org.tentackle.appworx
Class Application

java.lang.Object
  org.tentackle.appworx.AbstractApplication
      org.tentackle.appworx.Application

public abstract class Application
extends AbstractApplication

Abstract class to handle the application's lifecycle. Tentackle applications should extend this class and invoke start(java.lang.String[]). To shutdown gracefully, application should invokd stop(). At minimum, the method doCreateWindow() must be implemented.

The subclass just needs to provide a main-method, for example:

 public static void main(String args[]) {
   new MyApplication().start(args);
 }
 

Author:

harald

Constructor Summary

Application(String name, Icon logo)
Creates an application.

Method Summary

void	changeLookAndFeel(String name) Changes the look and feel.
JMenu	createLookAndFeelMenu() Creates a menu to select the look and feel.
ModificationThread	createModificationThread() Creates the modification thread ready for being started.
protected void	doConfigureApplication() Do anything what's necessary after the connection has been established.
protected abstract FormWindow	doCreateWindow() Creates the top level window.
protected void	doFinishStartup() Finishes the startup. Invoked after all has been displayed.
protected ContextDb	doLogin() Connects to the database backend (or application server).
protected void	doShowWindow() Shows the window.
protected void	doStop(int exitValue) Terminates the application gracefully.
CommandLine	getCommandLine() Gets the command line.
Icon	getLogo() Gets the logo.
String	getName() Gets the application name.
FormWindow	getWindow() Gets the application's window.
protected void	installLookAndFeels() Installs the available look and feels.
protected void	installPreferences() Installs the preferences backend. The default implementation installs the DbPreferencesFactory unless "--nodbprefs" is given.
protected void	installSecurityManager() installs the tentackle security manager
void	setLookAndFeel(String name) Sets the look and feel.
void	showEditDialog(Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz) Brings up a non-modal edit dialog for a given class.
AppDbObject	showEditDialog(Component comp, AppDbObject object, boolean modal) Brings up an edit dialog for a given object.
AppDbObject	showEditDialog(Component comp, Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz, boolean modal) Brings up an edit dialog for a given class.
void	showLoginStatus(String msg) Displays a message during login.
void	showSearchDialog(Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz) Brings up a search dialog for a given class.
void	showSearchDialog(FormWindow w, Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz) Brings up a search dialog for a given class.
void	start(String[] args) Launches the application.
void	stop() Gracefully terminates the application.
String	toString() Gets the application's name.

Methods inherited from class org.tentackle.appworx.AbstractApplication

createContextDb, createDb, createUserInfo, detectEE, detectJNLP, doInitialize, getContextDb, getDb, getProperties, getProperty, getRunningApplication, getUser, getUser, getUserInfo, isDeployedByEE, isDeployedByJNLP, register, securityRulesChanged, setContextDb, setProperties, setUserInfo, unregister, updateUserId

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Application

public Application(String name,
                   Icon logo)

Creates an application.

Parameters:

name - the application's name

logo - the application's logo icon

Method Detail

start

public void start(String[] args)

Launches the application.

Parameters:

args - the arguments (usually from commandline)

stop

public void stop()

Gracefully terminates the application. Usually invoked from an exit-Button or when window is closed.

toString

public String toString()

Gets the application's name.

Overrides:

toString in class Object

Returns:

the name

getCommandLine

public CommandLine getCommandLine()

Gets the command line.

Returns:

the command line

getName

public String getName()

Gets the application name.

Returns:

the application name

getLogo

public Icon getLogo()

Gets the logo.

Returns:

the logo

getWindow

public FormWindow getWindow()

Gets the application's window.

Returns:

the window, null if not yet defined.

setLookAndFeel

public void setLookAndFeel(String name)

Sets the look and feel.

Parameters:

name - the name of the look and feel

changeLookAndFeel

public void changeLookAndFeel(String name)

Changes the look and feel. This method should be invoked if the user changed the look and feel intentionally. The default implementation just invokes setLookAndFeel, but applications can override it to save the setting, e.g. in the preferences.

Parameters:

name - the name of the l&f

createLookAndFeelMenu

public JMenu createLookAndFeelMenu()

Creates a menu to select the look and feel. The current implementation returns only the tentackle look and feels.

Returns:

a JMenu with all available look and feels

showLoginStatus

public void showLoginStatus(String msg)

Displays a message during login. If the login dialog is visible, the message will be shown there. Otherwise it will simply print printed to the console.

