I've been coding a GUI in JavaFX and have gotten to styling it with CSS. However, I came to learn that there is no support for setting layout parameters such as min-width, pref-width, etc. (These show up in the docs but are filed under WebView only.) Instead of getting a nicely sized TextField, I have one that's spread across the entire screen.
Now I know the solution is to just go hardcode these layout parameters in Java (the documentation pointed me to JavaFX Script but that's been dead since 2009), but I'm wondering why I have to do this? What's the point? I'm not a CSS pro, but it seems like bad design to only abstract some of your styling. Now it's in two places? Are there any plans to change this?
The feature you request has been implemented in Java 8.
See RT-20906 Support setting min/pref/max sizes via css.
It could be argued that layout and styling a separate things and JavaFX already has FXML as a declarative layout system, so perhaps the need for layout parameters in CSS is slightly less if you are using SceneBuilder and FXML for your layout (at least that is what my experience with the technology has lead me to believe).
Related
The Eclipse RAP (Remote Application Platform) project provides a way to write web applications using SWT.
Due to single sourcing, the written code can also be used in desktop SWT/RCP applications.
Since it is a framework for web applications I was wondering if it supports responsive design?
If so, a simple example would be great. It does not need to be RCP compatible.
I didn't find a lot on the internet, has there been any efforts towards supporting responsive design?
Due to the fact that RAP shields you from web technology, native CSS and other web-techniques won't work.
To summarize the comments, you will likely have to implement one or more custom layouts that adapt to the available space and show/hide/resize the managed controls accordingly.
You may also want to use custom controls or manipulate existing controls to adapt to the available space. in some places. For example, hide texts on toolbar buttons when space becomes rare.
RAP theming can also be leveraged to a certain extent in order to change the appearance and space of certain controls.
Further reading:
EclipseCon 2014 talk: https://www.eclipsecon.org/na2014/sites/default/files/slides/Responsive%20Applications%20Tutorial%20-%20EclipseCon%202014.pdf
A blog post with code examples about responsive UIs with SWT: http://www.codeaffine.com/2014/02/24/responsive-uis-with-eclipse-and-swt/
RAP Theming: https://eclipse.org/rap/developers-guide/devguide.php?topic=theming.html
Understanding SWT Layouts: https://www.eclipse.org/articles/article.php?file=Article-Understanding-Layouts/index.html (ignore the deprecation warning, the core concepts haven't changed since)
You can make it responsive with the use of Passe-Partout created by Tabris. This works in RAP and should be compatible with RCP.
They have made a custom layout : FluidGridLayout.
It's best you use it through the factory class com.eclipsesource.tabris.passepartout.PassePartout.
Source can be found on github:
https://github.com/eclipsesource/tabris/tree/master/com.eclipsesource.tabris.passepartout
Add this plugin to your dependency or just copy the source in your project.
See the blogpost at eclipsesource for basic info:
https://eclipsesource.com/products/tabris/eclipse-rap-documentation/responsive-design/
The great thing about it, is that you program it all in java.
Only issue that I now experience is with scrolling.
In my case I have a workbench and my editorpart needs a scrolledcomposite, only set to V_SCROLL. I've added two resize listeners to set the new minsize of the scrolledcomposite.
One resize listener on the display when the entire browser resizes.
A second resize listener for the parent when only the editorpart resizes. (fe when a view is resized or the editorpart is maximized)
How are big applications (with lots of windows, lets say users administration, roles, payments, etc) designed. I'm a web developer and I'm used to develop different screens in different html files. I wanna know how to split windows generations in different files instead of having only one huge Application class.
Thanks in advance..
The question is a bit too broad to thoroughly answer, but I still think providing a partial answer here might be useful.
For an implementation of Banislav's strategy of hyperlinks controlling a swappable pane (which does not use FXML), see the related question: How to have menus in java desktop application.
For a small FXML based framework for switching panes see: Loading new fxml in the same scene with associated sample code. Note that sample is for small apps, for large apps a more rigorous framework would be preferred.
