tobiasask / sb4e

An open source Eclipse plug-in integrating the Scene Builder JavaFX view editor into the IDE.

sb4e

sb4e is an open source integration of Scene Builder, a tool for editing JavaFX user interfaces defined in FXML, into the Eclipse IDE. It extends Eclipse with functionality to edit FXML files directly from the IDE, using a drag & drop user interface.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Java JDK 8
• Eclipse
• e(fx)clipse extension for Eclipse

Installing

Extensions can be installed into Eclipse using the "Install New Software" wizard, accessible from the Help menu as shown below:

sb4e is hosted here on GitLab. Version 0.9.1 is available here. The latest snapshot build is always available here. Enter the URL in the "Work with" field of the wizard and press enter. sb4e should appear, perhaps after some time, as the only item. Check it, and follow the wizard until completion. A restart of Eclipse is needed when the installation is complete.

Usage

Once sb4e is added to an Eclipse installation, two new components are available to you; an editor that opens FXML files in a drag & drop UI, and a view for editing the properties of the elements in the document. The editor, called "Scene Builder FXML Editor", is automatically added to Eclipse's list of editors registered as able to open files with .fxml extensions.

The view, called "Inspector View", can be opened from the "Show View" wizard. It is found in the "Scene Builder" category.

Development setup

Prerequisites

• Java JDK 8
• Eclipse installation with the following extensions:
  • e(fx)clipse
  • Eclipse PDE Plug-in Developer Resources
  • SWTBot for Eclipse Testing
  • Tycho Project Configurators (NOTE: these should not be installed using the "Install New Software" wizard. Instead, they should be discovered by Eclipse, as described below)
• Git

Clone the Git project with

git clone https://gitlab.stud.iie.ntnu.no/tobiaas/scene-builder-plugin.git

and import it into Eclipse, preferably in an empty workspace. Eclipse will now try to build the projects, but will report some errors of the type "Maven Project Build Lifecycle Mapping Problem". To resolve these, open one of the affected POMs, navigate to the XML file, and hover the mouse over the error. Eclipse will suggest "Discover new m2e connectors" as a quick fix. Clicking this alternative, and following the wizard to completion, will install the correct Tycho project configurators. With these installed, all projects should build without issues.

Running

Although it is possible to develop and run the plug-in in the same Eclipse, running it in a separate instance is much more convenient. Eclipse supports run configurations which launch Eclipse applications. sb4e ships with such a run configuration that is pre-configured. It is called "Scene.launch" and is located at the root of the sb4e project. To launch an Eclipse instance with sb4e freshly built and installed, right click the launch configuration -> "Run As" -> "1 Scene". Some example documents can be found in sb4e.examples, a project that can be imported into the runtime instance.

Licenses

sb4e is licensed under the Eclipse Public License 2.0. Scene Builder is licensed under the BSD license.

Acknowledgements

Scene Builder is an awesome, open-source tool that greatly simplifies the design process of JavaFX GUIs. The source code is available at Bitbucket, and is well worth having a look at, as it showcases the true strengths of applied object oriented principles.

Hallvard Trætteberg is a brilliant Associate Professor at NTNU, a university in Norway. The integration was his idea, and he has been guiding the project from the beginning. His areas of expertise include, among many things, Eclipse plug-in development, which is vital to the development of this project.