Drombler FX: Version 1.0 released

I've recently released the version v1.0 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

With this release I changed the version policy. I'm using now the major version part as well to make it easier to distinguish between major requirement changes such as the Java version:

• v1.x: Java SE 8 and JavaFX 8 based
• v2.x (future): Java SE 11 and JavaFX 11 based (likely)

The released JARs contain the Automatic-Module-Name Manifest entry to make the transition to Java SE 11 smoother.

For this v1.0 release I've added Javadoc to all published classes and members of  Drombler FX, Drombler ACP (except the generated JAXB classes) and Drombler Commons. 

There's now also a new Extensions tutorial trail.

Some APIs were fixed and some clean-ups were added as well.

Because some code has been moved, please note that some of the packages and Maven dependencies changed, too.

Please note especially, that localized texts are now expected in a separate properties file in the same package and with the same name as the annotated classes by default, and not in the package Bundle.properties file anymore (this can be configured per annotated class, though).
This makes it easier to move annotated classes to other packages and to see which texts are still in use.

With this v1.0 release out I will now start the work to migrate Drombler FX to Java SE 11 and JavaFX 11.

Additional Information

Projects like this one need to be build by a community working together to be really successful. There are several ways how you can contribute to this project. Contributions are highly welcome! See the "How to Contribute"-page for more information.

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A1.0


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

 

Drombler FX: Version 0.12 and 0.13 released

Since introducing a modular StatusBar and ProgressMonitor earlier this year, I've released v0.12 and v.013 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

In this releases some of the Drombler FX/ ACP start-up code has been moved to Drombler Commons.
This allows also non-Drombler FX/ ACP applications, such as the Drombler JStore Client Agent, to reuse start-up code such as:

• distinction between user directory and installation directory
• simple command line arguments / switches support 
• extendable BootServiceStarter framework 
• "single instance" support, which makes sure the application runs only once per user directory and passes the command line arguments to the running single instance

Because the code has been moved, please note that some of the packages and Maven dependencies changed as well.

Please also note that org.drombler.commons.fx.scene.GraphicFactory moved to org.drombler.commons.client.graphic.GraphicFactory with these releases.

 

Small Enhancements

There are small enhancements to work with directories, data handlers, collection bindings and TreeViews. 

Please check the documentation to learn more about them.

Additional Information

Projects like this one need to be build by a community working together to be really successful. There are several ways how you can contribute to this project. Contributions are highly welcome! See the "How to Contribute"-page for more information.

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.13


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

 

Drombler JStore News: JRE REST service and JAP packaging

The work on the Drombler JStore, the next generation of Java application deployments, goes on.

The way an application is identitfied has been changed to reuse the Maven GA(V) coordinates: groupId + artifactId
The packaging format is fixed (currently it's called "jap") and together with a version an application package can be uniquely identified.

There are now 4 REST services:

• search for application updates (currently uses mock data)
• new: download an application (currently mocked)
• new: search for JRE updates (all recent versions of Oracle Java SE 8 and 10 supported!)
• new: download a JRE (Swagger does not work yet here, but the service can successfully be called by the Drombler JStore Client Agent)

The search services already get called by the Drombler JStore Client (JavaFX based rich client).

The Drombler JStore backend service is now open sourced, too. This allows to discuss how we want to implement things and opens up for contributions.

The following JSON shows how we could manage JRE versions:

{ "jreImplementationInfos": [ { "javaSpecificationVersion": "10", "releases": [ { "jreVersion": "10.0.2+13", "releaseDate": "2018-07-17", "platforms": [ { "osName": "linux", "osArch": "x64", "url": "http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/10.0.2+13/19aef61b38124481863b1413dce1855f/jre-10.0.2_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz", "checksums": [ { "algorithm": "sha256", "hashValue": "7d2909a597574f1821903790bb0f31aaa57ab7348e3ae53639c850371450845d" } ] }, ... { "osName": "osx", "osArch": "x64", "url": "http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/10.0.2+13/19aef61b38124481863b1413dce1855f/jre-10.0.2_osx-x64_bin.tar.gz", "checksums": [ { "algorithm": "sha256", "hashValue": "a0ccfa98028ecbfd8081fc865bb8d0b32b6fd7f815e5b9695853831af3ba0963" } ] }, { "osName": "windows", "osArch": "x64", "url": "http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/10.0.2+13/19aef61b38124481863b1413dce1855f/jre-10.0.2_windows-x64_bin.tar.gz", "checksums": [ { "algorithm": "sha256", "hashValue": "cc5362d17c8baaa84c6bc63bba79fe8c2ec3d2ff2a2ec239482ae0b7cf03887a" } ] }, ... ] }, { "jreVersion": "10.0.1+10", "releaseDate": "2018-04-17", "platforms": [ ... ] } ], "endOfLifeDate": "2018-09-30" }, { "javaSpecificationVersion": "8", "releases": [ { "jreVersion": "8u181-b13", "releaseDate": "2018-07-17", "platforms": [ ... ] }, { "jreVersion": "8u171-b11", "releaseDate": "2018-04-17", "platforms": [ ... ] } ], "endOfLifeDate": "2020-12-31" } ] }

You can find the complete file here. There is also a JSON Schema.

