com.lightdev.app
Class Application

java.lang.Object

  com.lightdev.app.Application

Direct Known Subclasses:

MenuApplication

public abstract class Application
extends Object

Base class for applications

An application typically has some basic functionality such as logging and online help. This abstract base class implements such basic functionality so that application objects can extend from it.

In particular, it implements

• a Logger for log messages and global error handling along with some common logging methods

• a help broker for a JavaHelp help set

• a ResourceMenu for dynamic component creation from a description resource and for caching of action objects

• a ResourceBundle for internationalized UI components

See the various methods for comments about how the implementation works by default

To create a new application based on the Light Development Application package

1. create a new java source code file "TestApp.java" with the following content, place it into a new directory in the file system and compile it:

    package com.lightdev.app.test;
   
    import com.lightdev.app.DefaultApplication;
    import javax.swing.UIManager;
   
    public class TestApp extends DefaultApplication {
      public TestApp() {
        super();
      }
      public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
          UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
        }
        catch(Exception e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
        }
        new TestApp();
      }
    }
    

2. make a copy of file "DefaultApplication.properties" from the Light Development application package, rename it to "TestApp.properties" and place it into the folder where the file "TestApp.class" resides in.

That's it, you are ready to build your new application from the newly created directory and files.

Please note: You need Application.jar and jhall.jar (the JavaHelp extension) in the classpath of your new application so that all classes are present.

Licensing this material as open source does not necessarily mean to give it away for nothing. I always like to hear about your comments and even without comments a short e-mail about you using this software makes my day and lets me continue to work on open source projects (I certainly promise to respect your privacy).

Thank you!

Version:

2, February 12, 2004

Author:

Ulrich Hilger, Light Development, http://www.lightdev.com, info@lightdev.com, published under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License, for details see file in the distribution package of this software as well as any licensing notes inside this documentation

Field Summary

static String	actionSuffix name constant for action commands in the resource file
static String	APP_HELP_NAME
static String	imageSuffix name constant for indicating image resources in the resource file
static String	JAVA_HELP_EXT
static String	labelSuffix name constant for labels in the resource file
protected static Logger	logger logger for this Application
static String	RB_KEY_ABOUT_APP_DIALOG_TITLE resource bundle key to identify the string to use for the title of this application's about dialog
static String	RB_KEY_LOG_APP_CAN_NOT_EXIT resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application can not end
static String	RB_KEY_LOG_APP_STARTED resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application has started
static String	RB_KEY_LOG_APP_TERMINATED resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application has ended
static String	RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND string to display when a resource could not be loaded
protected ResourceBundle	resources resource bundle
static String	selectedIconSuffix name constant for selected icon names in the resource file
static String	toolTipSuffix name constant for tool tip strings in the resource file
static String	URL_SEPARATOR

Constructor Summary

Application()
constructor with default parameters

Application(Level level, String logDir)
constructor Looks for a resource bundle which is named similar to the class name inside the package of this class

Application(OutputStream logStream, Level level, String logDir)
constructor Looks for a resource bundle which is named similar to the class name inside the package of this class

Method Summary

void	about() Called by default by class AboutAppAction.
void	addAction(Class uiClass, String cmd, Action action) add an action to this DynamicResource
protected boolean	canExit() called by default by method exitApplication.
void	exitApplication() Called by default by class ExitAction.
Action	getAction(String cmd) get an action from the commands table
protected String	getAppName() get the name of this application
ResourceBundle	getBundle() get the ResourceBundle of this application
static HelpBroker	getHelpBroker() get the HelpBroker of this application
Icon	getIconForCommand(ResourceBundle resources, Class uiClass, String cmd) get an icon from the application's resource bundle For some reason I am not able to get a resource when the class from which getResource is called is in a different package, which is why this method requires any class that resides in the package having ui resoruces
Icon	getIconForName(Class uiClass, String name) get an icon from the application's resource bundle For some reason I am not able to get a resource when the class from which getResource is called is in a different package, which is why this method requires any class that resides in the package having ui resoruces
URL	getResource(Class c, String key) get the location of a resource.
String	getResourceString(String nm) get a string from the resources file
protected void	initActions() initialize the command table of the resource menu with this application's actions (here to override by subclasses)
static void	log(String msg, Class source, Level level) log an information message
static void	logStackTrace(Exception ex, Class source) log an exception by writing the stack trace to the log as a warning
protected void	setLogging(OutputStream stream, Level level, String dir) set logging
protected void	setLogLevel(Level level) set the log level

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

resources

protected ResourceBundle resources

resource bundle

logger

protected static Logger logger

logger for this Application

RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND

public static final String RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND

string to display when a resource could not be loaded

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RB_KEY_LOG_APP_STARTED

public static final String RB_KEY_LOG_APP_STARTED

resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application has started

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RB_KEY_LOG_APP_TERMINATED

public static final String RB_KEY_LOG_APP_TERMINATED

resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application has ended

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RB_KEY_LOG_APP_CAN_NOT_EXIT

public static final String RB_KEY_LOG_APP_CAN_NOT_EXIT

resource bundle key to identify the string to use to log that the application can not end

