DevFaq

index

NetBeans Platform Developer FAQ

Actions: How to add things to Files, Folders, Menus, Toolbars and more

• How do I add an action to any folder?

• How do I add an action to my custom node?

• How do I add an action to the context menu of a specific editor?

• How do I add an action to all files of a given mime-type?

• How do I add an action to a folder?

• How do I add an action to an Java package?

• How do I add an action to the main menu?

• How do I add an action to a project popup menu of my own project type?

• How do I add an action to the global popup menu of tabs?

• How do I add an action to the context menu of all editors?

• How do I add an action to the toolbar of the editor?

• How do I add an action to a toolbar in the main window?

• How do I add an action to the tools menu?

• How do I make an action that is automatically enabled/disabled depending on what’s selected?

• How do I make my Node have a submenu on its popup menu?

• How do I add an action (incl. shortcut) at runtime?

• What is the Actions folder in the system filesystem, and why should I use it?

• How do I add an action to the context menu of the members or hierarchy view?

• How do I add content to the Global Context?

• How do I add an icon to the context menu?

• How do I create an action which can be invoked by a macro?

• How do I change the appearance of the menu items and toolbar buttons for my Action

• How do I make a checkable/toggle-able action that represents a preference option?

• How do I add a dropdown menu to toolbar?

• How do I add a dropdown menu to toolbar that is selectively enabled/disabled?

• How do I get the Open File item on the File menu into my platform application?

• Looking at the UI how do I find a module that implements a menu item

• How do I hide/remove default toolbar buttons and/or menu items?

• How do I hide/show toolbar dynamically?

• How can I to create an Action object and attach this action to one or more components on frame without manually editing Generated Code?

• How can I reuse and/or organise actions only by using annotations (@ActionReferences)?

• How do I define and localise the keymap category of an action?

• How do I invoke an action programmatically?

• How can I add a JSeparator to the main toolbar?

• How do I invoke the IDE-Log upon Startup?

• How do i change the closing action of the MainWindow?

• Some module in the IDE etc. already has a menu item I like, but I just want to rename it. Can I?

• Can I change the contents of a menu according to the selected file in the editor, or hide or show a whole menu?

• How do I add a toggle-able action to the toolbar/main menu?

• How do I remove Menu Item, Toolbar Button from plug-in’s XML Layer?

• How do I have only Shortcut Keys for an Action?

• Can I install submenus into popups or other menus, instead of a regular action?

Application Lifecycle and Hooks

• What are some of the hooks in the application’s lifecycle I can plug into?

Authentication and Authorization in Platform Apps

• Other strategies for authentication and authorization

Branding your application

• Branding About Dialog

• Branding Updater Splash

• How do I remove the status bar?

• How do I set the version number?

• Translating a NetBeans Module

Command Line Parsing

• Can something that the user sets on the command line determine whether a menu item is enabled?

• Same as the above, but this time for enabling/disabling modules?

• How to pass command line arguments to a NetBeans Platform application when run inside the IDE

Configuration: How Modules Install Things

• What are .settings files?

• What are .shadow files?

• Can I dynamically change the contents of the System Filesystem at runtime?

• How can I see the filesystem?

• Can I bundle some additional files with my module? If so, how can I find those files to use them from my module?

• What are .instance files?

• What are the ways a module can influence the system?

• What is an XML layer?

• How do I run some code when my module starts/loads/unloads?

• How do I specify the order for my menu items/toolbar buttons/files in the system filesystem?

• What is the system filesystem?

• What is the user directory, what is in it, and why do I need one?

Contributor Agreement

• Can my company sign a blanket JCA for all its employees?

• I tried to make a contribution to netbeans.org and signed a CA, but my contribution was not accepted. What is the result?

• Do I have to file a CA for every contribution?

• Once I have a CA on file, can I change my mind and cancel?

• Can I file my completed CA by e-mail?

• If my company wants me to contribute changes, who should sign the CA, me or my company?

• Do I have to fill out a CA?

• How do I file a completed CA?

• I’ve already signed a JCA; do I still have to sign the CA?

• I have a CA or JCA on file and I have made a code contribution to netbeans.org. Can I get listed on the copyright notice?

• I’ve already signed a CA for another Oracle project, do I need to sign another one for NetBeans?

