All Packages  Class Hierarchy  This Package  Previous  Next  Index

Interface pub.java.gui.builders.BuilderComponentBeanInfo

public interface BuilderComponentBeanInfo

This interface is designed to be used by any GUI Builder that requires this functionality and has not been specifically written for the JForge GUI Builder.

Copyright Cameron Newham. Permission to use and redistribute this source file for any purpose is hereby granted.

addComponent(Component, Component)

Adds a child component to the component.

getChildren(Component)

Returns the children of this component (i.e.: those children that can be editted and are managed by this component).

getContent(Component)

Returns a component to which layouts and other components can be added.

getDefaultLayout()

Returns the default Layout Manager for this component.

getJavaConstructorString(Component)

Returns a string that would create a new instance of the component when compiled and run.

getJavaInitializationStrings(Component)

Returns an array of strings that would regenerate the component when compiled and run.

getVisibleChildren(Component)

Returns the currently visible children of this component.

isAddProvided()

Returns a boolean indicating whether this bean info provides the functionality to perform an add() via the method addComponent.

isRemoveProvided()

Returns a boolean indicating whether this bean info provides the functionality to perform a remove() via the method removeComponent.

newInstance()

Returns a new instance of the component.

removeComponent(Component, Component)

Removes a child component from the component.

 public abstract Component newInstance()

Returns a new instance of the component. For simple components this could be: return new MyComponent(); For components that need to do special initialisation (e.g.: JTabbedPane might automatically insert a tab and a panel for convenience), return the component after doing initialisation.

Returns:

a new instance of the component.

 public abstract Container getContent(Component component)

Returns a component to which layouts and other components can be added. For simple components this would be: return component; For more complex components, e.g. JFrame, it could be: return component.getContentPane(); A return of null indicates that the component can't be added to. For components with multiple content places (e.g.: JTabbedPane) it should return the currently visible content.

Parameters:

component - the component to find the content for.

Returns:

the container object for the component.

 public abstract boolean isAddProvided()

Returns a boolean indicating whether this bean info provides the functionality to perform an add() via the method addComponent. This method is called when the user explicitely tries to add one component to another. If true is returned, the addComponent method is called, otherwise the add takes place through the normal (non-constraint based) add() provided by the Container class.

Returns:

whether the addComponent method may be used.

 public abstract void addComponent(Component component,
                                   Component child)

Adds a child component to the component. For simple components this can do nothing (in which case a normal add() will be used). For complex components that, for example, have multiple content areas (cf: JSplitPane), this method adds the child to the correct place (and may have to pop up a dialogue to ask the user for the information on this). This method is called when the user explicitely adds one component to another. The method isAddProvided is called first to see if this method should be used.

Parameters:

component - the component to add the child to.

child - the component to add.

 public abstract boolean isRemoveProvided()

Returns a boolean indicating whether this bean info provides the functionality to perform a remove() via the method removeComponent. This method is called when the user explicitely tries to remove a component from another. If true is returned, the removeComponent method is called, otherwise the remove takes place through the normal remove() provided by the Container class.

Returns:

whether the removeComponent method may be used.

 public abstract void removeComponent(Component component,
                                      Component child)

Removes a child component from the component. For nearly all components this can do nothing (in which case a normal remove() will be used). For complex components that require a special remove() or delete(), this method should perform the removal. This method is called when the user explicitely removes one component from another. The method isRemoveProvided is called first to see if this method should be used.

Parameters:

component - the component to remove the child from.

child - the component to remove.

 public abstract LayoutManager getDefaultLayout()

Returns the default Layout Manager for this component. In most cases it will return the default Layout Manager for the content. For a simple component e.g. JPanel, it could be: return new JPanel().getLayout(); or return new FlowLayout(); It should only return the layout for a newly created component of this type (essentially a dummy component). The returned layout has the potential to be used by another component so it should not already be in use (and hence attempting to manage more than one component). If the component does not have a content then it should return null.

Returns:

the default content Layout Manager for this type of component.

 public abstract Component[] getChildren(Component component)

Returns the children of this component (i.e.: those children that can be editted and are managed by this component). For simple components (containers) it could be: container.getComponents(); For more complex components (e.g.: JTabbedPane) it should return all managed children. May return null.

Parameters:

component - the component to find the children for.

Returns:

an array of child components.

 public abstract Component[] getVisibleChildren(Component component)

Returns the currently visible children of this component. For a simple component this could be: container.getComponents(); For more complex components (e.g.: JTabbedPane) it should return the currently visible children (visible as in being potentially able to be seen on the screen - which includes components with isVisible() == false). This could be as simple as a call to: getContent().getComponents(); May return null.

Parameters:

component - the component to find the visible children for.

Returns:

an array of visible child components.

 public abstract String getJavaConstructorString(Component component)

Returns a string that would create a new instance of the component when compiled and run. A return value of null indicates that the Builder should use its own code generation code to construct the component constructor. The string should be of the form new myComponent().

Parameters:

component - the component to generate Java code for.

Returns:

a String representing a new instance of the component.

 public abstract String[] getJavaInitializationStrings(Component component)

Returns an array of strings that would regenerate the component when compiled and run. A return value of null indicates that the Builder should use its own code generation code to write out the component. If you provide this for JForge, you may use the JForge Code Generation API to generate code for child components and layouts. Each line should be a valid Java code line (including an ending ";").

Parameters:

component - the component to generate Java code for.

Returns:

an array of Strings representing the component.

All Packages  Class Hierarchy  This Package  Previous  Next  Index