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RB_KEY_ABOUT_APP_DIALOG_TITLE

public static final String RB_KEY_ABOUT_APP_DIALOG_TITLE

resource bundle key to identify the string to use for the title of this application's about dialog

See Also:

Constant Field Values

labelSuffix

public static final String labelSuffix

name constant for labels in the resource file

See Also:

Constant Field Values

actionSuffix

public static final String actionSuffix

name constant for action commands in the resource file

See Also:

Constant Field Values

imageSuffix

public static final String imageSuffix

name constant for indicating image resources in the resource file

See Also:

Constant Field Values

toolTipSuffix

public static final String toolTipSuffix

name constant for tool tip strings in the resource file

See Also:

Constant Field Values

selectedIconSuffix

public static final String selectedIconSuffix

name constant for selected icon names in the resource file

See Also:

Constant Field Values

APP_HELP_NAME

public static final String APP_HELP_NAME

See Also:

Constant Field Values

JAVA_HELP_EXT

public static final String JAVA_HELP_EXT

See Also:

Constant Field Values

URL_SEPARATOR

public static final String URL_SEPARATOR

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

Application

public Application(OutputStream logStream,

                   Level level,

                   String logDir)

constructor

Looks for a resource bundle which is named similar to the class name inside the package of this class

Parameters:

logStream - OutputStream the stream to log to

level - Level log level to recognize in logs

logDir - String a directory to log to (e.g. ".appName" + File.separator + "logs")

Application

public Application(Level level,

                   String logDir)

constructor

Looks for a resource bundle which is named similar to the class name inside the package of this class

Parameters:

level - Level log level to recognize in logs

logDir - String a directory to log to (e.g. ".appName" + File.separator + "logs")

Application

public Application()

constructor with default parameters

Method Detail

getAppName

protected String getAppName()

get the name of this application

Returns:

the name of this application

setLogging

protected void setLogging(OutputStream stream,

                          Level level,

                          String dir)

set logging

Parameters:

stream - OutputStream a stream to log to

level - Level the log level to use

dir - String the directory to log to

setLogLevel

protected void setLogLevel(Level level)

set the log level

Parameters:

level - Level the level to log

log

public static void log(String msg,

                       Class source,

                       Level level)

log an information message

Parameters:

msg - the message string

source - Class the class that logged this message

level - Level the log level the message has

logStackTrace

public static void logStackTrace(Exception ex,

                                 Class source)

log an exception by writing the stack trace to the log as a warning

Parameters:

ex - the exception to log the stack trace for

source - Class the class the error came from

initActions

protected void initActions()

initialize the command table of the resource menu with this application's actions (here to override by subclasses)

canExit

protected boolean canExit()

called by default by method exitApplication. Override this method to customize exit hnadling, i.e. if a certain condition causes the application to temporarily being unable to terminte, this method should return false

Returns:

boolean ture, if the application can terminate at the time this method is called

about

public void about()

Called by default by class AboutAppAction. Override this method to implement custom about handling.

getHelpBroker

public static HelpBroker getHelpBroker()

get the HelpBroker of this application

Returns:

the HelpBroker

exitApplication

public void exitApplication()

Called by default by class ExitAction. Override this method to implement custom exit handling.

getBundle

public ResourceBundle getBundle()

get the ResourceBundle of this application

Returns:

the ResourceBundle

getAction

public Action getAction(String cmd)

get an action from the commands table

Parameters:

cmd - the name of the action the get

Returns:

the action found for the given name

getResourceString

public String getResourceString(String nm)

get a string from the resources file

Parameters:

resources - the ResourceBundle to get the string from

nm - the key of the string

Returns:

the string for the given key or null if not found

addAction

public void addAction(Class uiClass,

                      String cmd,

                      Action action)

add an action to this DynamicResource

Parameters:

uiClass - a class residing in the package having access to ui resources

resources - the ResourceBundle to get resources such as icons and strings from

cmd - the internal identifier for the action

action - the action to associate with cmd

getIconForCommand

public Icon getIconForCommand(ResourceBundle resources,

                              Class uiClass,

                              String cmd)

get an icon from the application's resource bundle

For some reason I am not able to get a resource when the class from which getResource is called is in a different package, which is why this method requires any class that resides in the package having ui resoruces

Parameters:

uiClass - Class a class that resides in the package having ui resources

cmd - String the action command

Returns:

Icon the icon or null

getIconForName

public Icon getIconForName(Class uiClass,

                           String name)

get an icon from the application's resource bundle

For some reason I am not able to get a resource when the class from which getResource is called is in a different package, which is why this method requires any class that resides in the package having ui resoruces

Parameters:

uiClass - Class a class that resides in the package having ui resources

cmd - String the action command

Returns:

Icon the icon or null

getResource

public URL getResource(Class c,

                       String key)

get the location of a resource.

Parameters:

c - Class any ui class for finding the package

key - the key of the resource in the resource file

Returns:

the resource location as a URL