This javadoc is targetted to :
You will find in this documentation references of those targets, indicating you if you have to read such document or not, depending on your goals (developping a "User Application" or extending the API).
The VL Docking Framework is a set of Swing Components that is used to enhance any Swing Application by providing Docking capabilities to user components :
A user component can be any Swing JComponent (usualy a JPanel or a JScrollPane).
Docking functions are built upon the following classes :
DockingDesktop
: the root container of a docking-enabled application
Dockable
: an interface implemented (usually) by components that need
docking capabilities.
DockableContainer
s : specialized containers with drag and drop extensions
(come in two flavors, SingleDockableContainer and TabbedDockabeContainer).
DockKey
: a JavaBeans object fully describing the dockable (use for save/load, and for
DockableContainers customization) : name, icon, tooltip, docking features.
DockingDesktop
class. There is usually only one DockingDesktop associated to a Window.
For developpers used to JInternalFrame
API, the DockingDesktop is equivalent
to the JDesktopPane
: a layered pane capable of managing and displaying
multiple components, with overlapping when needed.
The desktop is composed of :
Dockable
.
The central zone contains a DockableContainer
that can be
recursively splitted in two (horizontally or vertically) to add
more DockableContainers. Each split acts
as a JSplitPane, and can be resized by the end-user or with the API.
Dockable
interface Dockable
is implemented by dockable component providers or, simply
by components that want to benefit of the docking features.
If you already have a working application (without docking) and want to use the docking framework, take your GUI major components, have them implement the Dockable interface (only 2 methods) and you will be able to add them to the docking desktop.
Alternatively, you can use DockablePanel which is a JPanel container implementing Dockable.
DockableContainer
, SingleDockableContainer
and
TabbedDockableContainer
interfaces.DockKey
classA DockKey is used in 3 situations :
DockingDesktop
needs a unique key to identify a dockable
(for read/write operations)
DockableContainer
displaying a Dockable
wants
information about the dockable : a name, an icon, ...
So keep in mind that each dockable must have a unique DockKey (it's a kind of primary key) and that the key, as a javabean, is used to decorate the dockable container.
Listeners : most DockKey properties are bound, and changing their value will have an immediate effect on the DockingDesktop : for example, you can change the icon property of a key and it will be propagated to the DockableContainer's title bar of its dockable.
import com.vldocking.swing.docking.*; import javax.swing.*; import java.awt.*; public class DemoFrame extends JFrame { // our docking desktop DockingDesktop desk = new DockingDesktop(); public DemoFrame(){ setDefaultCloseOperation(DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE); getContentPane().add(desk); // first, create 4 dockable buttons (inner class below) DockableButton button1 = new DockableButton("Dockable 1"); DockableButton button2 = new DockableButton("Dockable 2"); DockableButton button3 = new DockableButton("Dockable 3"); DockableButton button4 = new DockableButton("Dockable 4"); // first button at center desk.addDockable(button1); // second and third button splitted vertically on the left of center // first parameter is the "reference", second is the added dockable desk.split(button1, button2, DockingConstants.SPLIT_LEFT); desk.split(button2, button3, DockingConstants.SPLIT_BOTTOM); // add the fourth button as a tab on the 3rd : desk.createTab(button3, button4, 1); SwingUtilities.invokeLater( new Runnable() { public void run() { setSize(800,600); validate(); setVisible(true); // realize on the event dispatch thread } }); } public static void main(String [] args){ new DemoFrame(); } // our basic dockable object class DockableButton extends JButton implements Dockable { DockKey key; public DockableButton(String label){ super(label); this.key = new DockKey(label); // most simple dockkey constructor setPreferredSize(new Dimension(200,200)); } public DockKey getDockKey() { return key; } public Component getComponent() { return this; } } }
But of course, there's more in the docking framework than this. For example you can also :
The subset of classes of this package needed to understand and use the Docking Framework is limited to the following classes :
This API has been developed with extension in mind.
To Fully understand its principles, you will have to browse the entire javadoc and read the API extension tutorial on VLDocking google code.