About PrismTech Generic Browser Framework
The PrismTech Generic Browser Framework is a framework for object
browsers. Object browsers that are managed within the generic
framework will be able to use its functionality and share a common
look and feel.
Within the framework, an object browser is any graphical user-interface
that displays information about a particular object type. As an example,
an object browser could display a tree view of the file system or the
contents of a particular file.
The framework supports a number of convenient features that make
object browsing easy. New object browsers can be launched on the fly
either explicitly by clicking the "new" button or by clicking the
right mouse button on an object within a browser. The latter will
automatically provide a list of all the browsers available for that
object type.
The framework graphical user-interface is divided into four areas:
- A menu bar. The menu bar normally contains six pull down menus
but as individual object browsers can add their own menus, there
may be more.
- A tool bar. There is a main tool bar for functionality used by
all browsers. Other object browsers may have their own tool bars.
- A browser area. This is where the object browsers are located.
Note that the framework supports both tiled, multiple document
interface and custom layouts of the object browsers.
- A status area. This area consists of a busy indicator, a text
area for messages and at the right hand side, an icon to activate
or deactivate the manager window.
Using the framework should be fairly straighforward. Here is a brief
description of the menus and tool bar buttons in the main window:
- The File menu has the usual close and exit items. Depending
on the configuration of the browser application, the exit item may
not be present.
- The Edit menu has a copy and a preferences items. The
Generic Browser Framework is not able to paste an object in a
generic manner, but individual browser may add a paste menu item.
The preferences item displays a menu that allows configuration of
the look and feel. Individual browsers may add to the preferences
dialog.
- The Browser menu allows you to create a new object browser,
load a browser from a file and save or print the currently selected
browser. The items in this menu are repeated on the tool bar.
- The View menu allows to hide or show various aspects of the
framework. There is also a refresh items that will refresh the
contents of the currently selected browser. The refresh item is
repeated on the tool bar.
- The Window menu allows you to set the window layout. This
affects the layout of the object browsers in the browser area
only. This menu also lets you configure if the next browser to
be launched will be in a new scope and/or in a new window.
- Finally, the Help menu contains help items. If individual
browsers have a help menu, the menu will only be present when the
browser is selected.
The tool bar further contains a delete button for removing the currently
active browser from the framework and a stop button. The stop button may
be used by some object browsers to terminate long-lasting operations.
As mentioned above, you can activate a manager window. The browser manager
keeps track of all the object browser. Regardless of how many browser
windows you have activated, there is just one manager. The browser manager
window has three areas:
- A menu bar. The menu bar contains just two pull down menus. The
File menu has the usual close and exit items. Also, there is
an item to add a browser mapping and one to export an application.
- An icon panel. This panel has one icon per active browser window.
Depending on the number of object browsers within the browser
window, the icon changes. By clicking the right mouse button on
this icon, you can manipulate the window in various ways.
- A scope tree. The scope tree shows what scope each of the object
browsers are in. You can create and delete scopes and move browsers
between scopes and set the scope color.
In order to add a browser mapping to the Generic Browser Framework, you
must specify a browser mapping. As an example, a file browser could have
a mapping between the java.io.File
object class and the
com.prismt.browser.examples.FileBrowser
browser class. The
alias for a browser is the name that will appear in popup menus and the
new browser dialog. The mapping information is saved in a mailcap file.
Exporting an application will write the framework including all the
contained browsers into a bean. This allows you to customize various
aspects of a browser application and save it as a bean for later use.
The Generic Browser Framework comes with a bean loader that allows you
to activate exported browser applications.
The scope tree is used to group browsers. Only browsers within the same
scope will be aware of each other. Please note that not all browsers use
the features related to scopes. For an example of browser communication,
consider a file browser. If you have two file browsers, you might want
want one browser to continuously display the directory selected in the
other browser. You can temporarily disable a browser in a scope in order
to prevent it from receiving events from other browsers.
Please contact PrismTech Limited for more information.