Can I use Eclipse RCP framework with google's window builder pro for desktop application development.
I also want to know more about Eclipse RCP, what are the advantages when comapared to swing.
Yes you can use WindowBuilder Pro for Eclipse RCP development. Window Builder Pro has great support for SWT, JFace, and Eclipse RCP specific stuff like Views and Perspectives for example you can create perspectives in visual editor.
For second questions
You can directly compare Swing and Eclipse RCP, Swing equivalent is SWT, and they have comparable features. SWT has better OS native widgets look.
SWT is set of widgets that you can use. On top of SWT JFace is built- JFace is set of high level frameworks for MVC, wizards, databinding, working with table/treeview,combos ...
On top of SWT and JFace is Eclipse RCP is built which provides application framework for plugins, with support for extensions, perspectives/views,actions, menus, and basically for extendability.
As your first question, yes, WindowBuilder Pro can create SWT code.
As for the second, there are a lot of comparisons on the pros and cons of Swing vs RCP, and the core verdict is that It Depends. Personally I would reccomend going thr RCP route for any major work, but keep in mind that it's a complete stack and not just a widget toolkit, and the things you will need to learn are correspondingly more.
Related
I am going to develop a Java application using Eclipse RCP, In fact I am new with this framework. My main problem is about this two issues:
If RCP plugins (if I am right) supports RTL UI and Languages?
Is there any set of UI components to be able to use them in desktop application? such as ribons and so on which exists for other languages like C#
I have searched a lot but could not find any good sources to answer these questions,
Thanks very much
An Eclipse RCP gets the same set of controls that Eclipse itself uses (since Eclipse is just an example of an Eclipse RCP). These are the SWT and Jface controls plus things Eclipse builds on top of those controls.
SWT support RTL, LTR, and mixed directions. Eclipse RCPs and plugins can support multiple languages with different directions (including different icons for each langauge).
For Eclipse e4 style RCPs you can also use JavaFX.
I am looking for best swing editor rite now I was looking for eclipse plugin that is Swing Plugin. Are there any other plugins for designing Swing apps. that can be installed in Eclipse, and will also generate the code?
Not Eclipse, but quite powerful is the swing designer of Netbeans.
It generates the code you need, and has got a lot of features.
Can somebody help me on how content assist works in eclipse and how I mimic that functionality for my desktop java application?
Thanks!
Eclipse is built on SWT and JFace, in other words, it's part of the UI toolkit Eclipse interface is based on. Since you have a average desktop application I assume your program's GUI is Swing and I don't know about content proposals in the Swing toolkit.
Some links on the Eclipse Platform (<- overall name for technologies like SWT, JFace, more general plugin development):
Eclipse Wiki: JFace
Eclipse Wiki: JFace UI Framework -> Field Assist
I'm creating a plugin project that will have a menu and toolbar item, that when clicked, will open a dialog for user interaction (input, searching, etc.). Should I create the dialog using SWT or Swing?
One advantage of doing it in Swing is that you don't have to supply any other libraries, because Swing is part of JRE. With SWT you have to do it and you have to have separate dlls for specific platforms.
UPDATE:
Since you mentioned that you have to create Eclipse plugin, I think you have a clear choice here - SWT. It is what Eclipse is based on.
SWT.
Debate over the merits of Swing and SWT is irrelevant. Your plug-in will integrate with a platform built on SWT. Using the same user-interface toolkit will simplify your development and testing, and produce better results.
There are cases where it's useful to use Swing within Eclipse, such as when you have an existing codebase that would be impractical to port. There is an SWT/AWT bridge; I have not used it.
Like #eugener, I prefer Swing to SWT, but both are rich, well-maintained frameworks that will serve the purpose. NetBeans and Eclipse are widely used exemplars. SWT binaries for popular platforms aren't too hard to integrate. The SWT FAQ may offer some perspective.
You'll need some other criteria to decide.
Since you're integrating Code Barrel into Eclipse, and SWT is part of the Eclipse project...
Actually, you should be looking at the Eclipse Plug-in Architecture and see how it works.
I am looking for some framework or toolkit (style drag and drop) for creating gui in Java. I need to do quite complex application with dockings, toolbars, tables etc.
Which one would be best?
The Netbeans Platform might be what you are looking for, it is based on Swing, and the Netbeans IDE can be a showcase for it, check http://platform.netbeans.org/
I think the equivalent on SWT is http://www.eclipse.org/platform/
If you're looking for a GUI builder, NetBeans has a decent one. Otherwise, you can just write it yourself in Swing or SWT?
Start reading Swing Architecture and then use Netbeans UI builder and finally complement it with JIDE Software libraries.
JIDE have several libraries, for instance:
JIDE Docking:
JIDE Grids:
And many more. The only inconvenient I see is, you need a good understanding on how does Swing works before using it ( or you can acquire that knowledge in the process )
eclipse rcp, spring rich client, griffon
all of these frameworks are good to avoid writing boiler-plate code all over again (support for docking, window management, dialog management, preferences management).
i must note that complete drag 'n drop is not supported in none of them out of the box, but there are IDE's that help you in building Swing panels, components, ... in a visual editor. both Eclipse IDE and NetBeans IDE have a GUI Builder/visual editor.
my prefered choice is spring rich client because it's easy to get started, it's swing-based, it integrates with docking frameworks, component libraries, ... and it uses spring.
if you need a pluggable architecture then you should take a look at eclipse, or netbeans.
edited: i mean eclipse rcp