src/content/platform/whatsnew/65.html - netbeans-website-cleanup - Git at Google

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         <title>What's New in NetBeans Platform 6.5?</title>
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         <h1>What's New in NetBeans Platform 6.5?</h1>

 <p>An overview of changes relating to <a href="https://platform.netbeans.org/">NetBeans Platform 6.5</a>, which is the
  Swing framework that underpins applications such as NetBeans IDE.

 <h3>New & Changed Features</h3>

 <ul>
     <p><li><b>More Control over Window System.</b> If your application
      makes use of the NetBeans Window System, you can limit the
      features made available to your users. Previously, you had no
      control over this: the windows were draggable, minimizable, resizable,
      closeable. Now, there are properties that specify whether these
      features are available, which are set for all the windows
      in the window system at the same time.
     <p><li><b>Possibility of Dragging into Palette.</b> The palettes
      that you create for editors can now be populated by snippets
      dragged from the editor. The HTML Editor in NetBeans IDE 6.5
      already supports this: the user can drag snippets from the editor
      into the palette. You can enable the same feature for your
      own editors too.
     <p><li><b>Replacement for TreeTableView.</b> The TreeTableView has
     long been considered overly complex and buggy. In 6.5, you can use
     the OutlineView instead. It supports drag and drop, in-place editing of
     tree cells, and enhanced sorting. The data model is compatible with
     that of TreeTableViews.
     <p><li><b>More Control over Options Window.</b> Since there are now
     so many options available in the Options window, being able to programmatically
     open a specific tab within the Options window can be handy. This is now
     possible via changes made to the Options API.
     <p><li><b>More Control over Minimized Window.</b> When a window is
     minimized, and the user then slides it out, it is now possible to
     specify the size of the slided out window.
    <p><li><b>Simplified Test Infrastructure Replaces XTest.</b> The XTest
     infrastructure, which was considered too complex, has been replaced
     by a simpler approach to testing, as explained <a href="http://wiki.netbeans.org/FitnessTestsWithoutX">here</a>
     and <a href="http://wiki.netbeans.org/DevFaqUsingSimpletests">here</a>.
 </ul>

 <h3>New APIs & SPIs</h3>

 <p>Read all of the changes <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/6.5/javadoc/apichanges.html">here</a>, with
  new classes as follows:

 <ul>
     <p><li><b>Code Generator SPI.</b> You can now plug new code generation
      functionality into the popup that appears when Alt-Enter is clicked
      in an editor. This feature is registered by MIME type in the layer, so
      that code generators can now be created for any type of editor.
      <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-editor-lib2/org/netbeans/spi/editor/codegen/package-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
     <p><li><b>Quick Search API.</b> A new feature in NetBeans IDE 6.5 is
     a drop-down list that displays actions, options, and help texts that match
     a specified string. Selected actions are then invoked, selected options are shown
     in the Options window, and help texts are shown in the JavaHelp window. There
     is also an API that you can use to plug your own items into this quick search
     feature. <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-spi-quicksearch/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
     <p><li><b>OutlineView API.</b> New class that replaces the TreeTableView.
     <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-openide-explorer/org/openide/explorer/view/OutlineView.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
     <p><li><b>Database Explorer API.</b> Provides access to database connections
      and drivers defined in the NetBeans Database Explorer, in the Services window.
      <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-db/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
     <p><li><b>Print API.</b> Provides Print functionality for your
      window components. <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-print/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
 </ul>

 <h3>Deprecations</h3>
 <p>The following are deprecated/obsolete from 6.5 onwards:
 <ul>

 <li><b>In org.openide.loaders.DataObject:</b>
 <ul>
     <li>DataObject.getCookie is now DataObject.getLookup().lookup(Object.class)
 </ul>

 <li><b>In org.openide.nodes:</b>
 <ul>
     <li>Node.getCookie is now Node.getLookup().lookup(Object.class)
 </ul>

 <li><b>In org.openide.text.Line:</b>
 <ul>
     <li>Line.show
 </ul>

 <li><b>In org.openide.util:</b>
 <ul>
     <li>Utilities.icon2Image is now ImageUtilities.icon2Image
     <li>Utilities.loadImage is now ImageUtilities.loadImage
     <li>Utilities.mergeImages is now ImageUtilities.mergeImages
 </ul>