• What is the Contributor Agreement ("CA")?

• I’ve already signed a recent version of the CA, do I need to sign the newest version?

• Why does NetBeans request a CA?

Converting between common data types and finding things

• How do I get a DataObject for a FileObject?

• How do I get a DataObject for a Node?

• How do I get a java.io.File for a FileObject?

• How do I get a FileObject for a DataObject?

• How do I get a FileObject for a File?

• FileObjects versus Files

• I have a .instance file. How do I get an actual object instance?

• How do I get a reference to the system filesystem?

• I have a folder full of .instance files. How do I get any/all of the object instances?

• How do I get a Node for a DataObject?

• URIs and URLs

Creating a Custom Programming Language

• How can I create a custom Debugger for my language?

• How do I add syntax highlighting for my language?

Deploying Changes through AutoUpdate and using Autoupdate API

• How can I find Javadoc of Autoupdate API with hints to use it?

• How can I update the splash screen, title bar and other branding items via AutoUpdate?

• How to force to check for updates at every startup?

• How can I use AutoUpdate to deploy updates and new modules for my application?

• How to change the update center URL via code?

• How to deal with pack200 compression in NBM?

• How to specify post-install code in NBM?

• How can I run the installer for something else during module installation?

• What other documentation is available about AutoUpdate?

Deployment using installers / NBI

• How to add versioning information to be shown in "Installed Programs" (Windows-only)?

Development issues, module basics and classpath issues, and information about RCP/Platform application configuration

• How do I have two source directories within one module?

• How do I develop and debug annotations for NetBeans platform apps?

• What is an SPI? How is it different from an API?

• How can I have my application compiled in a specific version of the platform?

• What classloaders are created by the module system?

• How can I customize the build process?

• There is a class under org.netbeans.core that does what I need. Can I depend on it?

• How to store external libraries in the NetBeans Hg repository

• I need to package some third party libraries with my module. How do I do that?

• My project.xml lists more dependencies than I really need. How can I fix it?

• Can I use modules from update center in my RCP application?

• What is an implementation dependency and what/how/when should I use one?

• Is there a standard way to provide user documentation (help) for my module?

• How can I fix memory leaks?

• Migrating to a newer version of the Platform

• How do module dependencies/classloading work?

• How do I create a patch for a preexisting NetBeans module?

• Do I need to restart NetBeans every time to debug new changes?

• How do I add native libraries?

• Common calls that should be done slightly differently in NetBeans than standard Swing apps (loading images, localized strings, showing dialogs)

• I want to use one version of the Platform with another version of the build harness. Can I?

• My module uses some libraries. I’ve tried setting CLASSPATH but it doesn’t work. Help!

• Can I test changes to the IDE without going through the license check and so on?

• How can I customize the default project directory for my application, replacing "NetBeansProjects"?

• My module uses class XYZ from NetBeans' APIs. It compiles, but I get a NoClassDefFoundError at runtime. Why?

• Can I work on just one or two modules from the NetBeans source base by themselves?

• I want to set some flags or CLI arguments for running my NB RCP/Platform based application (such as disable assertions). How do I do that?

• How can I profile NetBeans?

• How to run module with more PermGen and Heap memory?

• Can I sign NBMs I create?

• My module requires JDK 6 - how do I keep it from being loaded on an older release?

• What is the difference between a suite and a cluster?

• Where is TopManager? I’m trying to do the examples from the O’Reilly book

• I am developing a NetBeans module. What performance criteria should it satisfy?

• Why can’t I load properties using UIDefaults?

• What is a WeakListener?

• When should I use a WeakListener?

• What is a module cluster?

• What is an "NBM"?

• When should I use a library wrapper module and when should I just package the library into my module?

• What is a library wrapper module and how do I use it?

• How can I launch an Ant Task on all modules of my suite?

Dialogs API

• How can I control when the OK button is enabled

• What is the Dialogs API and How Do I Use It?

Editor and Edited Files

• How to add code completion to any JEditorPane

• How can I get the currently open document in the selected editor?

• How is MimeLookup composed?

• How to add code templates?

• How to use the diff view in my own application/plugin?

• How to get mime type from Document or JTextComponent?

• How to reuse XML syntax highlighting in your own editor

• How can I create JEditorPane for a specific document type?

