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| <title>Adding Support For A Web Framework</title> |
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| <!-- Copyright (c) 2009, 2010, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. --> |
| |
| <h1>Adding Support For A Web Framework</h1> |
| |
| <p>This document provides a general description of how to add support for a web framework in |
| NetBeans IDE. The steps provided show how you can add support by installing a web framework |
| plugin into the IDE using the Plugins manager. After you install the plugin you will be able |
| to select the framework in the New Project wizard when you create a web project. The new |
| web project that you create will contain the necessary infrastructure specific to the chosen |
| framework.</p> |
| |
| <p>The easiest way to add support for a particular web framework is by installing a NetBeans |
| plugin using the IDE's Plugins manager if the plugin is available. |
| This is convenient if you have Internet access while |
| working in the IDE. Plugins for many web frameworks are also available via the <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/">NetBeans |
| Plugin Portal</a>. If you do not have regular Internet access, you can download the plugin |
| modules (e.g., from the Plugin Portal) when you have the opportunity, then install them into |
| the IDE at a later time.</p> |
| |
| <p>In this tutorial you will add support for the Apache Struts 2 framework by downloading |
| a plugin from the NetBeans Plugin Portal and installing the plugin using the Plugins manager.</p> |
| |
| <p class="notes"><strong>Note: </strong>The IDE bundles support for the <a href="../../docs/web/jsf20-support.html">JavaServer |
| Faces 2.x</a> and <a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-struts.html">Struts 1.3.10</a> and <a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-spring.html">Spring 3.x and 4.x</a> |
| frameworks. The specific version of the bundled framework depends upon the version of the IDE.</p> |
| <a name="table"></a> |
| |
| |
| <p><strong>Contents</strong></p> |
| |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/73/netbeans-stamp-80-74-73.png" class="stamp" alt="Content on this page applies to NetBeans IDE 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 8.0" title="Content on this page applies to the NetBeans IDE 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 8.0" > |
| |
| <ul class="toc"> |
| <li><a href="#installing">Installing Framework Support Plugins</a> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#manually">Downloading and Installing Manually</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#updateCenter">Installing from an Update Center</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#ppupdateCenter">Registering the NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center</a></li> |
| </ul></li> |
| |
| <li><a href="#working">Working with Framework Support in the IDE</a> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#newProject">Creating a New Project with Framework Support</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#existingProject">Adding Framework Support to an Existing Project</a></li> |
| </ul></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p><strong>To complete this tutorial, you need the following software and resources.</strong></p> |
| |
| <table> |
| <tbody> |
| <tr> |
| <th class="tblheader" scope="col">Software or Resource</th> |
| <th class="tblheader" scope="col">Version Required</th> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="https://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html">NetBeans IDE, Java EE bundle</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1">7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0</td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html">Java Development Kit (JDK)</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1">version 7 or 8</td> |
| </tr> |
| </tbody> |
| </table> |
| |
| <p><strong class="notes">Notes:</strong></p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>The Web and Java EE installation enables you to optionally install the Apache Tomcat |
| 7.x servlet container, and the GlassFish server 3.1. Depending on the |
| framework you plan to use, you must install one of these to work through this tutorial.</li> |
| <li>You must also have an Internet connection to download necessary plugins and/or access |
| them via the IDE's Plugins Manager.</li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <a name="installing"></a> |
| <h2>Installing Framework Support Plugins</h2> |
| |
| <p>You can add support for a specific framework by installing the appropriate framework support |
| plugin into the IDE. To do so, you can either download the plugin modules from an external |
| site such as the <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/">NetBeans |
