Wednesday November 11, 2009
Wednesday November 11, 2009
Where is the "Top 10 NetBeans APIs" Screencast Series?
NetBeans screencasts can be found here, which is where you end up when you type "netbeans.tv" (without "http://") in your browser:
http://channelsun.sun.com/video/open-source/
Once you are there, click "NetBeans". If you click the small scrolling arrow below the thumbnails (look at the mouse pointer in the screenshot below) you can also get to the "Top 10 NetBeans APIs" screencast series.
Or, do it the easy way and simply go to the related page on netbeans.org, where the entire series is collected in one place:
http://platform.netbeans.org/tutorials/nbm-10-top-apis.html
Nov 11 2009, 09:31:26 AM PST Permalink
Add a Comment
Tuesday November 10, 2009
dev@platform.netbeans.org
dev@platform.netbeans.org is the new e-mail address for questions/answers relating to development on the NetBeans Platform. That means, dev@openide.netbeans.org is dead.
Why? Because NetBeans went through a massive migration process during the past week, during which many obsolete projects have been removed from the site and a lot of restructuring of everything has taken place. The good news is that the whole site is now under the control of the NetBeans team, rather than a third party. The so-so news is that several things still need to be tweaked to get everything working correctly now that the migration itself has come to an end. For example, currently, it's not possible to log into the Plugin Portal yet, though that should change within the next few hours.
New passwords and other info has been sent around to mailing lists as well as individual subscribers.
The complete story with all its ramifications can be found here: http://wiki.netbeans.org/NewNBOrg
If you encounter any problems, please report them to:
https://netbeans.org/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi?product=www&component=Admin
There'll be several loose ends in the next few days, so please be patient as things are being ironed out. And, remember, from now onwards, use dev@platform.netbeans.org (instead of dev@openide.netbeans.org).
Nov 10 2009, 09:40:47 AM PST Permalink
Monday November 09, 2009
More Vaadin Support in NetBeans IDE
I mentioned a few days ago the start of a plugin for the Vaadin framework in NetBeans IDE. The sources are found here, with the binary here.
I've added a few small additions to the sources (i.e., not in the binary yet):
First, there are new file templates specifically for Vaadin:
For example, simply by adding "SimpleAddressBook" (which adds one Java file to your source structure), you end up with an address book that includes a search feature in your web application:
Secondly, when you press Alt-Insert, you have a new code generator, named "Vaadin Button":
Press the "Vaadin Button" menu item and you have a new button, together with the implementing class added to the class signature, with a hint in the left sidebar for generating the abstract method that is invoked when the button is pushed:
Most importantly, now that these features have been added to the sources, someone else (e.g., from the Vaadin team) can take those sources and add MORE file templates and code generators to the plugin.
Nov 09 2009, 03:14:40 PM PST Permalink
Sunday November 08, 2009
Griffon 0.2 and NetBeans IDE 6.8 Beta
I downloaded and unzipped Griffon 0.2 today. Because I set GRIFFON_HOME and added its bin to PATH, I could immediately begin using it in NetBeans IDE (to which end I recompiled the NetBeans Griffon plugin so that it now works in 6.8 Beta).
I didn't need to configure anything in NetBeans IDE at all. And, as always, my favorite feature of Griffon support in NetBeans IDE continues to be the fact that I can use "Open Project" and then simply open any Griffon project (i.e., without any kind of import procedure at all, simply open your Griffon project, since the Griffon plugin understands that the presence of a "griffon-app" folder indicates it is dealing with a Griffon application):
You then have a logical view for working with your Griffon applications, as well as menu items on top of the standard Griffon commands:
Best of all, no NetBeans metadata of any kind is added to your application. So, when you close NetBeans IDE you will have the same files as before you opened the project in the IDE. Nothing new is added, no small XML files or property files have been added to your project, or (even worse) proprietary files of any shape or form, either.
