Geertjan's Blog
- June 24, 2008
Options Dialog Framework in NetBeans Platform 6.5
The good news is that this framework will be improved in three significant respects for NetBeans Platform 6.5:
- The new org.netbeans.api.options.OptionsDisplayer class lets the user programmatically open the Options window with a specific category/subcategory selected.
- The new OptionsController.createAdvanced method lets you create new subtabs within any tab that makes use of this method, so that any of your own tabs can have subtabs just like the Miscellaneous panel already does.
- The Options Panel wizard has been changed so that a primary panel can be created that makes use of the item described above, so that any secondary panel that is created (either via the same wizard or manually) can (optionally) be a subtab within one of the primary panels that allow secondary panels.
The related JavaHelp and tutorials will be changed accordingly.
Together, these changes allow for more flexibility in the creation of Options windows, as well as the ability for the plugin/application developer to specify exactly which of the categories/subcategories should be opened at any point in time, which especially makes sense in the context of an ever-growing Options window. Perhaps you've created support for framework XYZ, for example, so that now you'll be able to let the user (via some action, for example) open a very specific XYZ-related category/subcategory within the Options window, one that is enriched with a range of subcategories, which was never possible before. Hurray.