| Plugin Portal</a> then install the plugin via the Plugins Manager, or, if the plugin |
| is maintained by an update center, you can register the update center with the IDE's Plugins |
| Manager and then download and install the plugin directly through the Plugins Manager.</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#manually">Downloading Manually</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#updateCenter">Installing from an Update Center</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| |
| <p>Some plugins are available for download from sites such as the <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/">NetBeans |
| Plugin Portal</a> or directly from the site of the plugin developer. |
| The following table provides links to locations where you can download some plugins for frameworks.</p> |
| |
| |
| <table> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tblheader">Framework</td> |
| <td class="tblheader">Plugin Location</td> |
| <td class="tblheader">Download Location</td> |
| </tr> |
| <!-- <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/">Google Web Toolkit</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://gwt4nb.dev.java.net/">https://gwt4nb.dev.java.net</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/faces/PluginDetailPage.jsp?pluginid=716"> |
| http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/faces/PluginDetailPage.jsp?pluginid=716</a></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://ajax.dev.java.net/">jMaki</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://ajax.dev.java.net/jmaki-plugin.html">http://ajax.dev.java.net/jmaki-plugin.html</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://ajax.dev.java.net/servlets/ProjectDocumentList?folderID=0"> |
| http://ajax.dev.java.net/servlets/ProjectDocumentList?folderID=7943&expandFolder=7943&folderID=0</a> |
| <br>(Currently not listed on Plugin Portal)</td> |
| </tr> --> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://struts.apache.org/">Apache Struts 2</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://java.net/projects/nbstruts2support/">http://java.net/projects/nbstruts2support/</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/plugin/39218/struts2-support-repack-for-nb-7-0"> |
| http://plugins.netbeans.org/plugin/39218/struts2-support-repack-for-nb-7-0</a></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://wicket.apache.org/">Wicket</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://nbwicketsupport.dev.java.net/">https://nbwicketsupport.dev.java.net</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/faces/PluginDetailPage.jsp?pluginid=3586"> |
| http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/faces/PluginDetailPage.jsp?pluginid=3586</a></td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.icefaces.org/main/home/">ICEfaces 2.0</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.icefaces.org/main/home/">http://www.icefaces.org/main/home/</a></td> |
| <td class="tbltd1"><a href="http://www.icefaces.org/main/downloads/"> |
| http://www.icefaces.org/main/downloads/</a></td> |
| </tr> |
| |
| </table> |
| |
| |
| <div class="indent"> |
| <a name="manually"></a> |
| <h3>Downloading and Installing the Apache Struts2 Support Plugin</h3> |
| |
| <p>For the purpose of demonstration, this section will describe how to download and install the |
| <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/plugin/39218/struts2-support-repack-for-nb-7-0">Apache |
| Struts2 Support Repack for NB 7.0</a> plugin from the NetBeans Plugin Portal. |
| This plugin installs the libraries and UI support for Apache Struts 2.</p> |
| |
| <p class="notes"><strong>Note.</strong> The plugin repackages the <a href="http://java.net/projects/nbstruts2support/">NetBeans Struts2 Support plugin</a> |
| because the NetBeans Struts2 Support plugin has not been updated for NetBeans IDE 7.0. |
| For additional information about each of the plugins, see the respective plugin details pages.</p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li>Download the zip archive that contains the required Apache Struts 2 plugins from the |
| <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/plugin/39218/struts2-support-repack-for-nb-7-0"> |
| Struts2 Support Repack for NB 7.0 page</a> on the <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/PluginPortal/">NetBeans Plugin Portal</a> and |
| extract the contents to your computer. |
| <p>When you extract the contents, you will see that the archive contains three files.</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li><tt>org-netbeans-modules-web-frameworks-struts2.nbm</tt></li> |
| <li><tt>org-netbeans-modules-web-frameworks-struts2lib218.nbm</tt> </li> |
| <li><tt>org-netbeans-modules-web-frameworks-struts2lib20011.nbm</tt> </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| |