Also work has gone on with the application desriptor specification. 
Here is a sample:
{ "applicationId" : { "groupId" : "org.drombler.jstore.client.agent", "artifactId" : "drombler-jstore-client-agent-application" }, "version" : "0.1", "managedNativeComponents" : { "jreInfo" : { "jreVendorId" : "Oracle Corporation", "javaSpecificationVersion" : "10", "customJREId" : "", "modules" : [ ] } } }

You can find the accordant JSON Schema here.

The JAP Maven Plugin can generate an application descriptor for you. You can find the Maven Plugin documentation here.

The project is moving forward and contributions are highly welcome! The current code base is not very complex. You should be able to get started quickly. Please don't hesitate to ask me, if you have any questions.

We can use your inputs especially in the following areas:

• What should the platform-independent application packaging format and meta data look like to support your applications? What information is needed by the agent? What information is only needed by the discovery feature of the rich client?
• Help us to make sure the agents have the necessary native OS integration to support your applications.
• Help us to create a great user experience with the rich client (some UX and JavaFX skills required)
• Help translate the texts of the rich client to different languages (i18n/ l10n)
• Help us to get the basic features of the agent right
• File enhancement requests for the various components
• Join the discussions in the issues or on Gitter.
• Help with the documentation (GitHub Pages, README files)

Since the proposed solution requires a backend, this will also require some resources to run the service. Any donations are welcome!

The next generation of Java application deployments

A lot is going on in the Java world. So let's first have a look at where we currently are.

Oracle discontinues Java Web Start with Java 11

After discontinuing the Applet technology, which required browser plug-ins, Oracle now announced that they will also discontinue the Java Web Start technoloy.

Java Web Start, however, was a great way to easily deploy Java applications. It made sure Java application deployments don't fall too far behind the instant deployment feature of web applications - a point which already let many companies to choose web applications over Java based applications.

With Java Web Start gone, it will become harder again to compete with web applications, if we don't find a good alternative (please read on).

Oracle changed to a biannual major Java release cadence

Every 6 month there will be now a new "major" Java version, though the term "major" likely won't be used anymore and differences will be smaller than with the 2-3 year cadence (see Java 8 -> Java 9 vs Java 9 -> Java 10).

With every "major" release the support of the previous release seems to be discontinued.

Every 3 years there will be a LTS (Long Term Support) version, starting with Java 11 targeted for September 2018 (there is a small video and a FAQ about this from Oracle).

As far as I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) you will need to buy this LTS. If you don't, then it's recommended to upgrade to the next major version or find another distributor which provides updates (more on this see below).

Interestingly and to some surprise, the long awaited Java SE 9 release with the new module system didn't become a LTS version and already has been superseded by Java SE 10.

Oracle also mentions that developers often package the JRE with their applications nowadays. End users should not need to install a JRE anymore.

Oracle and OpenJDK binaries

While Sun started to open source the JDK with the OpenJDK project back in 2006 and Oracle continued this process, there are still some differences between the OpenJDK builds and the Oracle Java builds.

Now Oracle plans to ship OpenJDK binaries for non-LTS releases and with this shift they also plan to finally close those technical differences, which currently still exist.

Once these differences are closed, this will make projects such as AdoptOpenJDK much more appealing, as it seems they will provide free updates for LTS versions in the future.

Modular JRE and JLink

Together with the JPMS (Java Platform Module System), which modularizes the JRE and can be used to modularize applications, Java 9 introduced a new tool called JLink.

JLink allows you to create custom runtime images which only consists of your application modules and those JRE modules which your application requires.

The result is likely a smaller runtime image which uses less resources than using a default JRE.

This should also make Java more appealing to IoT devices.

JavaFX

Since JavaFX 2.2 and Java SE 7 update 6, JavaFX has been included in Oracle's JDK. With JavaFX 8 and Java SE 8 the version has been aligned and JavaFX has become available on the default classpath.

Now Oracle announced (see the link at the top) that with Java SE 11 JavaFX will be removed again from the JDK.

With a modularized JRE it might be more natural to let feature modules have their own cycles.

But since JavaFX also includes native parts, it seems to me WORA (Write Once, Run Anywhere) will become a bit trickier - at least the packaging part of JavaFX applications.

Please read on for a possible solution.

The Java Packager Tool

JavaFX also introduced a new tool to create platform-specific native packages with an embedded JRE. With JavaFX 8 the tool has been added to the JDK as the javapackager tool.

Since Java SE 9 the javapackager tool integrates with the jlink tool.

In Java SE 11 the javapackager tool will be removed again from the JDK along with JavaFX.

There is a JEP request (JDK Enhancement Proposal) for a new jpackager tool, however.

