Defining Project Variables

Figure 1 Constant or Variable Icon

Project variables function as placeholders, having values that are determined when you create a specific Deployment Profile. Project variables can be literals or Environmental constants, as described in Defining Environmental Constants.

As an example, the following figure shows a Project variable defined to represent a password of a database user in a target Environment. A system manager assigns an actual value to this variable in the Deployment Profile editor. The value of the assigned Project variable (an Environmental constant) is then used to connect to the database in the target Environment.

You can add a variable to a Project by selecting the New > Variable or Constant option from the Project context menu in the NetBeans IDE, which displays the following dialog box.

Figure 2 Creating a Project Variable

Table 1 Project Variable Options

Property	Description/Usage
Name	Your name for the Project variable.
Category	You may assign a category name, if desired.
Description	Your description for the variable.
Is a Constant	Does not apply to variables; leave unchecked.
Value Type	Does not apply to variables.
Value	Does not apply to variables.

Constants and variables are automatically added to a Variables and Constants object group within the Project, as shown in the following figure. Selecting an entry in the upper panel displays it in the lower panel, where you can modify it. By clicking OK you overwrite the previous definition with the modified version.

Figure 3 Variables and Constants Object Group

Table 2 Variables and Constants Object Group Icons

Icon	Name	Function
	Add a New Constant or Variable	Adds a new variable to the list.
	Delete a Highlighted Constant or Variable	Deletes the selected variable from the list.