Jigloo Form/Source editor

This part of Jigloo comprises the form editor (where you see the GUI being built), and the source editor for the java class.

In the screenshot below, the Form/Source editor occupies the top part of the Eclipse window (the editor has been maximized by double-clicking on the editor's tab. You can still use Jigloo in the non-maximized format, but maximizing hides all the views which are not essential for editing a GUI class.
The form editor is on the left, and the source editor on the right. The horizontal split of the Form and Source editors is controlled by a setting in the Jigloo Preferences Page.

To ease navigation between the GUI form and the Java source, Jigloo does the following:



Adding components to the form

Components can be added to the form by clicking on an icon in one of the tabs of the component palette at the top of the form editor, and then clicking on the form at the desired location. They can also be added by right-clicking on a container component in the form editor or in the Outline View and choosing one of the menu options. (The menu options can be hidden by a setting in the Preferences Page).

Setting Layouts for Containers

Layouts can be set in the same way as components are added, by selecting a layout from the "Layouts" tab in the palette above the form editor, and clicking on the container in the form editor. By default, SWT containers (Composites, Groups etc) are given a GridLayout. Swing containers usually have a default layout already set, for example JPanels have a FlowLayout by default. It is easy to experiment with different layouts in Jigloo, but at least a brief look at the javadoc for layouts is recommended.

Undoing/redoing changes

There are two ways to undo/redo changes - one is in the Form editor and the other is in the Source editor. The keystrokes are the same in either case (eg, Ctrl-Z, Ctrl-Y), but in the unlikely event that something goes wrong in the form editor then undoing a change in the source editor is the safest way to restore the code.

Copy/Cut/Paste/Delete

The form editor supports cut/copy/paste/delete of elements through the usual keystrokes or menu options.


Moving components around

Components can be rearranged inside a container by dragging them using the mouse. Components can be dragged by clicking on the center of the component, or dragging one of the blue regions of the border around a selected component or components.

Resizing components

Except in the Swing GridBag, and SWT Grid layouts, components can be resized by dragging one of the black regions in the border of a selected component. If multiple components are selected then they will all be given the same size, which can be a useful time-saver.

Parsing Code

To read about how Jigloo parses the java code, and how to control it, read this section.