Plus, there are many other useful features, such as a dialog for browsing & installing plugins into your application:
Updated plugin for Griffon in NetBeans IDE 6.8 Beta is in the usual place:
http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/faces/PluginDetailPage.jsp?pluginid=18664
ZIPs containing binary distributions of this and previous releases are available here on Kenai.
Nov 08 2009, 02:29:55 AM PST Permalink
Saturday November 07, 2009 September 2009: Hermine Deurloo (harmonica) and Han Bennink (drums), with Ernst Glerum (bass) and Maarten van der Grinten (guitar).
Nov 07 2009, 02:59:31 AM PST Permalink
Friday November 06, 2009
Financial Applications on the NetBeans Platform
Experian and Société Générale both have invested in the NetBeans Platform, by using it as the basis of one or more of their applications. And these two are not exactly small organizations. Experian is a global leader in consumer and business credit reporting and marketing services and a constituent of the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 index, with revenues in excess of US$4 billion, while Société Générale is France's second-largest bank by market value.
How do I know that these organizations are using the NetBeans Platform? By looking in the dev@openide.netbeans.org mailing list:
- Experian has "a large code base of over 100 modules"..
- Société Générale is using the NetBeans Platform to create an enterprise application.
However, getting screenshots, interviews, etc, out of financial organizations is understandably difficult, since (in the best case) long approval processes need to be completed, while in the worst case no information of any kind can be shared with the outside world, because of the confidential nature of the applications in question, in particular the confidential nature of the related customer data.
Nevertheless, in addition to the public statements around Brazilian financial auditing being done on the NetBeans Platform, there are a few smaller, more personal, applications relating to financing that could be mentioned in this context:
- CashForward is just not your ordinary, cookie-cutter household budget software. Born from frustration with existing household financial tools, CashForward provides intuitive ways to track household cash flow and to create and compare spending plans:
- GrisbiGraphs is a free reporting application for a personal accounting application called Grisbi. GrisbiGraphs imports Grisbi files (*.gsb) into an embedded database and then generates graphs and statistics to help the users keeping track of their finances:
Are there other financial applications out there that make use of the NetBeans Platform? Please let me know!
Nov 06 2009, 03:08:33 AM PST Permalink
Thursday November 05, 2009
Microsoft Office Look for NetBeans Platform Applications
On NetBeans Zone I mentioned the OfficeLAF that developers at Exie in Norway worked on, so that they could end up with a NetBeans Platform application that looks like a member of the Microsoft Office package.
Yesterday I received a set of screenshots from the abovementioned developers, showing their Exie Builder, which I discussed recently, to illustrate the result of the Microsoft Office look in the context of their NetBeans Platform application. Here they are, click to enlarge them.
Thanks Exie developers. Now there's more than 'just' blueMarine as proof that building applications on top of the NetBeans Platform doesn't mean that the result necessarily ends up resembling NetBeans IDE.
Nov 05 2009, 03:40:19 AM PST Permalink
Wednesday November 04, 2009
Possibly Another NetBeans Platform Application? (Part 2)
In part 1, it turned out I was right. Let's see about this one:
It comes from here, but that's all that I know about it:
http://p.blog.csdn.net/images/p_blog_csdn_net/chenweionline/366238/o_Tangram_build20080222_001.jpg
I believe it is a NetBeans Platform application... can anyone tell me whether I am right or not?
Nov 04 2009, 02:27:16 AM PST Permalink
Tuesday November 03, 2009
Performance Management Analysis on the NetBeans Platform
Yet another NetBeans Platform application is a commercial application offered by Exie, in Norway. "Exie provides People-Driven Performance Management solutions architected for widespread adoption by companies serving dynamic markets. Exie drives financial outcomes and accountability across the company and thus effectively involve the entire organisation in the overall strategy. By making performance management available to everyone across the organisation, you create an organisational culture continuously striving to improve performance."
Here's a screenshot:
Reading the documents on the Exie site, it seems to me that Exie 2.0 is a pretty serious application, used amongst others by Norway's largest newspaper, VG: "With Exie we are able to change things quickly, and we could not have a rigid system. The service level Exie has shown is great."
