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JavaFX Scene Builder: Getting Started with JavaFX Scene Builder

1 Overview

This chapter gives an overview of the JavaFX Scene Builder 2.0 development tool, including information about key features, target audience, and download information.

JavaFX Scene Builder provides a visual layout environment that lets you quickly design user interfaces (UI) for JavaFX applications without needing to write any code. It allows simple drag-and-drop positioning of graphical user interface (GUI) components onto a JavaFX scene. As you build the layout of your UI, the FXML code for the layout is automatically generated. JavaFX Scene Builder provides a simple yet intuitive interface that can help even nonprogrammers to quickly prototype interactive applications that connect GUI components to the application logic.

Intended Audience

The target audience for JavaFX Scene Builder includes the following:

  • Java developers: They can quickly prototype the client application's GUI layout and develop the application logic separately.

  • Designers: They can quickly prototype the client application's GUI layout without requiring any application code to be written first. They can design and preview the GUI layout and define its look and feel with style sheets.

Key Features

JavaFX Scene Builder includes the following key features:

  • A drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface allows you to quickly create a GUI layout without the need to write source code. You can add, combine, and edit JavaFX GUI controls to your layout by using the library of GUI controls and the content panel.

  • Tight integration with the NetBeans IDE provides optimal development workflow.

  • Integration with any Java IDE is easy since it is a standalone development tool. See Using JavaFX Scene Builder with Java IDEs for information on how to use Scene Builder with NetBeans IDE, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA.

  • Automatic FXML code generation occurs as you build and modify your GUI layout. The generated FXML code is stored in a separate file from the application logic source and style sheet files.

  • Live editing and preview features let you quickly visualize the GUI layout changes that you make without the need to compile. These features help minimize development time for your application. You can also assign Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to your GUI layout and preview the resulting look and feel that is applied.

  • Access to the complete JavaFX GUI controls library is provided. To see the full list of supported JavaFX 8 GUI components, type FX8 in the Library panel's Search text field. The list includes the TreeTableView, DatePicker, and SwingNode components.

  • Ability to add custom GUI components to the Library is now available. The Library of available GUI components can be extended by importing customized GUI components from third party JAR files, FXML files, or adding them from the Hierarchy or Content panels. See Scene Builder User Guide for more information.

  • 3D support is provided. FXML documents containing 3D objects can now be loaded and saved in the Scene Builder 2.0 tool. You can view and edit properties of the 3D objects using the Inspector panel (Material and Mesh complex properties are not yet supported). You can not, however, create new 3D objects using the Scene Builder tool.

  • Support for Rich Text has been added. A new container, TextFlow, is now available in the Library of GUI components. You can drag multiple text nodes and other types of nodes, into the a TextFlow container. You can also directly manipulate the text nodes to re-arrange them in the container. Inline and property editing features are also available for each text node.

  • JavaFX Scene Builder Kit is provided with Scene Builder 2.0. The kit is an API that allows the integration of Scene Builder panels and functionalities directly into the GUI of a larger application, or a Java IDE, such as NetBeans, IntelliJ, and Eclipse. See JavaFX Scene Builder Release Notes for more details.

  • CSS support enables flexible management of the look and feel of your application's UI.

  • Cross-platform support is provided on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems.

Download Information

Use the following steps to get started using the JavaFX Scene Builder tool to build the GUI layout for your JavaFX application.

  1. Go to the Additional Resources section of the Java SE Downloads page at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html to download the JavaFX Scene Builder installer. Use the JavaFX Scene Builder Installation Guide to learn about the system requirements and installation instructions.

  2. Read the JavaFX Scene Builder Release Notes to learn about known issues and workarounds.

  3. Use the JavaFX Scene Builder User Guide to learn more about the tool's user interface and Building a JavaFX Application Using Scene Builder to create a simple issue tracking application.

  4. Read Using JavaFX Scene Builder with Java IDEs to learn about how to use Scene Builder with NetBeans IDE, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA.

Additional Resources

To learn more about the JavaFX technology, see the JavaFX tutorials and articles at http://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/javase-clienttechnologies.htm.

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JavaFX Scene Builder: Getting Started with JavaFX Scene Builder

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