If you just want to start up any application, you can use MonkeyTester
in tests/manual/monkey. I have the build/sdk/lib directory permanently
exported as an environment variable so I can easily run the
MonkeyTester jar file with --module-path=$env:JFX_SDK on the command
line.
Aside from that, I have a second instance of IntelliJ running with a
"playground" project with all sorts of little test applications. I'm
using Gradle with the javafx-gradle-plugin to point it to my
locally-built SDK (javafx { sdk = "path/to/build/sdk" }). If I tell
IntelliJ about the sdk/src.zip file, I can debug into JavaFX from my
test application.
On Sun, Dec 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM Cormac Redmond <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Are there any tricks to quickly spinning up a visible application (from a
> test or otherwise), from within the JFX project, in order to see your changes?
>
> Obviously building the SDK and "using" it in an application is time consuming.
>
> I've seen this in build.gradle, where I assume StubToolKit automatically runs
> a sort of headless Application for tests without tests needing to manage it.
> Can it be replaced with anything?
>
> test {
> def cssDir = file("${TEST_SDK_DIR}/shims/${moduleName}/javafx")
> jvmArgs enableNativeGraphics
> jvmArgs "-Djavafx.toolkit=test.com.sun.javafx.pgstub.StubToolkit",
> "-DCSS_META_DATA_TEST_DIR=$cssDir"
> }
>
> I know some people copy UI classes into their project (keeping the same
> package name as the real JFX control class, where it will take precedence),
> and develop/test it there. If that's the best solution to date, that's fine.
>
> In general, any other quick development tips (in the realm of quickly
> visually testing your changes) would be appreciated...
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> Kind Regards,
> Cormac