While I think we do need a tool such as javapackager/ jpackager, javapackager and the proposed jpackager also have some major drawbacks:

• no cross-compilation support: You have to create the native packages on the target platforms, e.g. msi-packages on Windows, deb-packages on Linux. Creating a one-click release pipeline is non-trivial.
• platform specific configurations: Each native package has slightly different requirements.
• no automatic security updates: The users have to rely on the application vendors to ship a new application version which contains a JRE with the latest security fixes (though not all security bugs might affect all applications in the same way).
• expensive managed deployments: In heavily managed enterprises, where the average users don't have local admin rights and can't install applications themselves, the processes of application deployments tend to get very expensive (up to several thousand CHF per deployment). This is another reason why enterprises nowadays tend to either Java Web Start or to web applications.
• slow managed deployments: In these heavily managed enterprises, deployments also tend to be slow and can take up to several weeks until the application is deployed to the user machine. This also makes it hard to coordinate frontend deployments with backend deployments and is definitely not DevOps-friendly. This is yet another reason why enterprises nowadays tend to either Java Web Start or to web applications.

Drombler JStore

Given the above mentioned issues with tools such as  javapackager/ jpackager, which create application packages with an embedded JRE, I don't think this is the solution for the majority of Java applications.

On the other hand, I too think that we should not require anymore from end-users to pre-install a JRE, which likely doesn't fit for all applications anyway.

It's however unlikely that Oracle will provide another solution than the jpackager.

If we need something different then it will have to be community driven.

So I'm proposing here a new deployment model with the working title (likely to change): Drombler JStore

At the core of this deployment model is a new application store with first class support for Java applications.

In general, most applications should be able to define a platform-independent package which also describes the dependencies to some managed native components such as the JRE.

The tooling will then make sure that the required native components are available on the end-user machine. The tooling will also configure the environment for the process which starts the application.

The currently proposed solution consists of 4 major software parts.
I've already written a PoC (Proof of Concept) for each of those, which I think can serve as a starting point. Please note that everything is still subject to change.

• Drombler JStore Client Agent:
• Current goals:
• headless background service
• targets: end-user devices (desktops, NAS, IoT devices,...)
• download and update applications from Drombler JStore
• download and update applications using a JNLP-like file
• download and update native components:
• JREs (supporting multiple parallel major version installations)
• custom runtimes created by JLink (supporting multiple parallel major version installations)
• JavaFX native components?
• Other native components, e.g. SWT?
• support Security Manager
• start applications in a configured environment
• OS integration: 
• desktop shortcuts
• URL protocol registration
• run as native OS service/ deamon
• PoC:
• Access a first Drombler JStore REST service
• Download a JRE from Oracle
• GitHub: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-jstore-client-agent
  
• Drombler JStore:
• Current goals:
• a free service (backend) run by Drombler
• Provide access to applications / application updates
• Provide access to native components and updates (JREs etc.)
• Search applications
• Rate applications
• Comment on applications
• Register vendors
• Provide vendor contact options
• PoC:
• a first deployed REST service is available (likely to change)
• Swagger: http://drombler-jstore-staging.us-east-1.elasticbeanstalk.com/swagger-ui.html
  
• Drombler JStore Client: 
• Current goals:
• JavaFX-based rich client
• Remote management of multiple Drombler JStore Client Agents
• Discover applications on Drombler JStore
• Rate applications on Drombler JStore
• Comment on applications on Drombler JStore
• Register vendors
• PoC:
• Drombler FX-based rich client
• Initial multiple Drombler JStore Client Agent management support
• Plugable feature support
• Connect to the Drombler JStore REST service
• GitHub: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-jstore-client
  
• JAP Maven Plugin
• Current goals:
• Define a platform-independent application packaging format and meta data
• Provide Maven tooling
• PoC
• Creates a ZIP-based package, which contains the application in a nested ZIP-file. 
• GitHub: https://github.com/Drombler/jap-maven-plugin 
• in the future there could be similar solutions for other build tools such as Gradle

Call to the Community

As mentioned above, if we need a different deployment model then it will have to be community driven.

What do think about this proposed solution?
Do you have a need for an alternative deployment model?
Do you think we're running in the right direction with this proposed solution or did we miss something?

Contributions and Donations 

Even for a MVP (Minimal Viable Product) there is quite some work to do.
Contributions are highly welcome! The current code base is not very complex. You should be able to get started quickly. Please don't hesitate to ask me, if you have any questions.

We can use your inputs especially in the following areas:

• What should the platform-independent application packaging format and meta data look like to support your applications? What information is needed by the agent? What information is only needed by the discovery feature of the rich client?
• Help us to make sure the agents have the necessary native OS integration to support your applications.
• Help us to create a great user experience with the rich client (some UX and JavaFX skills required)
• Help translate the texts of the rich client to different languages (i18n/ l10n)
• Help us to get the basic features of the agent right
• File enhancement requests for the various components
• Join the discussions in the issues or on Gitter.
• Help with the documentation (GitHub Pages, README files)

Since the proposed solution requires a backend, this will also require some resources to run the service. Any donations are welcome!