However, on the face of it looking at the screenshot above, that doesn't really look like a NetBeans Platform application. However, firstly, it's architecture is clearly based on the NetBeans Platform:
A second reason why the NetBeans Platform is clearly being used at Exie is that two recent presentations at Jazoon were about some pretty advanced NetBeans Platform topics, both delivered by Exie employees:
- Eclipse Modeling Framework and Netbeans Client - a forced marriage? (PPT), by Pål Stenslet and Gunnar Reinseth, Lead Architect and Technical Lead (GUI), Exie AS.
- Creating attractive clients with NetBeans Rich Client Platform (PPT), by Mikael Tollefsen, Architect, Exie AS.
Here's the intriguing abstract for the latter presentation:
Engineer tools like the familiar IDEs (Eclipse/IDEA/NetBeans etc.) have user interfaces increasingly different from office tools like Microsoft Office. When creating applications for end users it is important to aim for the look and feel this group is comfortable with rather than what would be intuitive for the engineer. At Exie AS we have developed an open source Swing look and feel component that dramatically simplifies this task.Just as it is important to utilize frameworks to improve productivity when developing web-based solution, so is the case with rich clients/desktop applications. A significant part of a desktop application consists of UI and IO plumbing. When should various menus, buttons and tool bars be enabled? Flexible docking frameworks, user preferences etc. There are various RCP frameworks available, however for a Swing based client the NetBeans RCP is perhaps the most complete.
How to create an NetBeans RCP client and make it look like a member of the Microsoft Office package? It is quite easy, and I am going to show you how.
And it would be great to get more screenshots, also one for the NetBeans Platform Showcase of this clearly very interesting application!
Nov 03 2009, 01:24:52 AM PST Permalink
Monday November 02, 2009
Unknown NetBeans Platform Application
I don't know what "Fenix" is or what a "Fenix Client" should do, but here's clearly a NetBeans Platform application that is a "Fenix client".
Click to enlarge the (very cool!) pics:
I found the pics above in Rich Unger's blog, although he doesn't know anything about it either:
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/richunger/archive/guada1.png/guada1.png
Can anyone let me know what this apparently very cool application is for, what it does, and who is behind it?
Nov 02 2009, 01:32:50 AM PST Permalink
Sunday November 01, 2009
Tip for Wicket Users in NetBeans IDE
If you're using Wicket, you're using its forms, text fields, labels, and so on. So, you call up code completion and you see "java.awt" and "java.text" being offered first, meaning you need to scroll down in each drop-down for the applicable Wicket class:
You can save yourself that trouble, by excluding the "java.awt" and "java.text" packages (which you're not using with Wicket anyway) in the "Editor" section of the Options window (under the Tools menu):
With those packages excluded, the first class that appears in code completion is the one you want for your Wicket applications:
Then just press OK and you have all the imports from Wicket and you're ready to continue coding right away.
Nov 01 2009, 04:34:41 AM PST Permalink
Saturday October 31, 2009
OMiSCID GUI on the NetBeans Platform
O3MiSCID GUI is an extensible graphical user interface for visualizing, controling, and interacting with O3MiSCID services. Existing extensions range from generic service manipulators to dedicated service viewers and controllers.
Here's a screenshot:
O3MiSCID can be really helpful in the following areas:
- you are looking for an easy way to design an application with a Service Oriented Architecture
- you want to design peer to peer or client/server distributed applications
- you need a cross-platform cross-language (Java, C++, Python, Matlab) library for network communications and service advertisement and discovery
- you want a cross-platform C++ library for system abstraction (threads, Mutex, ...), containers (lists, ...) and network Sockets (UDP and TCP)
O3MiSCID is born in the PRIMA project from INRIA Rhône-Alpes.
For further information, go here.
Oct 31 2009, 02:43:30 AM PDT Permalink
Friday October 30, 2009
Energy Consumption Analysis on the NetBeans Platform
URSUS is a NetBeans Platform application for bioclimatic design and energy consumption optimization in town planning. URSUS lets the designer create a residential area composed of a perimeter, plots, streets, and buildings. The streets divide the perimeter surface into different plots where the user can drag and drop buildings.
