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Difference between revisions of "E4/DeclarativeUI/XWT"

(1. Hello, world)
(Replacing page with 'This page is moved to [http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/XWT http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/XWT]')
 
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== Name of Technology ==
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This page is moved to [http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/XWT http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/XWT]
XWT Here is a presentation of our vision [[Image:XWT.pdf]]
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== Purpose ==
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Adopt a direct mapping XML to SWT/JFace with the support of JFace DataBinding
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== Contact ==
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[mailto:yves.yang@soyatec.com Yves YANG]
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== Committers ==
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Yves YANG, Thomas Guiu and others
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== Current License ==
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XWT is an Open Source under EPL Licnese.
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== Description ==
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XWT is a markup language for declarative application programming. It is a specific solution of using XML grammar for SWT/JFace directly.
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XWT simplifies UI programming. You can create visible UI elements in the declarative XML markup with a physical separation of the UI definition from the run-time logic. An XML based declarative language is very intuitive for creating interfaces ranging from prototype to production, especially for people with a background in web design and technologies. Unlike most other markup languages, XWT directly represents the instantiation of managed objects.
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The benefices of XWT for e4 are following:
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# More '''human-readable''' and '''light-weight markup''' without ambiguity between properties and child type
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# '''High Extensible'''
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# Well defined and complete specification
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# Mature and Generic Declarative UI solution
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=== Examples of XWT ===
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==== 1. Hello, world ====
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Here is a simple example.
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<source lang="xml">
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<Shell xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt">
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    <Shell.layout>
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      <FillLayout/>
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    </Shell.layout>
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    <Button text="Hello, world!">
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    </Button>
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</Shell>
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</source>
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The same UI can be developed in Java corresponding:
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<source lang="java">
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Shell parent = new Shell();
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parent.setLayout(new FillLayout());
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Button button = new Button(parent, SWT.NONE);
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button.setText("Hello, world!");
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</source>
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[[Image:XAMl4SWT_HelloWorld.png]]
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To load and start a simple application, we use the class XWT:
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<source lang="java">
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Shell shell = (Shell) XWT.load(file));
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shell.pack();
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shell.open();
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while (!shell.isDisposed()) {
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  if (!shell.getDisplay().readAndDispatch()) {
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shell.getDisplay().sleep();
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  }
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}
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</source>
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Or simply
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<source lang="java">
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XWT.open(file));
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</source>
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It is possible to load a UI resource under a Composite:
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<source lang="java">
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XWT.load(parent, uri);
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</source>
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To use XWT, your Java project must import at least the following plugins
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<source lang="java">
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org.eclipse.e4.xwt
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org.eclipse.jface.databinding
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org.eclipse.core.databinding
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com.ibm.icu
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</source>
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==== 2. Appearance and Event ====
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In the previous example, we just rewrite Java code in XML. This example illustrates the separation between UI and event handling.
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The appearance is defined in XWT. 
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<source lang="xml">
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<Shell xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt"
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    x:Class="ui.EventHandler">
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    <Shell.layout>
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      <GridLayout/>
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    </Shell.layout>
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    <Button text="Click Me!" SelectionEvent="clickButton">
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    </Button>
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</Shell>
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</source>
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The extension attribute '''x:Class''' declares the Java class to handle all events. The Button event is handled by clickButton method in the class ui.EventHandler. The association is setup during the loading:
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<source lang="java">
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package ui;
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import org.eclipse.swt.Event;
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import org.eclipse.swt.Button;
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public class EventHandler {
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    protected void clickButton(Event event) {
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        Button button = (Button )event.widget;
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        button.setText("Hello, world!");
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    }
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}
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</source>
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When the button gets selected, the method clickButton is invoked to change the Button text to "Hello, world!".
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==== 3. Layout ====
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<source lang="xml">
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<Composite xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt">
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  <Composite.layout>
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      <GridLayout numColumns="2"/>
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  </Composite.layout>
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  <Label text="Hello, world"/>
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  <Text x:style="BORDER">
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      <Text.layoutData>
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        <GridData horizontalAlignment="FILL"
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            grabExcessHorizontalSpace="true"/>
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      </Text.layoutData>
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  </Text> 
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</Composite>
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</source>
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[[Image:XAMl4SWT_HelloWorld2.png]]
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# The simple element name (<Composite>) corresponds to a class name.
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# The qualified element name (i.g. <Composite.layout>) corresponds to a property defined by an element.
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# The default namespace corresponds to system packages. 
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# User defined package can be declared as a namespace in the format: ”clr-namespace:<package>=<jar>”
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This is functionally equivalent to:
