Reviews : Review: Sun Java Studio Creator Early Access Release :

IDE Overview

The IDE is made up of a few primary elements (Figure 1 shows the IDE interface):

• The Editing Area is the central page editor that makes up most of the IDE interface.
• The Server Navigator shows the datasources, Web Services and other elements available within the application.
• The Palette contains the interface components that can be dragged onto your page.
• Code Clips contains snippets that can be used in beans.
• Property Sheet allows the developer to edit the properties that can be edited for the different visual components and other application elements.
• Dynamic Help contains online IDE help.
• Project Navigator shows the pages and beans and other files in the current project.
• Document Outline shows all the components within the current page.
• The Debugger and Build Output will display debugging/build information when a developer builds or tests a page.

As with most other IDEs, every application starts with the creation of a project. A project will contain everything in your application and can be deployed all at once at the click of a button. By default, a new JSP template will be created called Page1.jsp (you can rename it, if you like). From here, development can begin.

Developing Forms

While you can create your own JSF components, many of the components you will need for applications are already included in JSC. These components include form elements such as drop-down lists, text fields and text areas; and other handy components such as data grids, text outputs and group panels. To use these elements in your pages, you simple click on the component you wish to add to your interface and drag it from the palette window to the editing area. The editing area is broken down into grids. You can use these grids to help your layout, as items will snap to the grids when you expand their size.

Once you have placed your component(s) into your page, selecting any component will show you editable properties in the property sheet. You can edit these properties to further customize your page. For example, entering a value into the "value" property will then store a default value for that component.

Of course, there are times when it is just easier to get in there and edit the code yourself. This can be done by clicking the "Source" tab at the bottom left of the editing area. The color-coded JSP/JSF source is fully editable, and clicking on the Design tab will toggle back to the visual layout of your page, reflecting any changes you made to the code. Figure 2 shows the code edit view.

In addition to editing the visual components, developers can also use validation components to apply rules to components, forcing users to enter the correct data type or requiring fields. Additionally, data elements can be converted using conversion components In short, this visual interface goes beyond just creating the visual elements, but also allows for the creation of logic and data model workings and validation.

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