I have an Apache NetBeans fork where I’ve been working on some modifications to the WindowManager. The most notable is the ability to split TopComponents in floating windows like you can the main window (including sliding modes).
I find the NB IDE very usable as-is but I really want/need this functionality for my custom NB platform applications. There are various other modifications that I feel make the window manager a little more consistent - for example currently dragging a java file editor out of the editor region creates a frame based floating window but moving the same editor into the output mode and then to the desktop creates a dialog based window. This is because NB currently determines if a TopComponent should be treated as an editor or a view based on the Mode and not the TopComponent. There are some tab icon tweaks, improved z-order handling fixes to correctly identify a drop location, etc. All changes are documented in the fork read-me. I’ve hopefully made these changes in a backward compatible manner. I’ve got things fairly stable now and use these modifications in my IDE daily. I’m aware the NetBeans window system can be used in many different ways and there are many plugins available - so I need help making sure the changes are compatible. I would really appreciate if other developers could try my fork and report any issues, potential performance problems, etc. I’d love to be able to submit a pull request but could really use a little help from the community first. Apache NetBeans fork: https://github.com/GIngleby16/netbeans Clone, build and run as you would the regular repo. Thanks Graeme Ingleby