Further Readings

Here are some further blog posts about similar topics:

• https://dzone.com/articles/what-the-future-java-releases-will-mean-for-legacy
• https://medium.com/codefx-weekly/no-free-java-lts-version-b850192745fb

Conclusion

A lot is going on in the Java world. But these changes also provide opportunities for new solutions.

Join and help to shape the next generation of Java application deployments!

Drombler FX v0.11: modular StatusBar and ProgressMonitor

I recently released v0.11 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

This release comes with the integration of two new JavaFX controls.

StatusBar

The first is a rather simple one: a StatusBar. It maintains three lists of elements: leftElements, centerElements and rightElements. The elements are layed out accordingly.
The control is Skinnable and Styleable and can also be used in non-OSGi JavaFX applications. As you might guess, the main intention of this control is to show the user additional information at the bottom of your application.

Drombler FX provides declarative, modular integration of this StatusBar:
@StatusBarElement(horizontalAlignment = HorizontalAlignment.CENTER, position = 20) public class SampleStatusBarElement extends BorderPane { }
The annotated Node sub-class will be added to the according StatusBar elements list at the specified position.

If two adjacent StatusBar elements are positioned in different thousand groups (e.g. position = 910 and position = 1120), a Separator gets automatically registered between them.

For more information see the new StatusBar tutorial trail.

ProgressMonitor

The second new JavaFX control is ProgressMonitor.
This control allows to monitor any number of running, cancelable Workers.

[1] a label bound to Worker#titleProperty
[2] a label bound to Worker#messageProperty
[3] a progress bar bound to Worker#progressProperty
[4] a button to execute Worker#cancel
[5] an indicator if there are additional workers being monitored
[6] a popup showing all monitored workers

The control is Skinnable and Styleable and can also be used in non-OSGi JavaFX applications. The main intention of this control is to be added to a StatusBar.

Here is a small sample application showing the ProgressMonitor and the StatusBar in action:

package test; import java.nio.file.Files; import java.nio.file.Path; import java.nio.file.Paths; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; import java.util.Locale; import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService; import java.util.concurrent.Executors; import javafx.application.Application; import javafx.concurrent.Task; import javafx.concurrent.Worker; import javafx.geometry.HPos; import javafx.scene.Scene; import javafx.scene.control.Button; import javafx.scene.layout.ColumnConstraints; import javafx.scene.layout.GridPane; import javafx.scene.layout.Priority; import javafx.scene.layout.RowConstraints; import javafx.stage.Stage; import org.drombler.commons.fx.concurrent.WorkerUtils; import org.drombler.commons.fx.scene.control.ProgressMonitor; import org.drombler.commons.fx.scene.control.StatusBar; public class ProgressMonitorSampleApplication extends Application { private final List<Worker<?>> workers = new ArrayList<>(); private final ExecutorService executorService = Executors.newCachedThreadPool(runnable -> { Thread thread = new Thread(runnable); thread.setDaemon(true); return thread; }); private long counter = 1; @Override public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws InterruptedException { StatusBar statusBar = new StatusBar(); ProgressMonitor progressMonitor = new ProgressMonitor(); statusBar.getRightElements().add(progressMonitor); addTestWorker(counter++, progressMonitor); Thread.sleep(2000l); addTestWorker(counter++, progressMonitor); Button createButton = new Button("Create Task"); createButton.setOnAction(event -> addTestWorker(counter++, progressMonitor)); GridPane root = new GridPane(); root.add(createButton, 0, 0); root.add(statusBar, 0, 1); ColumnConstraints columnConstraints = new ColumnConstraints(); columnConstraints.setHgrow(Priority.ALWAYS); columnConstraints.setHalignment(HPos.CENTER); root.getColumnConstraints().add(columnConstraints); RowConstraints rowConstraints1 = new RowConstraints(); rowConstraints1.setVgrow(Priority.ALWAYS); rowConstraints1.setFillHeight(false); RowConstraints rowConstraints2 = new RowConstraints(); rowConstraints2.setVgrow(Priority.NEVER); rowConstraints2.setFillHeight(false); root.getRowConstraints().addAll(rowConstraints1, rowConstraints2); GridPane.setFillWidth(createButton, Boolean.FALSE); GridPane.setFillWidth(statusBar, Boolean.TRUE); Scene scene = new Scene(root, 800, 200); primaryStage.setTitle("ProgressMonitorSampleApplication"); primaryStage.setScene(scene); primaryStage.show(); } private void addTestWorker(long id, ProgressMonitor progressMonitor) { final TestWorker testWorker = new TestWorker(id); testWorker.stateProperty().addListener((observable, oldValue, newValue) -> { if (WorkerUtils.getFinishedStates().contains(newValue)) { workers.remove(testWorker); } }); workers.add(testWorker); executorService.execute(testWorker); progressMonitor.getWorkers().add(testWorker); } public static void main(String[] args) { configureLogging(); launch(args); } private static void configureLogging() { Locale.setDefault(Locale.ENGLISH); Path loggingPropertiesPath = Paths.get("src", "test", "resources", "test", "logging.properties"); System.out.println("Logging configuration file: " + loggingPropertiesPath + " exists: " + Files.exists(loggingPropertiesPath)); if (Files.exists(loggingPropertiesPath)) { System.setProperty("java.util.logging.config.file", loggingPropertiesPath.toString()); } } private static class TestWorker extends Task<Long> { private final long id; private long counter = 0; public TestWorker(long id) { this.id = id; updateTitle("Test Worker " + id); updateMessage("Iteration " + counter); updateProgress(-1, 1); } @Override protected Long call() throws Exception { while (!isCancelled()) { counter++; updateMessage("Iteration " + counter); Thread.sleep(1000l); } return counter; } @Override public String toString() { return getTitle(); } } }

