I want to make a GUI application for Ubuntu written in Clojure (so using Java GUI libraries). I know how to write Swing apps, to run as 'normal' GUI apps. I want to do something a little different and am not sure how to approach it; I want to write a program to run in the sys tray, and every X minutes remind me something in a small window that shows near the sys tray.
Thanks for the help,
Alex
If you are targeting java 6 you can use,
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2SE/Desktop/javase6/systemtray/
works cross platform.
You might want to look at Brian Carpers clj-qt4-mailtray
It uses Qt so should run cross platform as an added bonus. Brian has an explanatory article here.
Related
I am looking for a way to mimic operating-system (Windows in specific) actions through Java. Preferably, the program should run in the background, but it is not a big deal if it does not. I got the background part covered thanks to this question. I was looking for the following specific features :
Maximizing/Minimizing the currently active window. (Can be any window, not just the Java application window.)
Closing the currently active window.
Open installed programs, and system utilities like the calculator, paint, etc. (I figured out this one from this question.)
Shutdown/Restart (This one's done too, thanks to the question here.)
So, my actual question is:
Is it possible to minimize/maximize or close an application window from a java program? (in Windows)
Example Scenario:
Firstly the java program is started, and it runs either as a background process or as a window. Bottom-line is that it should be able to accept triggers like maybe a keyboard shortcut or microphone input to trigger the action. After that suppose a Chrome window is opened and is currently active. Now on pressing the pre-defined shortcut, the Chrome window will minimize/maximize or close.
If the answer to the question is yes, I could use some pointers to start with my application. Thanks!
What you need is like an OS shell programming interface.
In Java side you will define a few interfaces.
Another Java layer will detect which OS is used and will return an implementation of interface: Windows, Linux, Macosx.
Some functionality you can have with simple bash command: in windows cmd, in linux .. to many. Eg shut down, launch MSPaint, Calculator.
Other functionality you can have it with windows API: you will need to write some JNI functions and call it. eg minimize, maximize. It is possible.
Edit:
I see there is no accepted answer, although it is answered properly.
Here is a C# code which does what you need in Java.
Now you need to migrate this code to Java:
In your java class declare a function:
private native maximizeOrMinimizeWindowWithName(String windowName, boolean maximize);
Compile -it
use Javah.exe - it will generate the necesary .h files
Use a C editor, configure environment, use the generated .h file.
-include windows api headers
-load user32.dll
- do more stuf..
compile your C code to .dll
put the your.dll into your app PATH environment variable. ( windows has the . in path, linux not)
-text, bugfix,
for more info you should see a basic JNI tutorials.
-upvote accept :)
This can be initiated from Java, but not actually implemented in Java. In other words, it will take a lot of platform-specfiic JNI library code to get it working.
Java will give you almost no benefit for your use case; you should avoid it altogether for this project.
You should look into Autohotkey. It's an system dedicated to simulate user programmaticly.
Using AH scripts you can easily access all open windows, installed programs and even control mouse and keyboard.
Ubuntu has desktop notifications at the bottom of the screen. My question is how to use it with Java. I couldn't find a solution for this. I use Gnome-shell, but does it work on the same way with Unity? And has Debian also the same notification system? And if you know the answer, I hope you will give an example so I'll understand it better.
The SystemTray and TrayIcon should do what you need. If not, maybe Twinkle will:
Twinkle lets you create desktop notifications from your Java Swing
application with ease!
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use The System Tray for a working example.
We need a tool to test a set of fairly complex Java applications. The applications are mostly independent client programs or applets communicating with a servlet or apache server at a remote site. Specs:
Runnable on Windows XP, Vista and 7
Parameterizable (Can specify in a script the sequence of buttons to click, text to type in JTextFields and browser address bar etc.)
Can quit or bail out or display a nasty message if the expected window or dialog box doesn't appear
Record the output on the Java Console of browser in a .txt file (IE is sufficient for now) when the application opens a browser window.
While running, I should be able to see it running with folded hands while it would run
for a few minutes
We were thinking of writing an AWTRobot based tool that reads a command file and does this - (don't know how to do #3 or #4 yet - will ask you folks some day how to detect a window on the desktop). Would you suggest an open source tool available to do this? We don't need anything fancy to capture video or screenshots. Thank you, - M.S.
For browser based automated testing you can use Selenuim or you can use WebDriver.
The selenium project is hosted here
If you don't need to test the way the pages are actually rendered by the browser, but instead need to work at the HTTP/HTTPS/etc request level then have a look at JMeter. It has parametrization, dataproviders, graphs, and a proxy component for recording http user sessions.
