Sunday April 01, 2007
Sunday April 01, 2007
Quo Vadis, Node Expansion Functionality?
One of the underheralded changes (or, even, unheralded) in NetBeans IDE 6.0 is that one used to be able to expand a Java source file in the explorer views, in order to see the related methods and fields, as shown below:
In 6.0, this will no longer be possible. There'll be a node for the Java source file, and nothing else. Same for other files that can be expanded in the Navigator. So, this is how you'll have to work with Java files instead:
In other words, the thinking seems to have been that the ability to expand this type of source file duplicates the functionality offered by the Navigator. Therefore, to simplify the user interface, I assume, the ability to expand source files in explorer windows is removed. After being not so happy about this (give people the choice, I say), I'm more comfortable with it now (although it seems a bit odd that files such as the Properties file can still be expanded in the old way and cannot be viewed in the Navigator). However, the one place where I distinctly miss the old functionality is when working with Swing containers in 'Design' mode. Before, when in 'Design' mode, I could not only expand the file in the explorer view and see its methods and fields, but also all its u.i. content, as shown here:
In 6.0, everything that is highlighted in the screenshot above will not be there. That's a pity, because I used to use those nodes for dragging and dropping stuff, such as when porting the u.i. from a standard Swing application to a NetBeans Platform application. You could pick up a JPanel, by its node in the explorer view, and then drag and drop it on a TopComponent. For example. And there are many more similar examples. Now, I will need to use the Navigator, which does not show u.i. elements at all. So, dragging and dropping a JPanel will be much more difficult (you'd have to open the container in Matisse, then cut/paste or copy or drag the JPanel). But that's more work than being able to do so from the explorer view. Plus, aside from the dragging functionality, you'll no longer be able to see the structure of your container, because there's no hierarchical view for these anymore in 6.0. Clear case of regression in functionality, seems to me, in this case...
In other news. Check out the very cool pic of NetBeans IDE running on Ruth's phone. Also, an interesting interview with Charles Nutter on netbeans.org. (The pic of Charles Nutter in that interview reminds me of a line from James Salter's new book, as quoted in this weekend's Guardian: "Philip Ardet was mannerly and elegant, his head held back a bit as he talked, as though you were a menu.") Plus, Jonathan Schwartz is no longer Sun CEO, he's become a NetBeans evangelist instead. (I always thought he was very good at both!) Good thing I checked my calendar.
Apr 01 2007, 02:48:49 AM PDT Permalink
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