The component palette provides quick access to commonly used components (JavaBeans) available for adding to forms.
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The components are organized in
categories. Click on a category header to expand or collapse a category. You can add a new component to the form in following ways:
To add multiple instances of a component, hold down the Ctrl key (Mac: Command key) while clicking on the Design or Structure view. The component palette is fully customizable. Right-click on the palette to add, edit, remove or reorder components and categories. Or use the Palette Manager. |
Toolbar commands | ||
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Palette Manager | Opens the Palette Manager dialog to customize the palette. |
This dialog allows you to fully customize the component palette. You can add, edit, remove or reorder components and categories.
You can use any component that follows the JavaBean specification in JFormDesigner. Select Choose Bean in the palette to open the Choose Bean dialog.
On this tab you can search for classes. Enter the first few characters of the class you want to choose until it appears in the matching classes list. Then select it in the list and click OK.
Following pattern kinds are supported:
JButton
or JideButton
; "DaPi" for classes containing "Da"
and "Pi" as parts in camel-case notation, e.g. DatePicker
The matching classes list displays all classes that match. It is separated into up to three sections:
Filter Menu Options | |
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Use Filter | Classes are hidden if they do not match the filter. E.g. if the JavaBean filter is active and the class is not public or does not have a public constructor. |
Show Interfaces | Includes interfaces in the list of matching classes. |
On this tab you can select classes that are marked as JavaBean in the JAR's manifest. The provider of the component JAR can mark some classes as JavaBean in the manifest file. Popular 3rd party component libraries like MiG Calendar or JIDE components use this to make it easier to find the few classes, which can be used in GUI builders, in libraries that contain hundreds of classes.
See also http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/jar/jar.html#Per-Entry%20Attributes
The Is Container check box allows you to specify whether a bean is a container or not.
If you select Add to palette category, the component will be added to the palette category specified in the following field. Click the New button to create a new category for your components if necessary.
Stand-alone: Use the Classpath button to specify the location of your component classes. Add your JAR files or class folders.
IDE plug-ins: The classpath specified in the IDE project is used to locate component classes.