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SpeedJG - XML based Java Swing GUI Builder
Java Swing GUI Builder - Overview
SpeedJG is an XML-based GUI builder tool to create state-of-the-art Java
Swing GUI applications, user interfaces, and frontends.
The core part of this Java GUI builder is a parser that reads the
meta-data described in XML to create Java GUI components on the fly. An IDE,
itself generated by and using this parser, enables the Java developer to design
and rapid prototype a GUI, generate the meta-data, check the layout,
and create the corresponding source code.
Ten good reasons to use SpeedJG as your Java Swing GUI Builder:
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This GUI editor is not bound to a specific Java software
development environment. It can be used together with
any currently established Java IDE or simply on its own.
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The meta data to describe the GUI layout is stored
as XML because the structure of XML ideally fits to
the hierarchical structure of Swing (JFrame, JPanel,
JComponent. etc.). In addition, this format is readable
on any platform. Therefore you are able to share
your Swing GUI e.g. with your friends and / or colleagues
regardless which platform or Java IDE they are using.
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By default this Swing GUI builder generates pure Java source
code that is also executable without any .jar file to be licensed.
Thus you don't have to study any new APIs when developing a
Java GUI with SpeedJG.
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This GUI builder enables you to create complex GUIs because
the structure of the components used corresponds to
the structure of XML. Thus you can simply design
multiple nested panels with different layouts (Swing
is not VB). To see an example of a complex Swing GUI look at
SpeedJG - the GUI of this application is entirely
generated at runtime by this Java GUI builder tool!
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With SpeedJG the developer of a Swing GUI is focused on
the main properties when customizing a component. You
are not overstressed with all possible properties
from the inheritance hierarchy in alphabetical
order. Instead, only those properties which are relevant in
respect of the component currently to be customized are presented
and ordered by importance.
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At any time you can check the layout and appearance
of any (not only the top-level JFrame or JPanel)
component without having to compile it before.
This is done at the push of a button by interpreting
the meta data stored as XML. When you're finished with
your GUI you can export the source code into a Java
source file of your choice and compile it from inside
the Java IDE you use.
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This Java GUI builder enables you to edit in parallel as many Swing components as you
want. Each component is edited within a tab of its own and can be
checked for itself. After saving you can directly change to another
tab, and if this is, for example, an editor of a parent component,
you can check the effects in a superordinate context.
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When generating Swing source code this Java GUI builder strictly follows the MVC approach by
separating the GUI (view) code from the controller code, and the model code,
that's up to you as the developer.
To give an example of a multilingual Java GUI, this
separation allows you to simply deliver the complete
GUI object to a translator class that can access all
the components by their name without any knowledge of
the internal structure, and set the texts of the
labels, buttons, frame titles etc., depending on the
preferred user language.
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When exporting the generated Swing source code into a
file, this Java GUI builder by default only overwrites the
previously generated code lines. Thanks to the
clear-cut MVC separation you don't have to modify
within the generated code lines but only within the
stubs offered outside the generated code. Thus if you
modify the layout of your GUI with this Swing GUI builder and
re-generate the code, your individually added Java code lines
handling the GUI access remain untouched and valid.
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Java Swing source code can be generated not only for
top-level JFames or JDioalogs but basically for all
components. When developing a very complex GUI this
feature helps you - in conjunction with the MVC
separation - to delegate self-contained GUI
functionality to separate classes that handle parts of
the whole application within their own responsibility.
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Supported Swing Features
| Components |
JFrame, JDialog, JDesktopPane, JInternalFrame, JMenuBar, JMenu, JMenuItem,
JSeparator, JRadioButtonMenuItem, JCheckBoxMenuItem, JPopupMenu, JToolBar,
JToolBar.Separator, JPanel, JSplitPane, JTabbedPane, JScrollPane, Box,
JButton, JToggleButton, JRadioButton, JCheckBox, JLabel, JTextField,
JFormattedTextField, JPasswordField, JTextArea, JEditorPane, JComboBox,
JSpinner, JList, JTable, JTree, JSlider, JProgressBar
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| Layouts |
BorderLayout,
BoxLayout (X_AXIS, Y_AXIS, LINE_AXIS, PAGE_AXIS),
FlowLayout (optionally aligned LEFT, CENTER, RIGHT),
GridLayout, GridBagLayout,
Null (for absolute positioning)
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| Borders |
Bevel, Softbevel, Etched, Titled, Line, Compound, Matte, Empty
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| Fonts |
standard and platform dependent |
| Images |
from file system or from CLASSPATH |
| Listeners |
ActionListener, CaretListener, ChangeListener, ComponentListener, FocusListener, HyperlinkListener,InternalFrameListener, ItemListener, KeyListener,
ListSelectionListener, MenuListener, MouseListener, MouseMotionListener
PopupMenuListener, TreeExplansionListener, TreeSelectionListener,
TreeWillExpandListener, WindowListener
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