You can find the sample application also here.

Drombler FX provides out-of-the-box support for ProgressMonitor (as an optional feature). It registers a StatusBar element and provides a loosely-coupled notification mechanism via the Context Framework.

For more information see the new ProgressBar tutorial trail.

Application Layout

As there is no one-size-fits-all solution, the application layout of a Drombler FX application is pluggable so you can provide your own implementation tailored to your needs. This allows you to get the most out of Drombler FX and JavaFX.

While this feature is available for some time, there is now a new tutorial trail explaining it in more detail.

API Changes

Please note that some APIs have changed, especially the following ones:

• OnExitRequestHandler: this class has been moved from Dromber FX to Drombler Commons. 
• The package changed accordingly:
  org.drombler.fx.core.application -> org.drombler.commons.fx.stage
• Dromber FX provides the following new interface for integration:
  org.drombler.fx.core.application.OnExitRequestHandlerProvider 
• In the package org.drombler.commons.docking.fx.context:
  WindowOnCloseRequestHandler has been replaced with DockingOnExitRequestHandler 
• The two service provider interfaces ApplicationContentProvider, MainSceneRootProvider have moved module/ package:
  org.drombler.fx.startup.main -> org.drombler.fx.core.application
• The service provider interface org.drombler.fx.core.application.WindowOnCloseRequestHandlerProvider: has been replaced with org.drombler.commons.fx.stage.OnExitRequestHandler#createOnWindowCloseRequestEventHandler 
• The service provider interface org.drombler.acp.startup.main.ApplicationExecutorProvider has been moved and renamed to org.drombler.acp.core.commons.util.concurrent.ApplicationThreadExecutorProvider

Additional Information

Projects like this one need to be build by a community working together to be really successful. There are several ways how you can contribute to this project. Contributions are highly welcome! See the "How to Contribute"-page for more information.

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.11


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

Drombler FX: Version 0.10 released

I recently released v0.10 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

This version is mainly a bug fix release and especially fixes some issues on Macs.

Please note that the Drombler FX Maven Plugin has been rewritten. The tasks have been split up into several goals, which are bound to the relevant phase of the default lifecycle. The plugin documentation will be updated in the next version.

The project now provides a "How to Contribute"-page. Projects like this one need to be build by a community working together to be really successful. There are several ways how you can contribute to this project.
Contributions are highly welcome!

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.10


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

Drombler FX: Version 0.9 released

I recently released v0.9 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

This version is mainly a maintenance release but also provides a new hook for a custom menu item sorting strategy, which can be used for programmatically registered menus.

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.9


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

Drombler FX: Version 0.8 released

I recently released v0.8 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

This version comes with two new major features: Single Instance Application and an initial version of a Data Framework which integrates with the Docking Framework.

Single Instance Application

Single Instance Application is an optional feature, which ensures that there is only one instance of your application running, even if the user starts the application several times.

This feature is provided out-of-the-box. It is disabled by default, however, but can be enabled by simply specifying the defaultSingleInstancePort property of the Drombler FX Maven Plugin.

<plugin> <groupId>org.drombler.fx</groupId> <artifactId>drombler-fx-maven-plugin</artifactId> <extensions>true</extensions> <configuration> ... <!--Uncomment the following line and specifcy an unused port to create a single instance application --> <!--<defaultSingleInstancePort>some unused port</defaultSingleInstancePort>--> ... </configuration> </plugin>

If this feature is enabled and one instance is aleady running, each other application start will pass all its unnamed parameters to the first instance and shuts itself then down. Drombler FX will register a new instance of AdditionalArgumentsProvider for every application start notification.

Read more about Single Instance Application in the new tutorial trail.

Data Framework

This version introduces an initial version of a Data Framework which integrates with the Docking Framework.

At the core of the Data Framework is the concept of Data Handlers. A Data Handler wraps an instance of a particular kind of data and usually knows how to read, save etc. this particular kind of data.

