+1 It would be a nice plugin :)
> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of J�rgen Zeller > Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 8:49 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Eap-features] GUI editor: what's really needed? > > > Hi, > > i would like to add my view to the recent discussions regarding more > features for Ariadna that make Swing/AWT development easier. > > Most people that voted against such support wrote that that would add > "bload" to the IDE and would generate bad code, anyway. > > Knowing all major IDE's (VAge, JBuilder, Netbeans) and their GUI > editors, i would definitively vote agains any simular approach to GUI > editors ... but their are also success stories, sadly not in the Java > world. > > > Before describing my "ideal" GUI editor, i would like to clearly > define from my point of view the major four aspects of GUI editing > and GUI coding: > > o creating a visual look for a window/dialog by aggregating > atomar UI elements like buttons, labels, etc > > o connecting the "callbacks" of the atomar UI elements to > code written by the user > > o provide a method to access the UI tree to change attributes (e.g. > whether a button is enabled, I18N, ...), or to get attributes (what > text was entered in a text field) > > o change the UI tree (a "advanced options" button will add a panel to > a dialog) > > > Most (Java) IDE's didn't make UI development as easy as VB/Visual C++ > development, because there is (for the better or worse) no "simple" > way to get the basic work done without being a genius. (I definetly > hate Microsoft as anybody else, but the get a lot of things right > when it comes to support for "joe developer".) > > > I started working with UI's about 10 years ago, and nothing ever > since was more pleasant then the NeXTSTEP (aka Mac OS X) > InterfaceBuilder.app, and i wish that there would be GUI Editor like > that for Swing/AWT. > > InterfaceBuilder.app addressed most of the above aspects of > GUI editing > right by > o a full visual drag'n'drop of atomar UI components, with a powerful > struts/springs layoutmanagement (that now re-appears in .NET) > o _not_ generating code, but a (binary) representation of the UI, > that was loaded at run time > o a powerful, visual callback editor that let you connect the events > of any UI element to a method of an object of any class during > design time > > => a Java/Swing GUI "accelerator" should provide > o a visual editor supporting all JDK 1.4 layout managers (mostly > the SpringLayout & GridBagLayout) and all UI elements (standard > ones + JavaBean's) that generates an XML descripton. > o a generator to generate customizable code from that description > and/or some API to load such an description at runtime > o some small helper classes that provide NeXTSTEP/.NET like > callback handling without inner classes or simular bloat > o some small helper classes that provide access to a UI tree by > name (think XPATH), without getter/setter method bloat > > > Somebody noted that all "senior" developers have some classes that > make Swing live easier, and i fully agree with that view. In the same > post, however, he said that therefore no GUI editors are needed, and > i strongly disagree with that. > > My typical UI work goes like this: > 1) paint the UI with a pencil on squared paper > 2) go to the client, discuss the look and to some degree the feel; > if further work is needed, goto 1) > 3) find the right layout manager (mostly GridBagLayout), and try > with the paper to figure out if it will work > 4) write a class for each major panel, a small decorator helper class > helps to keep some stuff like I18N, tooltips, ... in a property > file > 5) compile, run, and resize the panel(s) > 6) find out whether the resizing works, if not, goto 4) > 7) write the controller classes (MVC on a dialog level, not a > Swing one) > and connect the callbacks with a small helper class to the various > methods of that classes > 8) start real work > 9) discover that the client had not really the same ideas about the > feel, and has now new ideas about the look, therefore got 1) > > Both for my clients (that have to pay for that) and for myself > (getting bored during the 2->1 and 6->4 loops) the above approach is > not optimal, and any help from IDEA 2.x, x>5 would be really cool! > > > Bye, > > J�rgen > > _______________________________________________ > Eap-features mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.intellij.com/mailman/listinfo/eap-features > _______________________________________________ Eap-features mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellij.com/mailman/listinfo/eap-features