• What is MimeLookup?

• What is MimePath?

• Can I add a menu item to the context menu of the Java source editor?

• How can I get the position of the caret/line in the selected editor?

• How can I get a list of open editors/documents?

• Project Encoding vs. File Encoding - What are the precedence rules used in NetBeans 6.0?

• How can I track what file the user is currently editing?

• Is it safe to programmatically modify a file which is open in the editor?

• I want to make some programmatic changes to the edited file. How can I do it so one Undo undoes it all?

• How can I open a file in the editor at a particular line number and column?

• How can I open a file in the editor in read-only mode?

• Can I add syntax coloring for my own data object/MIME type?

File Management (within the IDE/Application)

• How can I open a file in the IDE programatically?

Files and Data Objects

• What is a DataLoader?

• What is a DataObject?

• The next button is never enabled when I create my DataObject from a template. Help!

• How do I add a menu item to the popup menu of every folder in the system?

• What are file attributes?

• I need to show a file chooser. How can I remember most-recently-used directories?

• Can I add a menu item to the context menu of every Java source file?

• What is a FileObject?

• How can I create a FileObject in memory?

• How does NetBeans recognize files?

• What is a FileSystem?

• I’m having trouble implementing this filesystem…​.

• I want to listen for changes in a file that may not exist or may be deleted and re-created

• How can I be notified when a file is opened?

• How can I be notified when a file is modified and saved?

• I am listening for changes in a folder/file but when there are changes I do not receive an event

• How can I create declarative MIMEResolver and add new file type?

• How do I add support for an XML type with a different extension?

Getting Started

• What API do I want to use for x, y or z?

• How do I get sources for NetBeans using Mercurial (hg)?

• How do I get zipped sources for a periodic build?

• Becoming a proficient module developer

• Why are some packages org.netbeans.api.something and others are org.netbeans.something.api?

• What is netbeans.exe, who compiles it and why is it there?

• Where can I find Javadoc for the IDE and Platform?

• Where is the Platform and how can I build it?

• In the Libraries tab of my application’s Project Properties, there sure are a lot of modules listed. What are they for

• How do I set up a NetBeans Platform in the IDE?

• I have written a module. Can I sell it?

• There sure are a lot of modules in the source tree. What are they for

• What is a module?

Getting support, where to find examples

• Filing a bug report

• Where can I find more documentation on certain APIs?

• Examples of how to use various APIs

• Can I get training material for the NetBeans Certification course?

HTML Browser

• How to open a URL in the internal/default HTML browser?

JavaHelp

• JavaHelp integration guide

• How do I fix problems about 'ide.welcome'?

• How can I hook up JavaHelp to property sets or individual properties?

• Why doesn’t my JavaHelp content show up?

• How can I override JavaHelp to display my own custom help or documentation?

Key Bindings

• How do I add default shortcuts for SystemActions (like cut, paste, etc)?

• How to set the shortcut of an action outside of your own module?

• How to get the shortcut/shortkey of an action at runtime?

• What about editor-specific keybindings?

• How do key bindings work?

• Which keybindings are already being used?

• Why should I use D- for Ctrl and O- for Alt? I thought C- stood for Ctrl and A- stood for Alt!

• I want my action to appear between two existing items/in a specific place in the menu. Can I do that?

• Binding one key to more than one action

Licensing Issues

• Where to download sources of EPL third-party components?

• Where to download sources of LGPL third-party components?

• NetBeans Platform and 3rd party components

• Where to download sources of MPL third-party components?

Logging and Error Handling

• How can I add a timestamp to the logs?

• How can I customize the Unexpected Exception dialog?

• Using java.util.logging in NetBeans

• UI Logging through Gestures Collector

• How can I suppress the Unexpected Exception dialog?

Look and Design

• How can I set the Swing look and feel on startup?

• I have a custom component. How can I make it respond to --fontsize like the rest of NetBeans?

• How to provide non-inverted images for dark LookAndFeels like DarkMetal/Darcula?

Lookup

• What is a Lookup?

• How can I find out what is in a Lookup

• What is the difference between getCookie(Class), SharedClassObject.findObject(Class) and Lookup.lookup(Class)?

• What is the "default Lookup"?

• Event Bus in NetBeans

• How can I add support for lookups on nodes representing my file type?