| <p class="tips">NetBeans plugins can be identified by the <tt>.nbm</tt> extension.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li>From the IDE's main menu, choose Tools > Plugins to open the Plugin Manager.</li> |
| <li>Select the Downloaded tab, then click the Add Plugins button.</li> |
| <li>In the Add Plugins dialog, navigate to the directory that contains the plugins and select the |
| NetBeans plugins. Click Open.<br> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/plugin-archive-contents.png" class="margin-around b-all" |
| alt="screenshot of add plugins dialog" title="The zip archive contains the NetBeans plugins"> |
| |
| <p class="tips">Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple items.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li>In the Plugins manager, select each of the Struts2 plugins. |
| <p>A description of the selected plugin is displayed in the right pane of the Plugins manager.</p> |
| |
| <a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/add-plugins.png" rel="lytebox" |
| title="Manually downloaded plugins that are selected in the Plugin Manager prior to installation"> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/add-plugins-sm.png" class="margin-around b-all" |
| title="Click to enlarge" alt="screenshot of downloaded plugins in Plugins manager"></a></li> |
| |
| <li>Click Install to open the NetBeans IDE Installer, then click Next and accept the |
| license agreement. |
| |
| <p class="notes"><strong>Note.</strong> If you receive a validation warning, click Continue to install |
| the plugin. A validation warning occurs if you attempt to install a plugin that has |
| not been signed. While you can generally |
| trust all plugins, when you install a plugin that has not been signed, |
| you are doing so at your own risk.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li>Restart the IDE to allow changes to take effect.</li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p>After you install the plugin and restart the IDE, you can confirm that the plugin was installed by |
| opening the Plugins manager, clicking the Installed tab and locating the plugin in the list of installed plugins.</p> |
| |
| <a name="updateCenter"></a> |
| <h3>Installing from an Update Center</h3> |
| |
| <p>If the framework support plugin is maintained by an update center, you should consider |
| installing the update center into the IDE. This enables you to then install the framework |
| support plugin directly through the Plugins manager. The Plugins manager also logs any |
| updates made to plugins maintained by update centers, providing you with a simple and |
| effective means of keeping installed plugins up-to-date.</p> |
| |
| <p>Various update centers are already registered with the IDE by default. |
| To see a list of the update centers that are currently registered, open the Plugins manager (Tools > Plugins) |
| and choose the Settings tab.</p> |
| |
| <a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/pluginsmanager-settings.png" |
| title="Settings tab and list of Update Centers that are registered with the Plugins manager" rel="lytebox"> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/pluginsmanager-settings-sm.png" |
| class="margin-around b-all" |
| alt="screenshot of Settings tab and list of Update Centers that are registered with the Plugins manager" title="Click to enlarge"></a> |
| |
| <p>If you want to register a new update center, click the Add button in the Settings tab and supply the details |
| in the Update Center Customizer.</p> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/uc-customizer.png" |
| class="margin-around b-all" alt="screenshot of Update Center Customizer dialog box" title="Update Center Customizer dialog box"> |
| |
| |
| <a name="ppupdateCenter"></a> |
| <h3>Registering the NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center</h3> |
| <p>The Plugin Portal update center that is registered with the IDE by default contains a subset of the plugins |
| that are contributed by the community and that are known to be compatible with the version of the IDE that you installed. |
| If you want to use the Plugins manager to browse all the plugins that are available from the |
| <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/">NetBeans Plugin Portal</a>, you can perform the following steps to install a |
| plugin to add the NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center to the list of registered updated centers. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li>Download the <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/plugin/1616/plugin-portal-update-center">NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center plugin</a>. </li> |
| <li>Open the Downloaded tab in the Plugins manager.</li> |