The next step up from the small framework listed above would be something like afterburner.fx, which is "a minimalistic (3 classes) JavaFX MVP framework". Even though small, afterburner.fx would probably suffice to be used as the core for a medium sized application. You can find a small sample application built using afterburner.fx named airhacks-control.
For something a bit more involved you can study the source of SceneBuilder and SceneBuilderKit. SceneBuilder is an open source design tool written in JavaFX. Understanding and adapting that code may be challenging for somebody coming from a web background as its implementation differs significantly from a traditional web application.
For very large applications, basing the application on a fully featured platform such as NetBeans RCP would probably be a preferred approach, though, as of this time, that is probably a large and difficult task to do well and likely requires mixing multiple frameworks rather than writing everything purely in JavaFX.
In JavaFX, you can use similar approach as in web development.
Use BorderPane as root pane.
Create main menu
You can use MenuBar with Menus and MenuItems. You can also use TreeView or ListView on like left side of screen. To position TreeView/ListView on left side you could use BorderPane and set it to left with setLeft.
Approach I prefer would be to use HyperLink control. Add multiple HyperLink's to VBox and again, set them on left side of BorderPane. Upon click, they will handle event which set's desired form on center of BorderPane.
I.e.
I know that there are already some question about this, but I can't find my way!
I want to implement a desktop chat application with java which is able to send text,image, video, etc.
Now I am using swing component for my chat conversation window.
I create a JFrame and add JTabbedPane to it inorder to have tab for each new conversation.
for creating each tab I act as follow :
create JPanel (I add this to my JTabbedPane as tab)
newtab = new JPanel();
newtab.setLayout(new BoxLayout(newtab, BoxLayout.PAGE_AXIS));
create JTextPane for display's part of the chat (to have style for conversation like android application such as viber, ....)
I want to be able for following styling:
diffrent alignment
change font, color
insert JComponent (to show other type of messages )
setborder of each message round (I don't want the squre one)
...
context = new StyleContext();
kit = new HTMLEditorKit();
chatPane = new JTextPane();
chatPane.setEditable(false);
chatPane.setContentType("text/html");
chatPane.setEditorKit(kit);
chatPane.setText("");
doc = (HTMLDocument) chatPane.getStyledDocument();
CSS(); // it is for adding ccs style to stylesheet of document
JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(chatPane);
newtab.add(scroll , BorderLayout.CENTER);
My problem is to set perfect stying to my display part, since javax.swing.text.html.CSS provides HTML 3.2 support, so the CSS properties that are supported are limited!
while searching on Internet I find JavaFX, but I don't know is it good to use JavaFX and swing together or even is it possible?!
also which layout manager is better for the JPanel (newtab) to have my JTextPane with scroll.
As its already been said, it is possible to mix Swing and JavaFX especially since Java 8 you can do it both ways:
Embed Swing Components in JavaFX with SwingNode
Embed JavaFX Components in Swing with JFXPanel
Recently we had to make the same decision. We had an application and wanted to migrate to JavaFX to get a more modern design and to make use of all the introduced language features like PropertiesBindings etc., which is nicely supported by JavaFX Components.
So first we tried to embed JavaFX in Swing. All new components were embedded with the help of JFXPanel. It was really easy, but from time to time we had some rendering issues which got more and more annoying. "Unfortunatly" we got used to the new JavaFX API, which is why we deceided redesigning our appliction to make it a JavaFX application with some Swing Parts in it, which was possible, when Java 8 was released, since we didn`t wonna waste time on fixing thoses kind of rendering issues. The redesign was actually some work since some concepts are just different. Benefitting from the new API caused some refactorings, we didnt really wonna do in first place.
But then again mixing Swing and JavaFX got a bit fuzzy, and the look and feel of the application didnt really feel convincing, so then we finally removed all Swing Parts and replaced them by JavaFX Components. So far we don`t regret that step, but it was more work then we expected it to be, eventhough we already used patterns like MVP, where only Views had to be refactored, since presenters were (mostly) free from UI stuff (which was really an interesting process, were we learned a lot about MVP and designing an application).