To register a Data Handler for a business object, which e.g. has been obtained from a web service call, use the @BusinessObjectHandler annotation:

@BusinessObjectHandler(icon = "bar.png") public class BarHandler extends AbstractDataHandler<String> {

To register a Data Handler for a document use the @DocumentHandler annotation:

@DocumentHandler(mimeType = "text/foo", icon = "foo.png") public class FooHandler extends AbstractDocumentHandler {
To associate some file extensions with a MIME type you can register the file extensions using the @FileExtension annotation:

@FileExtension(displayName = "%fooFileExtension.displayName", mimeType = "text/foo", fileExtensions = "foo", position = 10) package tutorial.data;

Read more about the Data Framework in the new tutorial trail.

Docking Framework changes and enhancements

This version comes with some changes and several enhancements of the Docking Framework, especially also to integrate the Docking Framework with the newly introduced Data Framework.

One of the biggest changes is how you register and open an Editor:

A Dockable Pane can still be registered as an Editor by using the @EditorDocking annotation, but this annotation now specifies the contentType:

@EditorDocking(contentType = FooHandler.class) public class DockableEditor extends GridPane {

The annotated Editor is required to have a constructor with a single parameter of type contentType().

This contentType is usually a Data Handler registered either with @BusinessObjectHandler or with @DocumentHandler. The icon of the Data Handler will be used in the tabs of the Editors. You also don't specify the Docking Area for Editors anymore.

The standard "center" Docking Area has been renamed to "editor" and is the default Docking Area for Editors if you're using the standard Docking Areas.

There are several ways to open an Editor for a Data Handler:

• Pass a file path as an argument at application start: based on the registered file extensions, Document Handlers and Editors the corresponding Editor will be opened.
   
• Use the generic Open Files menu entry provided by the org.drombler.acp:drombler-acp-core-standard-action-data-file Maven module: again based on the registered file extensions, Document Handlers and Editors the corresponding Editor will be opened.
   
• Call FileUtils.openFile: again based on the registered file extensions, Document Handlers and Editors the corresponding Editor will be opened. The FileExtensionDescriptorRegistry and the DocumentHandlerDescriptorRegistry can be obtained from the registered OSGi services FileExtensionDescriptorRegistryProvider and  DocumentHandlerDescriptorRegistryProvider respectively.
   
• Call Dockables.openEditorForContent: based on the registered Data Handlers and Editors the corresponding Editor will be opened.

Apart from the integration with the Data Framework, the Docking Framework comes with the following enhancements:

• If the framework detects that there's already an Editor open for the provided content, the existing Editor gets selected rather than a new one opened.
   
• If you close an unsaved Editor or if you close the window/ application while there are still unsaved Editors open, the Docking Framework detects this and provides an according dialog.

Putting all together

The enhancements provided by the Data Framework, Docking Framework and Single Instance Application support allow you for instance to create Single Instance Applications where the user can pass a file path argument to the application and the according Editor will be opened/ selected in the first (single) instance of the application.

Please note that several packages have changed.

Several refactorings have been done, which moved classes to different packages.
If a class isn't found anymore try to delete the import statement and re-import the class again using your IDE of choice. Also have a look at the available Maven Coordinates by following the links in the table below and have a look at the provided sample application.

Concluding remarks

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.8


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

Drombler FX: Version 0.7 released

I recently released v0.7 of Drombler FX - the modular application framework for JavaFX.

It has been a while since the last release but a lot of work has been undertaken.

Drombler moved from SourceForge.net to GitHub.
This includes:

• You can find all Drombler repositories on the Drombler GitHub organization site.
• All Drombler repositories have been migrated from Mercurial to Git
• The Gitflow has been configured for all repositories. You can find the current development in the develop branches (default branch) and the released versions in the master branch.
• The static pages as well as the Wiki pages haven been migrated to GitHub Pages.
• The tutorial has been migrated from the Wiki pages to Asciidoc files which are also published to the GitHub Pages. The Asciidoc files allow to
• compile the included samples first, to make sure the correct version of the API is used and that there is no typo
• keep different versions of the tutorial for different releases
• publish the tutorial in different formats
• easily style the tutorial 
• The issues have been migrated to the issue system provided by GitHub.

Experiments with CDI & OSGi

A lot of work has been done in experiments to integrate CDI and OSGi.

Unfortunately, among several issues

• the fact that at the time of writing the specification how CDI should work in an OSGi environment is still not final yet
• the major difference between the dynamic nature of OSGi services and the static nature of CDI bean discovery at startup, which are hard to overcome
• issues when trying to integrate CDI providers with OSGi Dynamic Services

put an end to these experiments for now.

Please join the discussion here how CDI still could be integrated into a future version of Drombler FX.

Dockable selection notification

There are now 2 new method-level annotations: @Select and @Deselect.

The annotated methods get called, if present, when the currently selected Dockable (eg. represented as a Tab) of a Docking Area (eg. represented as a TabPane) changes.

(Every non-empty Docking Area has one selected Dockable - the one which is visible.)

@Select public void select() { System.out.println("Selected sample: " + dockableData.getTitle()); } ... @Deselect public void deselect() { System.out.println("Deselected sample: " + dockableData.getTitle()); }  

Modified Dockables

FXDockableData has a new modified-property to indicate if the data represented by the Dockable has been modified.