• How do I use Java generics with Lookup?

• How can I override an instance in the Lookup?

• How do I implement my own lookup or proxy another one?

• How do I lazy-load an item in the lookup?

• If there is more than one of a type in a Lookup, which instance will I get?

• After adding my class to Lookup I get a "ClassNotFoundException" when trying to look it up, why?

• Why use Lookup - wouldn’t a Map be good enough?

• What uses Lookup?

• How can I register services into the lookup using the system filesystem?

• When should I use Lookup in my own APIs?

Mavenized Builds

• How to convert an ANT-based NetBeans Module to a Maven-based NetBeans Module?

• How can I create localization modules using Maven?

• Can I use JRebel to speed up development?

• Why can’t I use system scope for a library wrapper module?

Module System

• What is an autoload module?

• How can I change the NetBeans splash screen shown when an installed module requires restart?

• Can I disable Auto Update (for example, while running tests)?

• How fix module dependencies automatically?

• Why am I getting a ClassCastException when the class is clearly of the right type?

• Can two or more modules contain the same package?

• How can code in one module be notified when other modules are loaded or unloaded?

• How can I obfuscate a module?

• Can I create a console or server (non-GUI) app with the NetBeans Platform?

• I want my module to disable some of the modules that would normally be enabled. Possible?

• How do I debug a module I’m building?

NetBeans Developer FAQ

• list of other FAQs

• How To Add FAQ Entries

Nodes and Explorer

• I have a reference to an existing Node from some other module. Can I add cookies/properties/children?

• Can I add, remove or reorder children of a node on the fly?

• How can I change my node’s appearance?

• How do I create a TopComponent (tab in the main window) to show some Nodes?

• How do I handle cut, copy and paste?

• How do I make a particular node visible in the Explorer, and maybe select it?

• What is "explorer"?

• How do I show a Node in my explorer view?

• What is an ExplorerManager?

• What is an Explorer View?

• How can I design explorer views in Mantisse GUI editor?

• How do I get at the file that a particular node represents?

• How can I graphically create a ChoiceView?

• Why do my nodes in the Explorer always have an expand-box by them, even though they have no children?

• How can I prevent (or override) the node deletion dialog?

• I want to allow other modules to inject objects into my Node’s Lookup, or Actions into its actions

• I have a Node.Property for a file. How can I control the file chooser that is the custom editor?

• How can I implement "Select all/Deselect all/Invert selection" features?

• How to serialize my nodes?

• I need to create my own Nodes. What should I subclass?

• How can I add a "View" capability for data my node represents?

• I need to show Nodes for objects that are slow to create. How do I compute Node children on a background thread?

• I need to add to/remove from/customize the content of my Node/DataObject/TopComponent’s Lookup. How do I do it?

• How do I "decorate" nodes that come from another module (i.e. add icons, actions)?

• How can I add horizontal scrolling support to the OutlineView component?

• I have a Node.Property. I want to control its appearance or custom editor somehow. Can I do that without writing my own property editor?

• How can I make sortable columns in a TreeTableView?

• How do I remove the "…​" buttons of a TreeTableView?

• I need to write some code that tracks the global selection. What should I do?

• Tracking selections in the Explorer

• How do I preserve the column attributes of a TreeTableView?

• What is a Node?

Output Window

• How to implement custom IOProvider?

• How to get user input in the Output Window?

• How to use color text in Output Window?

• How do I embed output window tab to another component?

• How do I create my own tab in the output window and write to it?

• How do I route the output from an external process to the output window?

Printing

• Help, the Print menu item is disabled!

Programmatic access to Java Sources

• How to obtain a source file for a Java class and open in the editor?

• How can I scan a classpath to find all classes of a particular type?

• How do I Get All Methods/Fields/Constructors of a Class?

• How can I programmatically modify a Java source file?

• Java_DevelopersGuide

Project Handling

• How to get the name of the active project group?

• How to get the name or icon of a project?

• How to get the project of the active file in the editor?

• How to listen for projects to be opened/closed?

• How can I open a Project programatically?

Project Types

• How to add a new panel to a Project Properties dialog?

• How do I register a "ProjectCustomizer" to multiple project types?

• How do I add an action to a project popup menu?

