MyDoggy

ToolWindowManager

This interface is the main entry point to manage MyDoggy. Using this interface the user can register/unregister toolwindows, groups and so on. Furthermore, the user can obtain the content manager and type descriptor templates.

ToolWindowManagerDescriptor This interface is used to modify the behaviours of the ToolWindowManager.
You can now change the push-away mode of toolwindows and set corner components. See Using page for how to.

What is a ToolWindow?

A Tool Window is a secondary window used to organize the user interface.

To register a tool window use the following:

ToolWindowManager toolWindowManager = new...;
ToolWindow toolwindow = toolWindowManager.registerToolWindow(
    "Debug",        // Tool Window identifier
    "Debugging",    // Tool Window Title
    icon,           // Tool Window Icon
    component,      // Tool Window Component
    ToolWindowAnchor.LEFT // Tool Window Anchor
)

When you register a toolwindow you obtain an instance of the ToolWindow interface. This interface is the main entry point to modify toolwindow's properties. Moreover there are methods to make the tool available, visible and active.

What is a ToolWindowTab?

Every toolwindow can be considered as a special JTabbedPane and so it can contain more than one component. Every tab is described by a title, an icon and a component. A tab can be selected or not.
The above image shows two tabs for the same toolwindow. The first one is declared when the tool is registered, for the second one use the following:

ToolWindowTab profilingTab = toolwindow.addToolWindowTab(
                "Profiling", // Tab Title
                profilingCmp, // Tab Component
                )

Also, the user can add a toolwindow to another tool as a tab. Use the following

ToolWindowTab profilingTab = toolwindow.addToolWindowTab(profilingToolWindow)

What is a ToolWindowType?

A toolwindow can be shown in several ways depending on the toolwindow type set. Furthermore, using the ToolWindowTypeDescriptor interfaces it is possible to modify the behaviours of a specific toolwindow type. Let's describe the types provided by mydoggy.

Docked

ToolWindowType.DOCKED

When DOCKED type is used, the toolwindow shares frame space and fixes to a docking area along one of the tool window bars (the one containing the corresponding representative button).
To set ToolWindowType.DOCKED type use the following:

toolWindow.setType(ToolWindowType.DOCKED);

To get a DockedTypeDescriptor instance use the following:

DockedTypeDescriptor descriptor =
    toolWindow.getTypeDescriptor(DockedTypeDescriptor.class);

Sliding

ToolWindowType.SLIDING

When SLIDING type is used, the tool window overlaps the main frame and/or other tool windows. When it loses focus, the tool window hides itself.
To set ToolWindowType.SLIDING type use the following:

toolWindow.setType(ToolWindowType.SLIDING);

To get a SlidingTypeDescriptor instance use the following:

SlidingTypeDescriptor descriptor =
    toolWindow.getTypeDescriptor(SlidingTypeDescriptor.class);

Floating

ToolWindowType.FLOATING

This type enables a tool window to be detached from the main window frame. When Floating type is used, the tool window detaches to the position where it was last floated (or screen center or location used in toolwindow's FloatingTypeDescriptor , if never before floated)
To set ToolWindowType.FLOATING type use the following:

toolWindow.setType(ToolWindowType.FLOATING);

To get a FloatingTypeDescriptor instance use the following:

FloatingTypeDescriptor typeDescriptor = (FloatingTypeDescriptor)
    toolWindow.getTypeDescriptor(ToolWindowType.FLOATING);

Floating Free

ToolWindowType.FLOATING_FREE - This type differs from FLOATING type for the absence of the representative button on the tool window bar.
To set ToolWindowType.FLOATING_FREE type use the following:

toolWindow.setType(ToolWindowType.FLOATING_FREE);

Flaoting Live

ToolWindowType.FLOATING_LIVE - This type enables a tool to be floating in the frame rather than having floating windows "out of the frame".
To set ToolWindowType.FLOATING_LIVE type use the following:

toolWindow.setType(ToolWindowType.FLOATING_LIVE);

FloatingLiveTypeDescriptor - This interface is used to modify the behaviours of FLOATING_LIVE type.
To get a FloatingLiveTypeDescriptor instance use the following:

FloatingLiveTypeDescriptor typeDescriptor = (FloatingLiveTypeDescriptor)
toolWindow.getTypeDescriptor(ToolWindowType.FLOATING_LIVE);

What is a ToolWindowGroup

The idea is to provide the same mechanism of the prospectives from eclipse ide for toolwindows. The typical usage is to retrieve a group from the tool window manager and to add any toolwindows one wants. After that we can show or hide all tools registered in that group.

To obtain an instance of ToolWindowGroup interface use the following:

ToolWindowManager toolWindowManager = new ...;
ToolWindowGroup group = toolWindowManager
             .getToolWindowGroup(
                 "main"  // ToolWindowGroup name
              );

If the manager contains no mapping for name passed to the getToolWindowGroup method then the manager create a new instance of ToolWindowGroup and associate the group created with the specified name in the manager.
After that, you can populate the group.

mainGroup.addToolWindow(
             toolWindowManager.getToolWindow(0)
          );

To show or hide a group use the following:

mainGroup.setVisible(
             true   // true to show, false to hide
          );

What is a ToolWindowAction?

PersistenceDelegate

This interface provides useful methods to save and load the tool window manager's workspace. When you request to save the workspace, all settings of ToolWindows with relative descriptors are saved. To obtain an instance of PersistenceDelegate you have to invoke the method getPersistenceDelegate of ToolWindowManager interface. So you can obtain a persistence delegate specific to a particular tool window manager.

When you request to save the workspace, all settings of toolwindows, and not only, with relative descriptors are saved. See the specific DTD, relative to the version of mydoggy that you are using, to know all information saved.
To obtain the instance of the PersistenceDelegate for a specific ToolWindowManager use the following:

PersistenceDelegate pstDelegate = twManager.getPersistenceDelegate();

MyDoggy arrives with a default implementation provided by
org.noos.xing.mydoggy.plaf.persistence.xml.XMLPersistenceDelegate
This implementation use the xml format to store all necessary data.

Demos

Documentation

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