The behavior of the default skin is to add/ remove the CSS style class "dockable-modified" to/ from the tab representing the Dockable whenever this flag changes.

The default CSS changes the tab font to bold.

The DockableDataModifiedManager listens for Savable in the local contexts of the Dockables and synchronizes the modified-property of FXDockableData accordingly.

Drombler FX configures this manager out-of-the-box.

The effect is that whenever you add a Savable to the local context of a Dockable, the font of the tab will change to bold indicating that the content of the tab has changed and hasn't been saved yet. Since the "Save" action and the "Save All" actions also listen for Savable in the active/ application context, they get enabled accordingly. When you click on one of these save buttons/ menu items, then they call the according save method of the Savable, which should remove itself from the local context again and thus disable the save actions and changing the tab font back to default.

All this works in a loosely coupled way thanks to the Context Framework. All you have to do is to add/ remove the Savable to/ from the local context of the Dockable.

To inform the application framework that the Dockable provides a local context, the Dockable needs to implement the LocalContextProvider interface eg. by using a SimpleContext.

The save method of the Savable then can be implemented to store the content to a file, to a DB, call an EJB or a webservice, send a JMS message or whatever your application has to do for this kind of data.

Pluggable application layout

The application layout is now pluggable!

Add the following dependency to use a classic desktop application layout with a menubar, a toolbar and a content area as the content of the JavaFX application.
<dependency> <groupId>org.drombler.fx</groupId> <artifactId>drombler-fx-core-standard-desktop-classic</artifactId> <scope>runtime</scope> </dependency>
You can replace this dependency with your own implementation of MainSceneRootProvider, which needs to be registered as an OSGi service.

By providing your own implementation you can make your application look completely different.

Please note that the content of the content area of the default application layout is pluggable, too!

Add the following dependency to use the Docking Framework for the content area.

<dependency> <groupId>org.drombler.fx</groupId> <artifactId>drombler-fx-core-docking</artifactId> <scope>runtime</scope> </dependency>
This dependency also configures the Docking Framework to integrate with the Context Framework.

You can replace this dependency with your own implementation of ApplicationContentProvider, which needs to be registered as an OSGi service.

By providing your own implementation you can make the content area look completely different while keeping the classic desktop application layout, which uses the Action Framework to register menu items and toolbar buttons with annotations.

Please note that several packages have changed.

Several refactorings have been done, which moved classes to different packages.
If a class isn't found anymore try to delete the import statement and re-import the class again using your IDE of choice. Also have a look at the available Maven Coordinates by following the links in the table below.


Concluding remarks

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues?q=milestone%3A0.7


There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX, the modular application framework for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: https://github.com/Drombler/drombler-fx/issues.

Drombler Commons: Conventions to simplify FXML loading

Correctly loading a FXML file in JavaFX usually requires quite some boilerplate code.

In my projects I came up with a new naming convention:

If a class "mypackage.<name>" loads a FXML file, then the FXML file should be in the same package and be named "<name>.fxml".


One advantage is, that when following this naming convention it's quite easy to see, which FXML loader/ fx:root-controller and FXML file belong together.

Another advantage is, that when using a utility method, the loading code for eg. a fx:root-based mypackage/MyPane.fxml file (a construct I can highly recommend) such as:

<fx:root type="SomePane" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml"> ... </fx:root>
can be simplified to this:

package mypackage; import org.drombler.commons.fx.fxml.FXMLLoaders; ... public class MyPane extends SomePane { public MyPane() { FXMLLoaders.loadRoot(this); } ... }
This code will:

• set the ClassLoader
• set the root
• set the controller
• set the ResourceBundle by looking for a mypackage/MyPane.properties file (or a locale specific derivation using the default Locale)
• set the location to mypackage/MyPane.fxml
• load the mypackage/MyPane.fxml file
• reduce code duplication 
• reduce typos

The FXMLLoaders utility class provides several other utility methods taking advantage of this naming convention, such as utility methods for loading non-fx:root based FXML files, which then for a mypackage/MyApplication.fxml file such as:

<SomePane xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml" > ... </SomePane>
can simplify the loading code to this:

package mypackage; import org.drombler.commons.fx.fxml.FXMLLoaders; ... public class MyApplication extends Application{ @Override public void start(Stage stage) { SomePane root = FXMLLoaders.load(getClass()); ... } }
Other variants allow to specify an alternative ResourceBundle or a pre-existing FXMLLoader.

The FXMLLoaders utility class is provided by the Drombler Commons - FX - Core artifact:

<dependency> <groupId>org.drombler.commons</groupId> <artifactId>drombler-commons-fx-core</artifactId> <version>0.6</version> </dependency>
Like the other Drombler Commons artifacts, it can be used inside and outside of an OSGi environment.

Drombler FX: Version 0.6 released

I recently released Drombler FX v0.6. Drombler FX is a modular Rich Client Platform for JavaFX based on OSGi and Maven (POM-first).