So in conclusion I just can suggest to create a list of views you have and think of all the components you would need and try to find the corresponding components in JavaFX. Make small examples for the most complex components to see if they fullfill all your usecases. If that is the case and you still have enough time to switch to JavaFX I personally would go for a pure JavaFX approach, because of the experiences I made with mixing JavaFX/Swing, especially since your UI design seems to be in an early state. In the end it is just a question of time you have available for your project and if you are really up to learn about the new concepts and components of JavaFX.
Concerning the JavaFX CSS Support, you find a reference here.
It IS possible to mix JavaFX and Swing. But I have no experience in it. I just did a little FX-UI for a small project which was pretty nice. Especially the CSS-Feature is great.
According to mixing, I just recently found a blog which discouraged mixing both technologies: http://dlemmermann.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/javafx-tip-9-do-not-mix-swing-javafx/
Maybe this gives you a little help.
Recently I was asked same question.
About one month ago I started new project with my team. We use Java 8.0 + JavaFX 2.2.
What problems did I find in JavaFX?
It's new technology, so many issues still not answered. And you must look for it own.
No tray supporting, so you must use java.awt.SystemTray.
Also I found one problem in the design.
For example you want to make beautiful list with cells which contains label which stuck to left side and checkbox about right side. But there is no good way to do it and you have to calculate length of cells and etc..
But JavaFX provide great opportunities for cutomizing GUI. And you can incapsulate your design in jxml file. It's very convient, because it even more separate code from design.
About mixing I think that if platform allows it than you have to use a solution that provided a platform.
And I think that the decision to use JavaFX correct, if only because it is a relatively new technology, developed by Oracle and it probably will soon replace the swing.
I'm looking for a Java UI designer allowing me to drag and drop controls directly to the design surface in a floating mode (without the hassle of north, south etc that comes with SWT). Is there any such tool?
Also, I'm only interested in tools offering a trial version.
EDIT: I'm only interested in solutions allowing me to drag/drop items regardless of panels margin, LayoutManager stuff etc. The position should preferably be just relative to the window margin.
Thanks in advance
You can use NetBeans to design your GUI. Instead of messing with Layout Managers, just use the "Absolute" layout. It will put the UI Components exactly where you drop them, pixel for pixel.
Eclipse has a free visual editor called VEP. See http://www.eclipse.org/vep/
Instantiations has a very nice set of tools with a trial version:
http://instantiations.com
Note that for any visual designer, you should know how layout managers work to use them properly (and make sure your UI expands/contracts/adapts to font/locale properly). If you just use absolute placement, things can get cropped, for example.
See http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/GUI/AWTLayoutMgr/ for my article on layout management to get a feel for how to use things like North, South. It only covers the original five Java layout managers, but describes why you need them and how you can nest them.
I recommend JFormDesigner, which has support for "Free Design". From
http://www.jformdesigner.com/doc/help/layouts/grouplayout.html:
The goal of the group layout manager
is to make it easy to create
professional cross platform layouts.
It is designed for GUI builders, such
as JFormDesigner, to use the "Free
Design" paradigm. You can lay out your
forms by simply placing components
where you want them. Visual guidelines
suggest optimal spacing, alignment and
resizing of components.
It has a trial version and is very easy to use.
Netbeans has a drag and drop module called Matisse: http://www.netbeans.org/kb/articles/matisse.html
I'm creating a cross platform application using Swing and Netbeans (Group Layout). Is there a trick I am missing to help develop dialogs with say OK, Cancel buttons in the correct order for different platforms - specifically Windows (OK-Cancel) and Mac (Cancel-OK), rather like the JOptionPane does? I can derive my own class from JDialog with two buttons on it, and swap text and actions around - I just wondered if there is something 'out of the box' I've missed. (This is not a question about which way round buttons should be, or the use of verbs e.g. Save instead of Ok.)
MiGLayout supports this out of the box. Either use this layout manager, or look how it does its magic.
Eclipse SWT also provides platform-aware layouts.