Parameters:

msg - the status message

showEditDialog

public AppDbObject showEditDialog(Component comp,
                                  AppDbObject object,
                                  boolean modal)
                           throws ApplicationException

Brings up an edit dialog for a given object.

Parameters:

comp - some component of the owner window, null if none

object - the object to create the dialog for

modal - true if modal, else non-modal

Returns:

the edited object if modal, else null

Throws:

ApplicationException

showEditDialog

public AppDbObject showEditDialog(Component comp,
                                  Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz,
                                  boolean modal)
                           throws ApplicationException

Brings up an edit dialog for a given class.

Parameters:

comp - some component of the owner window, null if none

clazz - is the object's class

modal - true if modal, else non-modal

Returns:

the edited object if modal, else null

Throws:

ApplicationException

showEditDialog

public void showEditDialog(Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz)

Brings up a non-modal edit dialog for a given class. The owner window is the application's frame. This is the preferred method to be used in edit menus of application frames.

Parameters:

clazz - is the object's class

showSearchDialog

public void showSearchDialog(FormWindow w,
                             Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz)

Brings up a search dialog for a given class. Searchdialogs have no owner but use the owner as the related window.

Parameters:

w - is the related window, null if none

clazz - is the object's class

showSearchDialog

public void showSearchDialog(Class<? extends AppDbObject> clazz)

Brings up a search dialog for a given class. The owner is the application frame. This is the preferred method to be used in search menus of application frames.

Parameters:

clazz - is the object's class

createModificationThread

public ModificationThread createModificationThread()

Creates the modification thread ready for being started. The default implementation creates the modthread with a polling interval of 2 seconds and which runs on a cloned db-connection.

Overrides:

createModificationThread in class AbstractApplication

Returns:

the created modification thread

installPreferences

protected void installPreferences()

Installs the preferences backend.
The default implementation installs the DbPreferencesFactory unless "--nodbprefs" is given. The option "--sysprefs" forces usage of system preferences only. "--roprefs" sets the preferences to readonly.

Overrides:

installPreferences in class AbstractApplication

installLookAndFeels

protected void installLookAndFeels()

Installs the available look and feels. The default implementation installs all Tentackle Plafs.

installSecurityManager

protected void installSecurityManager()

installs the tentackle security manager

Overrides:

installSecurityManager in class AbstractApplication

doLogin

protected ContextDb doLogin()
                     throws ApplicationException

Connects to the database backend (or application server).

Notice: if the application is started via JNLP (Java WebStart) and the commandline option "--db=" is given, it is interpreted as a URL to the db-properties file relative to the JNLP codebase. If it starts with "<protocol>://" it is taken as an absolute URL.
Example:

 --db=http://www.tentackle.org/Invoicer/Db.properties
 
 is the same as:
 
 --db=Db.properties
 
 if the codebase is http://www.tentackle.org/Invoicer.
 

Returns:

the connected context db, null if login aborted or authentication failed

Throws:

ApplicationException

doConfigureApplication

protected void doConfigureApplication()
                               throws ApplicationException

Do anything what's necessary after the connection has been established. Setup preferences, etc... The default creates the modification thread (but does not start it), installs the Preferences, tentackle's SecurityManager and the look and feels.

Overrides:

doConfigureApplication in class AbstractApplication

Throws:

ApplicationException

doCreateWindow

protected abstract FormWindow doCreateWindow()
                                      throws ApplicationException

Creates the top level window. The method must not setVisible(true)!

Returns:

the toplevel window, ready for showing

Throws:

ApplicationException

doShowWindow

protected void doShowWindow()
                     throws ApplicationException

Shows the window. The default implementation invokes setVisible(true). If the window is a FormContainer, setFormValue() and saveValues() will be invoked as well.

Throws:

ApplicationException

doFinishStartup

protected void doFinishStartup()
                        throws ApplicationException

Finishes the startup.
Invoked after all has been displayed. The default implementation starts the modification thread, unless "--nomodthread" given.

Overrides:

doFinishStartup in class AbstractApplication

Throws:

ApplicationException

doStop

protected void doStop(int exitValue)

Terminates the application gracefully. (this is the only do.. method that does not throw ApplicationException)

Parameters:

exitValue - the doStop value for System.exit()