 </ul>

 <h3>New & Changed Tools in NetBeans IDE 6.5</h3>

 <ul>
     <p><li><b>Project Properties Dialog.</b> New tab in NetBeans Platform project type's Project Properties
      dialog. The new tab is called 'Window System' and lets you specify
      whether the windows in the window system are draggable, closeable, etc.
      <p><li><b>New Module Project Wizard.</b> There is a new checkbox which
      you need to select if you want the wizard to create a layer file for
      your module.
     <p><li><b>New File Dialog Wizards.</b> Two new wizards in the
     New File dialog, for generating a starting point for using
     two of the new API/SPIs listed: Code Generator and Quick Search.
     <p><li><b>Improved File Dialog Wizards.</b> Some artifacts are no longer
      created. Instead, new entries are added to the layer for artifacts
      that used to be created but were typically never changed:
      <ul>
      <li><b>New Window Component wizard:</b> now no action
      is created by this wizard. Instead, it is wrapped in the layer file, where new
      entries are added for this purpose. In addition, there is
      a new checkbox 'Keep preferred size when slided in', which lets
      you specify whether your window should support the new feature that
      gives you control over the slided-out window.
     <li><b>New File Type wizard:</b> no data loader and
      no node are created. Instead, these are wrapped in the layer, where
      they are declared.
     <li><b>New Action wizard:</b> if you select an 'Always Enabled' action, the wizard
      will create a standard JDK ActionListener class, instead of a CallableSystemAction.
      New entries are registered in the layer, which maps your ActionListener to its
      NetBeans API requirements.
     <li><b>New Options Window wizard:</b> now you
      can specify whether your new tab will be a miscellaneous tab
      within one of your own Options window tabs.
      </ul>
 </ul>

 <h3>New Video Series</h3>

 <p>A new series of screencasts is introduced in 6.5, to get you started with gaining
  a conceptual understanding of the NetBeans Platform. Guided by the screencasts,
  you will understand the NetBeans Platform's problem domain and you will see the
  main APIs in action via a series
  of demonstrations using NetBeans IDE. The current parts of the series are as follows:

  <ul>
      <li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/video-part-1-introduction-netb-0">Part 1: Runtime Container</a>
      <li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/top-10-netbeans-apis-part-2">Part 2: Lookup API</a>
      <li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/top-10-netbeans-apis-part-3">Part 3: Window System API</a>
      <li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/video-part-4-introduction-netb">Part 4: System Filesystem API</a>
  </ul>

 <p><b>Note:</b> The topics in this series are also covered in the <a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/courses/nbplatform-certified-training/">NetBeans
  Platform Certified Training</a>.

 <p>More coming soon...

 <h3>New Tutorials</h3>
 <p>All tutorials at <a href="https://netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html">http://www.netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html</a>
  are updated. In some cases, there are big changes in the texts, because of the above
  changes in the APIs and in the tools. The following are published for the first time in the 6.5 release cycle:
 <ul>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-runtime-container.html">NetBeans Platform Runtime Container Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-quick-search.html">NetBeans Platform Quick Search Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-generator.html">NetBeans Platform Code Generator Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-completion.html">NetBeans Platform Code Completion Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-mark-occurrences.html">NetBeans Platform Mark Occurrences Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-template.html">NetBeans Platform Code Template Tutorial</a>
     <li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-java-hint.html">NetBeans Platform Java Hint Tutorial</a>
 </ul>

 <h3>New Teaching Materials</h3>
 <p>The <a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/courses/nbplatform-certified-training/">NetBeans Platform Certified Training</a> has been delivered to a number
  of companies and institutions during the 6.5 release cycle and a new page
  has been created, for ALL the slides ever made by anyone in
  relation to the NetBeans Platform:

  <ul>
      <li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/contrib/slides/netbeans-platform/">NetBeans Platform Teaching Resources</a>
  </ul>

  <p>The page is useful to <u>teachers</u> of the NetBeans Platform, i.e., either
   to people who are giving one-off presentations or to those who are giving
   full-blown courses covering several days to newbies or advanced users
   of the NetBeans Platform. If you have slides that should be added to the list,
   please join & write to nbedu@netbeans.org saying so.