If you do need browser testing, then, as has already been mentioned, Selenium is probably the best freely available tool. For production I would recommend using Selenium Remote Control server which can be driven by scripts written in Java/Python/C#/Perl/PHP.
To see what tools people use in real production environments, and to do your own research on what is available I recommend www.sqaforums.com.
Have a look at Sikuli
The reason I suggest this is it sounds like you need to test both a Java applet and the content of a native browser (launched from Java, but not itself Java) -- so it's not "Java all the way".
I'm not sure what you mean by criteria 4, though. It is worth noting that as Sukuli works by image analysis, it won't be able to copy text to a text file.
This question is an invitation for sales pitch, don't you think. How about Mercury Quicktest professional ( I believe its HP Quick test now). I do not believe this will be cheap either ( and well its HP, it will probably only work in IE ;)).
Since you want an open source solution, I believe, the most popular option is selenium and yes its a pain to configure sometimes ( like for Flex for example). So you should try Watir.
There is a lot of good buzz around it and when I evaluated it, I loved what I see.Also it does not work for desktop applications, I suggest you try some other solution for that.
(The problem is open source GUI testing tools are not usually all inclusive. If you need one solution to handle all your gui testing needs, then you should check out the more commercial ones like QTP.
I have used IBM Rational Functional Tester. It has everything you need and it's quite easy to learn. The scripting language is either Java or VB.Net so you won't have to worry about learning a language for your tests.
I had some pretty good results with Squish from FrogLogic and didn't break the bank: http://www.froglogic.com/products/
Did you try Squsih - http://www.froglogic.com/products/index.php
I am trying to make a contribution to the windows task bar so when i minimize my app it docks itself into the windows task bar , the best way of describing this is by looking at a picture I have drawn:
If anybody knows if this is possible or how to do it please let me know.
I am well aware of the ability to add an icon to the system tray - but this is slightly different.
Thanks in advance,
Andy
You should probably have to use JNI or JNA to achieve this - wrapping the native windows API seems like the most viable idea. It'll greatly diminish the value of using Java, however - using JNI/JNA should always be considered last resort...
Take a look at SWT. This will definitely be a platform specific solution but I am assuming this isn't an issue for you.
SWT (Beginning with 3.6 which just went gold) has a TaskBar class and corresponding TaskItem classes for each item in the TaskBar. I don't think the TaskItem class is going to be powerful enough to do what you are asking for, but by looking at the source it will provide you insight into the low level Windows calls that you can access to get this done.
The SWT version for Windows will have a low level platform specific API that should get you where you want to go. Basically they have done all the JNA/JNI work for you. I am not a Windows programmer so I can't give you more details, but hopefully this will point you in the right direction.
You just need to use the System Tray functionality available in Java 6.
If you look at the More Information section at the bottom of that page it has links to the System Tray API and an example project.
Could you hide your application on minimize and then add an icon for it to the system tray that, when clicked, unhides your application?
This is my first post on Stack Overflow and I'm just wondering on the options of making a system tray application. The application would run primary from the system tray while still operating, and could be brought up into a window when clicked on. It is also needed to have some support for global keystroke tracking, to bring up a window.
I'm curious on what options I have available to me, as I'm sure that there are many ways to do this. I'm most familiar with with Java though I have some experience with C++. I'm willing to explore other languages if they have some definite perks to them, though it would be nice to work with what I know in a way.
Thank you
Java 6 has new functionality which allows for the creation of applications which use the system tray.
The New System Tray Functionality in Java SE 6 article goes into the details, and provides some sample code as well.
The newly added SystemTray and TrayIcon classes of the java.awt package can be used to add icons to the system tray. The icons can respond to mouse clicks and use pop up menus as well. However, this new functionality is a part of AWT, so it doesn't do a very good job integrating with Swing components.
Here's an example of a little clock that shows up in the system tray which was made using the SystemTray and TrayIcon classes in Java 6:
(source: coobird.net)
Plain old Winforms would get my vote.
If you are familiar with Java you should have little difficulty using one of the managed languages to create a simple tray app with .NET.
Here is some advice on the correct way to create a tray app.
Be carefully with manged applications and Java here. Tray applications run all the time. So, if they are poorly written then they can use enough system resources to interfere with other things.
There is nothing wrong with manged code or Java in general, but it can be more difficult to keep managed or java apps frugal with memory, I/O and CPU time.
I'm saying this as a dev manger on the Windows perf team - we've seen lots and lots of very piggy tray applications. Yes, some are even windows or MSFT applications.
It may be a better approach to write a very small light weight tray app that launches a richer process when the user needs it. You can write your try app in simple C++ right on top of the low level Win32 APIs. If you don't want to use the Win32 APIs directly, you can use the Windows Template Library.