| <li>Click Add Plugins and locate the <tt>1252666924798_org-netbeans-pluginportaluc.nbm</tt> file that you downloaded. Click Install.</li> |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p>After you install the plugin, the NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center is added to the list |
| of registered update centers in the Settings tab of the Plugins manager</p> |
| |
| <p class="notes"><strong>Note.</strong> You can deactivate an update center by deselecting the checkbox for the |
| update center in the Active column of the Settings tab.</p> |
| <a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/portal-uc-plugin.png" |
| title="Plugins Portal Update Center is now included in list of registered update centers in Settings tab" rel="lytebox"> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/portal-uc-plugin-sm.png" |
| class="margin-around b-all" alt="screenshot of Settings tab with new update center added to list" |
| title="Click to enlarge"></a> |
| |
| |
| <p>If you click the Available Plugins tab you can see that all the plugins that have been contributed by the |
| community to the NetBeans Plugin Portal have been added to the list of available plugins.</p> |
| |
| <p class="tips">Click Reload Catalog to update the list of plugins.</p> |
| |
| <a href="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/portal-uc-list.png" |
| title="The Available Plugins tab displays a list of all the plugins from all the registered update centers" rel="lytebox"> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/portal-uc-list-sm.png" |
| class="margin-around b-all" alt="screenshot of Available Plugins tab in the Plugins manager" |
| title="The Available Plugins tab displays a list of all the plugins from all the registered update centers"></a> |
| |
| <p>You can sort the list by clicking on a column heading and you can filter the list by |
| entering terms in the Search field.</p> |
| |
| <p class="alert"><strong> |
| The Plugin Portal Update Center lists all the plugins that are available from the |
| <a href="http://plugins.netbeans.org/">NetBeans Plugin Portal</a>. |
| Many of the plugins will be for older versions of the IDE and will be incompatible with the version of the IDE that you are using. |
| Installing plugins for other versions of the IDE might cause your IDE installation to behave unreliably.</strong> |
| In many cases, but not all, there will be a message that informs you if a plugin cannot be installed. |
| As with the installation of all software, you should exercise caution and carefully read the documentation |
| before attempting to install a plugin.</p> |
| |
| </div> |
| |
| <a name="working"></a> |
| <h2>Working with Framework Support in the IDE</h2> |
| |
| <p>Framework support in the IDE is generally specific to the framework you are working with. |
| For example, the Struts2 support provides wizards that enable you to easily |
| create commonly-used Struts classes, as well as code completion in Struts configuration files. </p> |
| |
| <p>You can add framework support to a web application either through the New Project wizard at |
| the time that you create the application, or you can integrate support into an existing application. </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#newProject">Creating a New Project with Framework Support</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#existingProject">Adding Framework Support to an Existing Project</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <div class="indent"> |
| <a name="newProject"></a> |
| <h3>Creating a New Project with Framework Support</h3> |
| |
| <ol> |
| <li>Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N; ⌘-Shift-N on Mac) from the main menu. The New Project wizard |
| opens. Select Web under Categories, then under Projects, select Web Application. |
| Click Next.</li> |
| <li>Type a name for the Project Name and specify a location for the project |
| on your computer.</li> |
| <li>Step through the wizard and accept any default settings. Specify a server to deploy the |
| application to by choosing one that is already registered with the IDE (i.e., the GlassFish server |
| or Tomcat).</li> |
| <li>In the Frameworks panel of the New Project wizard, choose the framework that you want to add. Click Finish. |
| <br> |
| |
| |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/newproject-wizard-frameworks-sm.png" class="margin-around b-all" |
| alt="screenshot of Frameworks panel of the New Project wizard with Struts 2 Support selected" |
| title="Struts 2 Support listed in Frameworks panel of the New Project wizard"> |
| |
| <p>In this example, support for the Struts2 framework is selected in the Frameworks panel. |
| You can see that the Frameworks panel now offers the option to choose either Struts 1.3.8 |
| (bundled with the IDE) or Struts2 (added by installing a plugin). |
| The Struts 2 support plugin adds the Struts2 option to the New Projects wizard and displays tabs with options |
| for Configuration and Libraries. |
