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Create a new Application


You will now create a new Main Application (which will become your text editor). In the IDE, you see on the left the Project Tree, which has three sections. The first is called "Project Groups", and contains a list of group names. Each of these items represents a group of files which will appear in the box on the right when selected. For example, if you chose 'Java Source Files', all of the Java source files would appear in the box on the right.

  1. Choose the first item in Project Groups, labeled 'Composer Files'.
  2. To see what our tutorial will look like when finished, double click on Finished.Main. (You can also choose 'Open' from Finished.Main's pop-up menu or select Finished.Main with the mouse and choose 'Open' from the Edit menu.)

    Three windows appear. One of these will be a small text editor with a title bar 'Finished Text Editor'. It will have three buttons, New, Load, and Save. Try typing some text in the text area. When you press the New Button, the text will be cleared. The Load, and Save buttons work as you would expect, too. Try loading a text file from your computer into the Text Editor.
  3. When you are finished, choose Exit from the File menu of the first window, titled 'Simplicity Composer'. Press No when asked if you would like to save any changes
  4. In the IDE, choose 'Main App' from the Create menu. This creates a new Application in the current project. (You can also press the 'Create a Main App' button on the button bar. It is the fourth button with the light bulb on it.)

    A new Icon appears in the 'Composer Files' group with a name similar to Untitled1.Main.
  5. Click this new icon once to select it. (It will become highlighted.)
  6. From the Edit menu, choose Rename selection. A text field will appear to the right of the icon. Replace the old name with 'text editor'. Click the mouse anywhere else in the right hand window to accept the change. If you don't specify the '.Main' extension, Simplicity will add it for you. Simplicity will also modify the spacing and capitalization to conform to Java naming conventions.
  7. Double click the new 'TextEditor.Main' icon to open the Simplicity Composer.

You have now created a new Application, and have loaded it into the Simplicity Composer. You should see three new Windows on the screen. They are the Composer window, the Object Palette, and a small window with the word 'Empty' in it. This last window is your program, which currently has nothing in it.

The composer window is the place where you will set up all of the properties of the graphical parts of your program. It is also where you will be able to supply all the code that your programs will need.

Toward the top of the composer window is a choice box. This is the part list. If you select it, you will see that there is currently only one item in it called TextEditor. This refers to the empty window that will become your application.

The bottom portion of the Composer window has a four page notebook. The first page, called 'Main Window', has the properties that are specific to a main application window.

  1. Click the mouse in the text field entitled 'Title Bar'. A cursor should now be visible in that field.
  2. Replace any text in the Title Bar field with 'Text Editor' .
    As you type, the title appears in the program window. (The one with the word 'Empty' in it.) You may need to resize the program window to see the full title.

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