Contents
- 3.1 Hardware
- 3.2 Operating System
- 3.3 Software
Welcome to NetBeans IDE version 3.3, a modular, standards-based integrated development environment (IDE), written in Java. NetBeans is not just an IDE. NetBeans is :
- An open source IDE written in the JavaTM programming language.
- A tools platform into which other tools and functionality can be seamlessly integrated by writing and incorporating modules.
- An application core which can be used as a generic framework to build any kind of application.
NetBeans IDE 3.3 release contains a lot of new features. The The complete list of new features implemented in this release is available in the IDE's installation folder in the CHANGES.html file.
Since NetBeans is written in pure Java, it should run on any working implementation of Java(TM) 2 SDK, Standard Edition.3.1 Hardware
The hardware requirements are similar for all platforms, but it may differ slightly for some cases. The recommended configuration for running NetBeans IDE is:Note: If your system's memory is lower than the above recommendation, you should set a lower maximum heap size in the
- Disk space: 40 Mbytes
- Memory: 128 (Windows platforms) - 256 Mbytes (most other operating systems)
- Processor: PII/300, UltraSPARC II/450 (Solaris), 500MHz Alpha (Open VMS) or equivalent
bin/ide.cfgfile. For example, if your system has 64 Mbytes of memory, you can change the-J-Xmx96mparameter to-Xmx48m.3.2 Operating System
Any operating system supporting Java(TM) 2 SDK, Standard Edition. Below is a list of platforms that the NetBeans IDE can run on. If you know about any other platform, please let us know.
- Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, ME
- Solaris 8
- Linux - any distribution
- OS/2
- Open VMS 7.2-1 or later
- Mac OS X 10.1.1
- HP-UX
3.3 Software
NetBeans requires a Java 2-compatible JVM. Download the latest version of the appropriate JDK (1.3.x) from the following sites:NetBeans IDE also runs on JavaTM 2 SDK, Standard Edition, v. 1.4.0 (currently Beta 3). Download this version of the J2SE SDK from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/.
- Windows: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download-windows.html
- Solaris: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download-solaris.html
- Linux: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download-linux.html
- OS/2: http://service.boulder.ibm.com/asd-bin/doc/en_us/catalog.htm
- Open VMS: http://www.compaq.com/java/alpha/index.html
- Mac OS X: Mac OS X 10.1.1. The upgrade from Mac OS X 10.1 to 10.1.1 is available via the Apple's Software Update mechanism. See also the installation section in this document. More inforamtion about using NetBeans on Mac OS X is available at http://www.netbeans.org/articles/mac.html
If you are running on a Microsoft Windows system, please note that the
runide.exeinstaller does not detect beta versions of the JDK. You can set the-jdkhome jdk_home_dirparameter in theide.cfgfile if you want to use a different JDK than the one detected by the installer. See The Launcher and Startup Parameters for more information.
For all platforms you can download the.zipor the.tar.gzarchive file and unpack it on the hard disk using your favorite tool. Then you must customize the startup parameters to tell the IDE where to find the SDK. Please read the The Launcher and Startup Parameters section for details.On Microsoft Windows platforms you can download and run an
.exepoint-and-click installer that guides you through the required steps.On OpenVMS
- Download the OpenVMS NetBeans self-extracting archive to your OpenVMS system. You may want to put this file into its own empty subdirectory since documentation and the actual installable kit will be created there.
- Assure your default directory is set to the directory where the NetBeans archive was downloaded.
- Execute the command:
$ RUN kit_name
Replacekit_namewith the full name of the self-extracting archive which you just downloaded. The contents of the archive will now be extracted to your directory.- View the installation documentation which was created in the extraction process and follow the steps contained in the guide to complete the installation.
On Mac OS X
- Untar, unzip to extract NetBeans. Note: unzip is part of developers tools, so it is not available in normal installation, don't forget to use gnutar instead of tar. Using StuffitExpander to extract NetBeans can cause problems with truncated filenames for NetBeans 3.3. For more info see Bad expansion of .tar.gz on Mac OS X
- To launch NetBeans open Terminal application and go to the
netbeans/bindirectory.- Start NetBeans in the standard look and feel using following command
./runide.sh -jdkhome /Library/Java/Home
The -jdkhome switch can be omitted if you set the environment variable JAVA_PATH or JDK_HOME to /Library/Java/Home- NetBeans can be started in Aqua look and feel using
./runide.sh -jdkhome /Library/Java/Home -ui com.apple.mrj.swing.MacLookAndFeel -fontsize 10
Note that settings are incompatible between Aqua and normal look and feel, therefore it is a good idea to have two different user directories if you want to test both normal and Aqua look and feel. Use the-userdirswitch to set different user directories.
The IDE is run by a launcher. Launchers for several platforms are located in thebinsubdirectory of the installation directory.For UNIX, the Bourne shell script
runide.shis the launcher.
