install/applications/jmsra/imqjmsra.j
ar ../lib/install/applications/__ds_jdbc_ra/__ds_jdbc_ra.jar ../lib/i
nstall/applications/__cp_jdbc_ra/__cp_jdbc_ra.jar ../lib/install/appl
ications/__xa_jdbc_ra/__xa_jdbc_ra.jar ../lib/install/applications/__
dm_jdbc_ra/__dm_jdbc_ra.jar ../../javadb/lib/derby.jar ../../javadb/l
ib/derbyclient.jar ../../javadb/lib/derbynet.jar ../../javadb/lib/der
bytools.jar ../../javadb/lib/derbyrun.jar ../lib/install/applications
/jaxr-ra/jaxr-ra.jar

You might want to have a look at the "package-appclient" command which is used for Application Client Components as defined in the Java EE Spec:

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E18930_01/html/821-2433/package-appclient-1m.html#scrolltoc

It creates a single jar file that you can unpack on the client. It contains a directory appclient/glassfish with everything you need, including the dependencies.

( Instead of appserv-rt.jar and javaee.jar you should then put gf-client.jar on the classpath. In glassfish 3 appserv-rt.jar is mainly a wrapper around gf-client.jar anyway, and javaee.jar is in gf-client.jar's dependencies. )

Building a Data Maturity Model for Data Governance

May 02, 2011 · Mr B Loid

Hi Geertjan,

great tutorial!

Right now the two main benefits of you implementation are that you're shielding the UI from the implementation details (JPA), and you can add additional capabilities without breaking backward compatibility by using Composition instead of inheritance.

Maybe you could enhance it by further decoupling:

If I understand it correctly, there's no way to declaratively swap implementations, because RootNode knows the CustomerQuery class, which in turn knows DAO, which knows the PU and everything else, right? So in the end the Ui is still coupled to the implementation.

You could place Customer and Discount in a separate Module from the Derby.jar, so they can be reused without JPA. CustomerQuery could implement an SPI (ICustomerQuery) and register itself as a service implementing the interface in default Lookup. Then RootNode can retrieve the registered Service from the Lookup to CRUD the DataObjects (Customer, Discount) and you could easily replace "JPADerbyCustomerQuery" with a different impl (e.g. based on serializing to files).

Cheers,

Toni

Scheme : R6RS Validated

Apr 13, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Cyrille-alexandre,

thanks for your interest. There are sometimes problems with the mails sent by Joomla to providers like gmail and yahoo. I've approved you manually. Can you checkif you can log in now?

Cheers,

Toni

Scheme : R6RS Validated

Apr 13, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Cyrille-alexandre,

thanks for your interest. There are sometimes problems with the mails sent by Joomla to providers like gmail and yahoo. I've approved you manually. Can you checkif you can log in now?

Cheers,

Toni

Scheme : R6RS Validated

Apr 13, 2011 · Gerd Storm

Hi Cyrille-alexandre,

thanks for your interest. There are sometimes problems with the mails sent by Joomla to providers like gmail and yahoo. I've approved you manually. Can you checkif you can log in now?

Cheers,

Toni

JSP java.lang.IllegalStateException Make Me (*o*)

Oct 13, 2010 · ah fei

I'm trying to write a NB Platform based client. Registered it as an aplication with read/write access.

ReadingTimelines works fine, but when I'm trying tosend a status update I get through sometimes (twice so far, but most of the time the Basic authenticator pops up asking for my credentials. Any idea why that happens, or what I can do about it?

My calls look like this:

UpdateStatusClient client = new UpdateStatusClient("xml");
client.login();
client.initOAuth();
client.updateStatus(Object.class, "Testing my NetBeans based Twitter client", null);

thanks,

Toni

Using the Enterprise Library Validation Application Block in ASP.NET - Part I

Jul 15, 2010 · Tony Thomas

Hi Vincent,

You need to import your self-signed certificate to the truststore.

Putting the credentials in the URL was just the simplest way of doing it as a proof of concept. Normally you would register your own java.net.Authenticator that silently returns the correct username and password.

cheers

Toni

Top 5 unix network monitoring utilities

Apr 11, 2010 · Michael Malone

Hi Zoran, that's excellent news. Would be great to see this kind of synergy between independent projects.

Greetings from Bergen

--Toni

NetBeans Lookups Explained!

Apr 07, 2010 · Toni Epple

Hi Nicholas,