• How do I add an action to a project popup menu of a specific project type?

• How determine all available project types?

• How can I define the available File types when the user right-clicks the project folder and chooses "New"?

• How do I identify the "main project"?

• Is it possible to extend an existing project type?

Properties and PropertySheet

• How do I change the default behavior of PropertySheet editors?

• How do I hide the description area in property window?

• How do I show my node’s properties in the Properties view?

• How do I add a readonly property?

• How do I display different groups of properties on buttons in the property sheet the way Matisse does?

Running and Writing tests

• Writing Tests for DataObjects and DataLoaders

• How do I test something which uses the System Filesystem?

• Using NbModuleSuite & friends

• Running tests on a platform application

• NetBeans Developer Test FAQ

• Testing things that use FileObjects

Settings

• How to register options for export/import to module’s layer?

• How can I configure my options panel to be found by global quicksearch or options search?

• Can I add new panels to the Options window?

• How do you change the configuration of other modules?

• How do I change the application’s Java start parameters?

• How do you open the option dialog with a preselected category?

• How do I let the user set preferences/options/customization/configuration for my module/application?

Tasks and Progressbar

• How to run/execute an external program?

• How to execute a long running task from an action without blocking the GUI?

Threading

• What is a background thread and why do I need one?

• When should I use RequestProcessor.getDefault() and when should I create my own RequestProcessor?

• How can I run an operation occasionally on a background thread, but reschedule it if something happens to delay it?

• I need to run some code on a background thread. Can the platform help me?

• What APIs come with built-in background thread handling?

Tutorials and important starting points

• NetBeans Annotation Cheat Sheet

• What are the basic things I should know about NetBeans' architecture to get started creating NetBeans Platform applications?

• NetBeans API starting point

• Any tutorials out there, please?

Using Enterprise Resources from NetBeans module

• Java EE Application Client on top of NetBeans Platform Tutorial

• How to call EJB from NetBeans module

Using Sounds

• How to make my application talk?

• How to use sounds in my application?

Versioning

• How to add versioning actions like GIT, Mercurial, SVN, CVS to my own nodes?

When There Are Multiple Ways To Do Something…​

• Installing things declaratively vs. installing things programmatically

• Should I register an object in my layer file using .instance or .settings files? What about .shadow files?

• Which way should I register an object in the default Lookup?

• I need to register some object to be found at runtime, or run some code on startup. Which way should I use?

When things go wrong: Troubleshooting

• I’ve got a class not found error/exception. How can I fix it?

• I find files missing from the source ZIP file

Window System

• How to create a custom window mode?

• How can I customize the window system via the latest 7.1 techniques/enhancements?

• I want to create a TopComponent class to use as an editor, not a singleton

• How can I change the executable’s icon?

• How do I set the initial size of the main window?

• How to change main title contents?

• How to mix lightweight (Swing) and heavyweight (AWT) components?

• I have a non-singleton TopComponent. Can I write actions which show all available instances in the main menu?

• How can I change my TopComponent to not be a singleton?

• How to override the default size of an existing window?

• How can I replace the Window System?

• Windows and dialogs

• I want to show my own component(s) in the main window - where do I start?

• What is the window system

• [[DevFaqWindowsInternals|How does the window system really work?]]

• How do I use Matisse/GroupLayout (new form editor/layout manager in 5.0) in my windowing system components

• How to maximize a TopComponent?

• What are Modes?

• I want to disable the popup menu on the toolbars in the main window. How do I do that?

• My TopComponent always opens in the editor area, but I want it to open in the same place as XYZ

• Which TopComponents are open?

• What are TopComponents?

• Why does TopComponent have a getLookup() method? What is it for?

• How do I use .wstcrf/.wsmode/.settings files to install my module’s components in the window system?

• How does the XML API for installing window system components work?

Wizards and Templates

• How do I make a file template which actually creates a set of files at once?

• How to open files in editor after project creation?

• I am creating a non-IDE application. How do I enable/control templates?

• How to customize the button text of default buttons of a wizard (Finish, Cancel, etc.)?

• How do I show that a user has filled an invalid input into my wizard?

XML Multiview API

• How to change selected tab of Multiview?

NOTE: This document was automatically converted to the AsciiDoc format on 2018-01-26, and needs to be reviewed.