For Microsoft Windows, use therunide.exeor therunidew.exeexecutable.runide.exeis a Microsoft Windows console application. When you run runide.exe, a console opens on the desktop withstderrandstdoutoutput from the NetBeans IDE. You can typeCtrl-Breakto get the thread dump, or typeCtrl-Cto quit the whole program.runidew.exeis the executable for running the NetBeans IDE as a window application without a console.
For OS/2runideos2.cmdis the launcher.
For OpenVMSrunideopenvms.comis the launcher.
The launcher loads the JVM, builds the IDE's classpath, passes it along with some default parameters to the JVM, and lets the JVM launch the Java application. It also restarts the IDE after you have used the Update Center.
You can pass startup parameters to the launcher using the
${IDE_HOME>/bin/ide.cfgfile. The launcher tries to read this file before it starts parsing the command line options. You can break the options into multiple lines.The following options are available:
-h
-help- print descriptions of common startup parameters
-jdkhome jdk_home_dir- use the specified version of the Java(TM) 2 SDK instead of the default SDK. By default on Windows systems, the loader looks into the Windows registry and uses the latest SDK available.
-classic
- use the classic JVM, instead of the default Java HotSpot Client VM.
-cp:p additional_classpath- prepends the specified classpath to the IDE's classpath.
-cp:a additional_classpath
-cp additional_classpath- appends the specified classpath to the IDE's classpath.
-Jjvm_flags- passes specified flags directly to the JVM.
-ui UI_class_name- use a given class as the IDE's LookAndFeel
-fontsize size- use a given size in points as the font size for the IDE user interface.
-locale language[:country[:variant]]- use the specified locale.
-userdir userdir- explicitly specifies the userdir which is the location where user settings are stored. If this option is not used on UNIX the location is ${HOME}/nbuser33. On Microsoft Windows systems, the launcher asks the user to specify the userdir and stores the value in the registry for later use.
When you first run NetBeans IDE 3.3, you can import the settings that you used in a previous installation of the IDE. These settings include project-specific settings and global options. If you choose not to import settings from a previous release, the IDE begins with a set of default settings. The Import Wizard guides you through the choices.You can import settings from NetBeans IDE v. 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2. You can also import settings for Forte for Java v. 2.0 and 3.0.
In NetBeans IDE 3.2 and Forte for Java 3.0, you can find the user directory when running the software. Choose Help | About, and click the Detail tab.
Though it is possible to import settings from a previous IDE installation into NetBeans IDE 3.3, it is not possible to import settings from NetBeans IDE 3.3 into earlier IDE releases.
The following list includes the known high priority issues in NetBeans 3.3.
Id Priority Component Description 14130 P2 openide Unable to add files to the already created jar(-Content) 18110 P2 openide DataObject synchronize on this. 11149 P3 openide [MDI] Click on property sheet and Explorer gets focus 18178 P3 openide Invalid lock when saving settings 18081 P2 core The Window System became corrupted after restart 17894 P2 core Editor got lost after switching projects, exception thrown 17212 P2 core IDE Won't Work After Creating Project That Uses JDK 1.4 Beta 2 5697 P3 core Sometimes an unselected editor window is receiving key strokes instead of the selected one 16034 P3 core Order of editor tabs not remembered under some circumstances 16587 P2 debugger Problems with adding/removing views dynamically 5620 P2 editor [indentation]After Reformat code action all bookmarks and breakpoints are moved to first line of the file. 17862 P2 editor Garbled output in editor when using server hotspot 18346 P3 editor NullPointerException after double-click on the error line in Output window. 10335 P3 form Not generating code from bean Customizer 16724 P3 form PropertySheet: NPE after set NullLyout for Form 18077 P3 form Unable to use Form module with WindowsLookAndFeel 17478 P3 javadoc Javadoc mounted as http filesystem cannot be refreshed 17984 P2 javacvs Deadlock in FSs 12557 P2openideDeadlock while modifying just loading source. 17976 P2 projects FSException during open Default Project after disabling/enabling Project module 18216 P1 vcscore Deadlock when switching projects in VCS group code 18374 P2 vcsgeneric VSS: Refreshing on folder declares all files as [Missing]. 18371 P3 vcsgeneric VSS: Two "Refresh" commands on files. 18175 P2 web Servlet debugger fails to start in some case Please refer to IssueZilla to check the current bug status.
Documentation is provided for the NetBeans IDE in the form of online help. To access all of the available online help, choose Help | Contents.The online help is not complete for the NetBeans IDE 3.3. Updates to the online help may be provided periodically in the Update Center or as part of any update releases.
There is extensive information on the NetBeans project website, http://www.netbeans.org/. Included on the website are a FAQ and instructions on how to subscribe to mailing lists where you can post questions, comments, or help others.As NetBeans is an OpenSource project you can get access to the source code, bug tracking system etc. on http://www.netbeans.org/.