This is mainly a bug fix release.

You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: http://issues.drombler.org/milestone/0.6

Please note that there is currently a critical bug in the Docking Framework because of a bug in JavaFX. That bug should be fixed in the Java SE/ JavaFX 8u40 release however (expected release date: March 2015).

There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.

Drombler FX uses Apache Felix as its OSGi container by default.
As an application framework it makes sure JavaFX and OSGi will get started properly and it provides the main window.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
  

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX is a modular Rich Client Platform for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

You can use the Drombler Forum for questions and discussions.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: http://issues.drombler.org.

Using ControlsFX in a Drombler FX application

Earlier this year I've contributed a patch to ControlsFX to provide OSGi meta data in the Manifest file.

This patch allows ControlsFX to be used more or less out-of-the-box in an OSGi environment such as Drombler FX.

I'm writing "more or less out-of-the-box" since you still need an additional configuration in a Drombler FX application to be able to use ControlsFX.

The latest Drombler FX release provides some documentation in the sample generated by the Drombler FX Maven Archetype about this additional configuration.

You can find this in the generated test-application project in the file src/main/app/conf/config.properties.

You basically have to uncomment some lines there, which looks then like this:

org.osgi.framework.system.packages.extra=${jfx-${jfx.specification.version}}, ${jfx-${jfx.specification.version}-impl} jfx-8-impl=com.sun.javafx, \ com.sun.javafx.collections, \ com.sun.javafx.css, \ com.sun.javafx.css.converters, \ com.sun.javafx.event, \ com.sun.javafx.runtime, \ com.sun.javafx.scene.control, \ com.sun.javafx.scene.control.behavior, \ com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin, \ com.sun.javafx.scene.traversal, \ com.sun.javafx.tk, \ com.sun.javafx.webkit, \ com.sun.webkit
The reason you need this additional configuration is that ControlsFX uses some non-published, internal JavaFX implementation classes and the OSGi environment with the configuration provided by Drombler FX is hiding these classes by default. Adding the necessary packages to org.osgi.framework.system.packages.extra allows ControlsFX to use these classes as well.

Note however that with this configuration these packages are available not only to ControlsFX but to any OSGi bundle in the application. Generally it's strongly discouraged to rely on non-published internal classes as they can change even with any minor release. Backwards compatibility is not maintained for these classes! Using this configuration the OSGi environment cannot protect your own OSGi bundles from using the classes of these packages.

The configuration has been tested with org.controlsfx:controlsfx:8.0.6 and org.controlsfx:controlsfx:8.0.6_20.

Drombler FX: Version 0.5 released

I recently released Drombler FX v0.5. Drombler FX is a modular Rich Client Platform for JavaFX based on OSGi and Maven (POM-first).

With this release the Docking Framework becomes more lightweight. You don't have to extend any particular Drombler specific class anymore but can extend from any Node such as a layout pane. The DockablePane has been removed from the API.

With this release also icons in Editor Dockings are supported:

The Action Framework has been moved from the OSGi-based RCP Drombler FX to the Drombler Commons library collection, which can be used inside and outside of an OSGi platform.

This allows you to use this framework even if you don't want to use Drombler FX, yet, for some reason.

The Action Framework, keeps the state (enabled/ disabled, selected/ unselected etc.), the information (texts, image etc.) and the logic between menu items and toolbar buttons in sync.

Note that the declarative, annotation based programming model is still only supported by Drombler FX. But there is a sample, which shows how to use this framework from Drombler Commons programmatically.

Please note that because the framework has been moved, some packages have been renamed.


The new Wiki page Logging explains how you can replace the SLF4J binding. The sample application provided by the Drombler FX archetype uses the java.util.logging (JUL) binding by default, because the required jar is very small since java.util.logging is part of the JRE.
The Wiki page shows as a sample how to configure the Log4J 2 binding.


You can find the complete list of fixed issues here: http://issues.drombler.org/milestone/0.5

There's a Getting Started page which explains how to create, build and run a Drombler FX sample application with a few simple steps.

Drombler FX uses Apache Felix as its OSGi container by default.
As an application framework it makes sure JavaFX and OSGi will get started properly and it provides the main window.


The following table provides you an overview of the different Drombler components, links to the modules, which are available from Maven Central, and links to the Javadocs.
 

Name	Modules (incl. Maven Coordinates)	Javadoc	Description
Drombler FX	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler FX is a modular Rich Client Platform for JavaFX based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler ACP  Drombler Commons.
Drombler ACP	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Abstract Client Platform (ACP) is an abstract, GUI-toolkit agnostic, modular Rich Client Platform based on: OSGi Maven (POM-first) a declarative programming model Drombler Commons.
Drombler Commons	Modules	Javadoc	Drombler Commons is a collection of reusable libraries and frameworks. They ship with OSGi meta data but don't require an OSGi environment.

You can use the Drombler Forum for questions and discussions.

If you find issues or have enhancement requests, you can file a ticket here: http://issues.drombler.org.