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<source lang="java">
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Composite parent = new Composite(shell, SWT.NONE);
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parent.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, false);
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Label label = new Label(parent, SWT.NULL);
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label.setText("Hello, world");
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Text text = new Text(parent, SWT.BORDER);
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text.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL_HORIZONTAL | GridData.GRAB_HORIZONTAL));
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</source>
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==== 4. Extensibility and Re-usability ====
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In case, if you have your own layout named as ui.MyGridLayout, it can be used directly. The code will be:
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<source lang="xml">
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<Composite xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt"
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    xmlns:y="cls-namespace:ui">
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    <Composite.layout>
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        <y:MyGridLayout numColumns="2"/>
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    </Composite.layout>
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    <Label text="Hello, world"/>
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    <Text x:style="BORDER">
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        <Text.layoutData>
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          <GridData horizontalAlignment="FILL"
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              grabExcessHorizontalSpace="true"/>
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        </Text.layoutData>
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    </Text>
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</Composite>
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</source>
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In the same way, a customized UI component can be used directly:
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<source lang="xml">
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<Composite xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt"
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    xmlns:y="cls-namespace:ui">
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    <Composite.layout>
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        <GridLayout numColumns="2"/>
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    </Composite.layout>
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    <y:PersonView />
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        <y:PersonView.layoutData>
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          <GridData horizontalAlignment="FILL"
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              grabExcessHorizontalSpace="true"/>
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        </y:PersonView.layoutData>
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    </y:PersonView>
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</Composite>
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</source>
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Where the ui.PersonView is a UI component developed by two files:
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XWT file PersonView.xwt
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<source lang="xml">
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<Composite xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt"
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    x:Class="ui.PersonView"
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    xmlns:y="cls-namespace:ui">
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    <Composite.layout>
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        <GridLayout numColumns="2"/>
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    </Composite.layout>
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    <Label text="Name"/>
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    <Text x:style="BORDER">
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        <Text.layoutData>
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          <GridData horizontalAlignment="FILL"
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              grabExcessHorizontalSpace="true"/>
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        </Text.layoutData>
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    </Text>
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</Composite>
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</source>
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Java class PersonView.java
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<source lang="java">
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package ui;
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import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
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public class PersonView extends Composite {
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  ...
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}
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</source>
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==== 5. Data Binding ====
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The DataBinding engine relies on Eclipse DataBinding component.
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If we bind the text attribute of Label to a property “Name” of a Person, here is the data binding expression:
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<source lang="xml">
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<Label text="{binding path=Name}"/>
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</source>
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It has the same result as following, but the expression is in pure XML:
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<source lang="xml">
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<Label>
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  <Label.text>
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      <Binding path=”Name”/>
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  </Label.text>
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<Label>
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</source>
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The data context of Label should be a person.
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==== 6. JFace integration ====
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The following example shows the JFace direct integration with ListViewer.
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We have a Class Company that has a name and a collection of Employee. The company is bound to the root Composite object. The child Text is bound to Name of company and ListViewer to property employees of type Java Collection.
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<source lang="xml">
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<Composite xmlns="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt/presentation"
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    xmlns:x="http://www.eclipse.org/xwt"
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    xmlns:j="clr-namespace:jface.listviewer"
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    x:DataContext="{StaticResource myCompany}">
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  <Composite.layout>
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      <GridLayout numColumns="2"/>
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  </Composite.layout>
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  <x:Composite.Resources>
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      <j:Company x:Key="myCompany" Name="Soyatec">
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        <j:Company.employees>
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            <j:Employee Name="Thomas"/>
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            <j:Employee Name="Jin"/>
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        </j:Company.employees>
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      </j:Company>
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  </x:Composite.Resources>
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  <Label text="Name"/>
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  <Text text="{Binding Path=Name}"/>
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  <ListViewer input="{Binding Path=employees}">
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      <ListViewer.contentProvider>
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        <j:ContentProvider/>
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      </ListViewer.contentProvider>
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      <ListViewer.labelProvider>
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        <j:LabelProvider/>
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      </ListViewer.labelProvider>
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      <ListViewer.control.layoutData>
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        <GridData horizontalAlignment="FILL"
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            grabExcessHorizontalSpace="true"
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            horizontalSpan="2"/>
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      </ListViewer.control.layoutData>
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  </ListViewer>
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</Composite>
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</source>
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Latest revision as of 16:40, 23 July 2009

This page is moved to http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/XWT

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