Part II

Professional Development Tool
JavaBeans for Increased Productivity


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Part III

Professional Development Tool

The JBuilder 2 Environment
A tremendous effort has been made to deliver an easy-to-use, easy-to-learn, yet highly productive environment for JBuilder. We leveraged the highly successful RAD Workbench IDE from Delphi and C++Builder and conducted thorough usability testing. This is where the Application Browser or AppBrowser was born. The result is a very enticing interface that's been praised by all Java developers using JBuilder. Let's have a look at the JBuilder 2 IDE.


The JBuilder 2 Main Window and AppBrowser deliver an intuitive interface

The Main Window The window at the top of the screen is called the main window. This window contains the menu bar, tool bar, and the Component Palette.


The JBuilder 2 Main Window-an easy-to-navigate window with a Delphi and C++Builder feel

The Component Palette

The Component Palette displays the components that are available in the JBuilder 2 component library. The components are grouped on pages to help organize components that are similar.


The JBuilder 2 Component Palette includes 200+ JavaBeans, including JFC/Swing with Source Code

The AppBrowser

The JBuilder 2 RAD Workbench is designed to increase the productivity of the developer. A Java project can consist of many files. Different development tasks (such as editing or debugging) have historically used many windows, which can clutter the desktop and make it hard to find the window you need. The JBuilder 2 new IDE concept is a single window called the AppBrowser, which performs all of the development tasks. The AppBrowser is found below the main window and fills the rest of the screen.

The AppBrowser contains three panes:

• The Navigation Pane, on the upper left
• The Content Pane, on the right side
• The Structure Pane, on the bottom left


The AppBrowser gives an intuitive browser view of project files, components, methods, variables, imports, etc.

Open multiple AppBrowsers to view more than one project at a time.

The Navigation Pane

The Navigation Pane is the top left pane of the AppBrowser. This pane shows a list of files. If there is a project in this pane-file with a JPR extension-a tree view will show all the files associated with the project. When you select a file in the Navigation pane, the Content and Structure pane will change to represent the selected file.

The Structure Pane

The Structure Pane is the lower left pane of the AppBrowser. This pane shows a structured analysis of the file selected in the Navigation pane. For example, a selected file with a JAVA extension will show the following in the Structure pane:

• Imported packages
• The classes and/or interfaces in the file
• The ancestry of classes and/or interfaces
• Variables and methods


The Structure Pane facilitates management of classes, variables, methods, etc.

The Content Pane

The Content Pane is found on the right side of the AppBrowser and is called by selecting the Source tab. This pane shows the code from the file selected in the Navigation pane. The editor or viewer used to display the information is determined by the file's extension.


The content Pane supports color syntax highlighting for easy code editing

The number and types of viewers/editors depends on the file's extension. For example:


• Text files will only have a Source tab
• Image files will only have a View tab
• HTML files will have a View and a Source tab
• JAVA files will have a Design, Source, Bean, and a Doc tab

The AppBrowser can display the following modes:


• Project Browser
• Directory Browser
• Opened Files Browser
• Debugger
• Class Hierarchy Browser
• Search Results Browser

CodeInsight

Coding is now made very easy with the newest editor feature-CodeInsight. New Java developers and expert Java developers alike will welcome the integrated smart technology that speeds up coding and reduces syntax errors. CodeInsight is a set of high-productivity coding Wizards that assist developers while programming, allowing them to build more robust applications faster. CodeInsight automatically provides developers with the proper syntax when creating and editing parameters, properties, methods, events, and highlights invalid data types. CodeInsight is also a useful tool to developers learning the Java language.




The Object Gallery

The Object Gallery contains shortcuts that aid developers in the construction of many objects. To view the Object Gallery, choose File |New.


The Object Gallery includes Wizards and templates for faster development

The Object Gallery has eight tabbed pages


• The New page lists available wizards to help create applications, JavaBeans, Servlets, applets, projects, etc.
• The Panels page will help create a Tabbed Pages panel and a Dual List dialog
• The Menu page contains a standard menu
• The Dialog page will help create an about box and some standard dialogs
• The DataModule page contains templates to create data modules
• The BeansExpress page will aid in the creation of JavaBeans
• The VisiBroker page will help create the necessary stubs for a CORBA Server
• The Other page contains an example for creating a snippet where developers can place their own reusable code

Pure Java Two-Way-Tools
Borland's unique Two-Way Tools let developers work simultaneously in the visual designers and pure Java code by switching between the Design and Source tabs, so they get all the benefits of visual programming without sacrificing the control of working in code. Because JBuilder 2 doesn't use markers in the code to keep the two synchronized (markers that can be inadvertently deleted), developers never have to worry about getting out of sync and thereby losing the ability to do visual design!