The program calculates heating and refrigeration demands in different ways, while taking account of factors such as shade, enclosure characteristics, and solar gains. The designer estimates how to distribute the different elements in the best way in order to reduce energy consumption.
The application is being developed by GEE (Grupo de energía y edificiación) at the Universidad de Zaragoza in Spain.
Oct 30 2009, 04:47:57 AM PDT Permalink
Thursday October 29, 2009
Saab Systems Grintek on the NetBeans Platform
Kaizen Integrated Tactical Technologies (KITT) is the result of a Saab Systems Grintek (SSG) South Africa (SA) Research and Development (R&D) programme to cater for the requirements of a modern tactical Command, Control, Communication & Information (C3I) environment for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). KITT is part of the long-term SSG strategy for the development of a common application development platform for current and future projects.
The above is info that is publicly available at kitt.co.za.
Like what Northrop Grumman, Boeing, ND SatCom, and many others provide, SSG has a centralized platform, called KORE, where the NetBeans Platform plays a central role. On top of KORE, various applications are created.
Here are the two current products:
- Tactical Geographical Information System (TGIS). Based on a C3I system product developed for the South African Navy (SAN) for an Operational Boat Squadron (OBS) base camp. The TGIS component has now been ported onto the KITT platform as a NetBeans module.
The TGIS can be used in the following environments:
- Situational Awareness on a tactical level for peacekeeping missions.
- Real-time Common Operating Picture (COP) of ground, maritime and air platforms.
- Military operations other than conventional warfare.
- Symmetry. A generic analysis tool for determining interoperability between nodes on a tactical network. The focus of the tool is currently to determine the level of semantic interoperability between consort systems on different network nodes implementing the Link-ZA standard. Link-ZA is the tactical data link standard that forms a part of the CNIS. This product allows for an NxN comparison of all defence platforms making use of Link-ZA.
Now have a look at the future projects and read about the various new features and applications that are being planned.
Oct 29 2009, 05:45:47 AM PDT Permalink
Wednesday October 28, 2009
Stop That YANPA!
And the YANPA's (Yet Another NetBeans Platform Application) just keep on coming in! I don't even need to use google to find them anymore, now they're crawling right into my inbox. For example, recently Dave Gilbert from the (awesome) JFreeChart project drew my attention to one seriously cool NetBeans Platform application, which you'll hopefully hear more about soon, once the interview with the related developers is complete.
Then, today, literally within the space of a half hour, Sven Reimers and Nicolas Dumoulin, both of whom work on YANPA's themselves, sent me e-mails (i.e., separately, unbeknown to each other, from different countries) about YANPA's they've recently come across.
So, in order of appearance in my inbox a few hours ago:
- Gephi. I never knew of this application until Nicolas from SimExplorer told me about it. (More on SimExplorer in a future blog entry.) "Gephi is an open-source software for visualizing and analyzing large networks graphs. Gephi uses a 3D render engine to display graphs in real-time and speed up the exploration."
Here's one of several screenshots available on the related site:
Now, read here about NetBeans Platform on the Gephi site. In his e-mail to me, Nicolas adds: "It's NetBeans Platform based, and it rocks!"
- Amphinicy Technologies. The next e-mail, i.e., not half an hour later, was from NetBeans Dream Team member and Duke Award Winner Sven Reimers. He writes that he "just came across two YANPA's". They're from Amphinicy Technologies, "a premium provider of complex and technologically advanced software solutions. Amphinicy’s team of experts designs advanced solutions for satellite machinery which help the satellites run in orbit and enhances their utility."
Here are the screenshots that Sven referred me to:
Pretty cool, need to add them to the NetBeans Platform Showcase soon, which currently has 99 screenshots, over 20 more waiting to be added, and several more in the pipeline from companies that have been requested to show off their cool work on the NetBeans Platform!
Oct 28 2009, 11:35:46 AM PDT Permalink