| The Configuration tab provides the option to create an example page in the project. |
| The Libraries tab enables you to select the version of the Struts2 libraries that you want to add to |
| the classpath.</p> |
| </li> |
| |
| </ol> |
| |
| <p>When you click Finish, the IDE creates the web application. The additional files that the |
| wizard creates will vary according to the framework. |
| In this example, the wizard created the <tt>struts.xml</tt> XML configuration file |
| in the Source Packages folder and added the required Struts2 libraries to the classpath. |
| The wizard also automatically added a Servlet filter class and a filter mapping to <tt>web.xml</tt>.</p> |
| |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/project-structure-frameworks.png" |
| alt="screenshot of Projects window showing logical structure of Struts 2 web application" class="margin-around b-all" |
| title="Logical structure of Struts web application displayed in Projects window"> |
| <!-- |
| <p><strong class="notes">Note: </strong>For more information on the jMaki application structure, |
| see <a href="http://ajax.dev.java.net/jmaki-app.html">Basic jMaki Application Structure</a>.</p>--> |
| |
| <a name="existingProject"></a> |
| <h3>Adding Framework Support to an Existing Project</h3> |
| |
| <p>If you have an existing web project and you would like to add support for a framework to the project, |
| you can use the Project Properties dialog box to add frameworks that are available in the IDE.</p> |
| <ol> |
| <li>In the Projects window, right-click the web application project's node and choose |
| Properties to open the Project Properties window.</li> |
| <li>Select Frameworks in the list of Categories. |
| <p>When you select Frameworks, the right panel displays a Used Frameworks text |
| area, which is empty if the application does not use a framework.</p></li> |
| <li>Click the Add button, then select the framework you want to use and click OK. |
| |
| <br> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/properties-add-framework.png" class="b-all margin-around" |
| alt="screenshot of Add Framework dialog in the Project Properties window" |
| title="JavaServer Faces framework selected in the Add Framework dialog opened from the Project Properties window"></li> |
| |
| <li>Depending on the chosen framework, you can specify further framework-specific configuration |
| settings or components in the Project Properties window. |
| <br> |
| <img src="../../../images_www/articles/72/web/add-framework/add-icefaces.png" class="b-all margin-around" |
| alt="screenshot of dialog for adding component library" |
| title="Adding a library for the ICEfaces component suite to the project"> |
| <p>For example, if you want to specify the ICEfaces component suite you |
| can select ICEfaces in the Components tab of the Project Properties window |
| and specify the ICEfaces library. |
| </p> |
| <p class="notes"><strong>Notes.</strong> The libraries for JSF components |
| are not included with the IDE. To use a component suite you need to |
| download the required libraries and then create a NetBeans library that |
| you can then add to the project classpath in the Project Properties window.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li>Click OK to confirm your selection and close the Project Properties window. |
| The framework-specific artifacts and libraries are added to your project, |
| which you can examine in the Projects window.</li> |
| </ol> |
| </div> |
| |
| <div class="feedback-box"><a href="/about/contact_form.html?to=3&subject=Feedback:%20Adding%20Web%20Framework%20Support"> |
| Send Feedback on This Tutorial</a></div> |
| |
| <br style="clear:both;"> |
| |
| <a name="seeAlso"></a> |
| <h2>See Also</h2> |
| |
| <p>This document described how to add support for a web framework in NetBeans IDE. It demonstrated |
| how to install framework support plugins by downloading manually as well as via an update |
| center in the IDE's Plugin Manager. It also showed how to add an IDE-supported framework |
| to both a new web application project and an existing project.</p> |
| |
| <p>This tutorial focused on adding the Struts2 framework. If you would like to explore the |
| other features offered by this framework, |
| see <a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-struts.html">Introduction to the Struts Web Framework</a>. |
| <p> |
| |
| <p>For more information about using other web frameworks in NetBeans IDE, see the following resources:</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-spring.html">Introduction to the Spring Web Framework</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-struts.html">Introduction to the Struts Web Framework</a></li> |
| <li><a href="../../docs/web/quickstart-webapps-wicket.html">Introduction to the Wicket Web Framework</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| </body> |
| </html> |