Advanced Java Compiler
The JBuilder 2 compiler has full support for the Java language, including inner classes and JAR files. Developers can compile from within the IDE, or from the command line.

SmartChecker for Smart Dependencies Checking

JBuilder 2 can compile more than 10,000 lines of code per second. Moreover, only JBuilder 2 offers the fastest rebuild/recompile speeds by using Smart Dependency Checking, which results in fewer unnecessary compiles of interdependent source files, and thus accelerates the edit/recompile cycle. When compiling, instead of deciding whether to recompile a source file based only on the time stamp of the file, JBuilder analyzes the nature of the changes made to source files. A source file is recompiled only if it uses (or depends on) a particular element that has changed within another source file.

Types of compiling

There are two commands for compiling: the Make command, and the Build command. The Make command compiles only the files that have changed. Make is the recommended command. The Build command compiles all the files.

Powerful Debugger
Any programmer knows that debugging can be a very painful process. That is why an integrated debugger is essential in any programming environment. The JBuilder professional debugger makes the process of locating and fixing errors in the code much easier. It enables developers to control the execution of their program by:


• tracing into or stepping over a method call
• running to a breakpoint
• running to the cursor location
• running to the end of a method
• pausing the program at a certain location or when a condition is met

With the program's execution under control, developers can then inspect or change object properties and variable values during execution to locate any bugs. This can be done using:


• the Threads and Stack pane
• the Data pane
• the Inspector
• the Evaluate/Modify dialog box

Debugging in a Browser

An applet runs in an HTML page, from which it obtains its display size and other parameters. To run or debug an applet in JBuilder, select the.html file in the project tree of the AppBrowser, and select Run | Run or Run | Debug.

Debugging Multiple Projects

Developers can debug multiple projects in JBuilder just by switching between several AppBrowser instances.

Multi-threaded Debugging

With JBuilder, a developer can debug multi-threaded applets, applications, and JavaBeans. It is easy to examine Stack frames and variables of all threads in the AppBrowser.

Starting the Debugger

To start the debugger, first open the project to debug. Once the project is open, select File | Project Properties and make sure that Include Debug Information is checked.


The JBuilder 2 extensible environment makes the Debugger Customization easy

Select the .jpr node in the Navigation pane. To start the debugger, either select Run | Debug, press F9, or click the Debug icon:



JBuilder 2 first compiles the project files and then starts the debugger. While in debugging mode, the program executes as it normally would, but now it can be paused at any given point to check its state at that point. The debugger adds two tabs to the AppBrowser's Navigation pane: Debug and Watch.



The Debug tab displays the Threads and stack pane (the top pane), and the Data pane.


The JBuilder 2 graphical debugger makes bug fixeing snap

Use the Threads and Stack pane to view the methods called and the states of program threads. To inspect data elements, use the Data pane.

The Watch tab shows the Watch pane, which can be used to evaluate variables and expressions.



The icons (from left to right) are used to execute the program, step over a method call, trace into a method call, pause the execution, and reset (stop) the debugging process.

If the project files compiled successfully, the Debugger will highlight the line of code that it will execute next in blue, and display a green arrow next to it. This is called the execution point.



To find the execution point at any time during debugging, select Run | Show Execution Point.

If the compiler encounters any errors before the Debugger starts, the errors will be listed in the bottom section of the Source pane, and a red highlight shows the first error.


The JBuilder 2 graphical debugger gives comprehensive error messages for easier debugging

Leveraging more than 10 years of experience in compilers and debuggers, Inprise delivers the most mature and reliable compiler and debugger technology to the Java developers community. This industrial-strength environment development makes JBuilder 2 the preferred Java development for professional and corporate developers.

JavaBeans for Increased Productivity

The JavaBeans API is one of the newest and most exciting additions to JavaSoft's JDK 1.1. This API, which is contained in the JavaBeans package, facilitates the creation of architecture and platform-independent, reusable software components. These software components are called Beans or JavaBeans. Among the things the JavaBeans API introduces is a mechanism for Beans to communicate with each other, and a model that specifies how a Bean is developed and manipulated by builder tools.

Advantages of JavaBeans

JavaBeans is not the first component architecture to be developed; software developers have for years been programming reusable components. What JavaBeans brings that is new, however, is a powerful way to create platform- and architecture-independent components. The fact that the Internet (and intranets) is the biggest playground for the software industry nowadays fuels the interest in JavaBeans; and because the Internet is basically a melting pot of computers that run on different Operating Systems, having components that can run seamlessly on any machine is a big advantage.

Another advantage of JavaBeans is the way it supports distributed computing. Although the JavaBeans API doesn't include core support for distributed computing, it does allow developers to use virtually any distributed computing mechanism. The advantage to this approach is that a Bean doesn't have to carry the big overhead necessary in distributed computing. That in turn makes JavaBeans more compact.

Inprise-Key to the Development of JavaBeans

"[Inprise's]* experience with object-oriented development environments has contributed to the development of the JavaBeans component model. With [Inprise's]* help, we have been able to greatly extend the flexibility and robustness of the Java language. We recognize the importance of high-quality, component-based RAD tools like JBuilder to the continued success of Java." -Jon Kannegaard, Vice President, JavaSoft.

JBuilder 2 JavaBeans Express is the fastest way to create and deploy JavaBean components.
Three quick and easy steps to create and deploy JavaBeans: 1. Express JavaBean:

BeansExpress is a tool used for quickly developing and deploying JavaBeans. BeansExpress can be accessed from the BeansExpress tab on the AppBrowser. To create a new bean, select the new JavaBean Wizard. File | New



From the General tab you can choose to use only core JDK and Swing classes and whether or not your bean will support serialization.


The new BeansExpress is the fastest way to create new JavaBeans

Bean properties

You can add properties to your bean, choose to generate Getter and Setter, and more.


BeansExpress makes it easy to add new properties to your bean

Bean Info

You can automatically generate a bean info, choose to whether or not to expose the superclass bean info, select your icons, etc.


BeansExpress delivers full support for JavaBeans

Adding Events

To add events to your bean, click on the Events tab and select the relevant events.


Generating events with BeansExpress is as simple as pointing and clicking on the events

2. Express Deployment

To complete the process, deploy the bean using the Deployment Wizard. Select Wizards|Deployment Wizard, make the appropriate selections, and click Finish.


The JBuilder 2 Deployment Wizard is the fastest way to deploy JavaBeans

3. Express Add-to-Palette

Components can be easily reused by placing them on the component palette. To place the Bean onto the JBuilder 2 component palette:
Select Tools|Configure Palette|Add from Package.
Select the file and Page, then Click OK ,and the New JavaBean is added on the component Palette.


BeansExpress makes it very easy to add JavaBeans to the Component Palette

As you can see, JavaBeans creation and deployment is made easy with Java BeansExpress, but best of all, JBuilder 2 offers the best implementation of the JavaBean model. Inprise was key in defining the JavaBean architecture with Sun. This joint involvement in Sun's JavaBean design is reflected in the integration of the JavaBean architecture in JBuilder.

BeanInsight

You might have just downloaded a bean off the Web and you would like to know if it's a valid bean or you would like to find out what its properties are. BeanInsight is the ideal tool to use. It reports a summary of its findings.



The first page tells you if the bean is a valid JavaBean. It shows the bean inheritance hierarchy, and lists its implemented interfaces. In addition, BeanInsight reports whether a bean's property is obtained through a beaninfo class or through introspection.


With BeanInsight, you get information on events, property editors, customizers, and attributes.

JFC/Swing

JBuilder 2 now includes the new JFC/Swing components. JFC/Swing provides a comprehensive set of UI components from Sun that deliver powerful features for creating professional, full-featured 100% Pure Java user interfaces.

JavaBean Component Library (JBCL)

JBCL delivers robust Enterprise components built on top of the Swing architecture, providing full-featured controls such as list, tree, and grid controls that complement Swing Controls for enterprise and database application development. JBCL and JFC/Swing components can be used interchangeably in Java applications to create professional, full-featured Java applications. The Swing architecture provides a number of enhancements to JBCL components, including lightweight rendering, serialization, transparency support, tooltips, double buffering, and pluggable look and feel.

Commercial JavaBeans - KL Group, Roguewave, Protoview, and ObjectFx

All versions of JBuilder 2 include a set of award-winning JavaBeans from KL Group, Roguewave, Protoview, and ObjectFx.

"The JBuilder component architecture and its full support for the JavaBean standard make it a leading tool for professional JavaBeans development. JBuilder is ideal for development with third-party JavaBeans, like JClass from KL Group, within an easy-to-use environment." -Greg Kiessling, President, KL Group

Continue to Part III

Enterprise JavaBeans
Enterprise Database Applications
Enterprise Deployment
Extensible & Customizable IDE
Support & Help for Developers
Appendix A

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