     </body>
 </html>
	<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
	<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
	<head>
	<title>What's New in NetBeans Platform 6.5?</title>
	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://netbeans.org/netbeans.css">
	<meta name="AUDIENCE" content="NBUSER">
	<meta name="TYPE" content="ARTICLE">
	<meta name="EXPIRES" content="N">
	<meta name="developer" content="gwielenga@netbeans.org">
	<meta name="indexed" content="y">
	<meta name="description" content="Overview of new features in NetBeans Platform 6.5">
	</head>
	<body>
	<h1>What's New in NetBeans Platform 6.5?</h1>

	<p>An overview of changes relating to <a href="https://platform.netbeans.org/">NetBeans Platform 6.5</a>, which is the
	Swing framework that underpins applications such as NetBeans IDE.

	<h3>New & Changed Features</h3>

	<ul>
	<p><li><b>More Control over Window System.</b> If your application
	makes use of the NetBeans Window System, you can limit the
	features made available to your users. Previously, you had no
	control over this: the windows were draggable, minimizable, resizable,
	closeable. Now, there are properties that specify whether these
	features are available, which are set for all the windows
	in the window system at the same time.
	<p><li><b>Possibility of Dragging into Palette.</b> The palettes
	that you create for editors can now be populated by snippets
	dragged from the editor. The HTML Editor in NetBeans IDE 6.5
	already supports this: the user can drag snippets from the editor
	into the palette. You can enable the same feature for your
	own editors too.
	<p><li><b>Replacement for TreeTableView.</b> The TreeTableView has
	long been considered overly complex and buggy. In 6.5, you can use
	the OutlineView instead. It supports drag and drop, in-place editing of
	tree cells, and enhanced sorting. The data model is compatible with
	that of TreeTableViews.
	<p><li><b>More Control over Options Window.</b> Since there are now
	so many options available in the Options window, being able to programmatically
	open a specific tab within the Options window can be handy. This is now
	possible via changes made to the Options API.
	<p><li><b>More Control over Minimized Window.</b> When a window is
	minimized, and the user then slides it out, it is now possible to
	specify the size of the slided out window.
	<p><li><b>Simplified Test Infrastructure Replaces XTest.</b> The XTest
	infrastructure, which was considered too complex, has been replaced
	by a simpler approach to testing, as explained <a href="http://wiki.netbeans.org/FitnessTestsWithoutX">here</a>
	and <a href="http://wiki.netbeans.org/DevFaqUsingSimpletests">here</a>.
	</ul>

	<h3>New APIs & SPIs</h3>

	<p>Read all of the changes <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/6.5/javadoc/apichanges.html">here</a>, with
	new classes as follows:

	<ul>
	<p><li><b>Code Generator SPI.</b> You can now plug new code generation
	functionality into the popup that appears when Alt-Enter is clicked
	in an editor. This feature is registered by MIME type in the layer, so
	that code generators can now be created for any type of editor.
	<a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-editor-lib2/org/netbeans/spi/editor/codegen/package-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
	<p><li><b>Quick Search API.</b> A new feature in NetBeans IDE 6.5 is
	a drop-down list that displays actions, options, and help texts that match
	a specified string. Selected actions are then invoked, selected options are shown
	in the Options window, and help texts are shown in the JavaHelp window. There
	is also an API that you can use to plug your own items into this quick search
	feature. <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-spi-quicksearch/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
	<p><li><b>OutlineView API.</b> New class that replaces the TreeTableView.
	<a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-openide-explorer/org/openide/explorer/view/OutlineView.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
	<p><li><b>Database Explorer API.</b> Provides access to database connections
	and drivers defined in the NetBeans Database Explorer, in the Services window.
	<a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-db/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
	<p><li><b>Print API.</b> Provides Print functionality for your
	window components. <a href="http://bits.netbeans.org/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules-print/overview-summary.html">Read the Javadoc.</a>
	</ul>

	<h3>Deprecations</h3>
	<p>The following are deprecated/obsolete from 6.5 onwards:
	<ul>

	<li><b>In org.openide.loaders.DataObject:</b>
	<ul>
	<li>DataObject.getCookie is now DataObject.getLookup().lookup(Object.class)
	</ul>

	<li><b>In org.openide.nodes:</b>
	<ul>
	<li>Node.getCookie is now Node.getLookup().lookup(Object.class)
	</ul>

	<li><b>In org.openide.text.Line:</b>
	<ul>
	<li>Line.show
	</ul>

	<li><b>In org.openide.util:</b>
	<ul>
	<li>Utilities.icon2Image is now ImageUtilities.icon2Image
	<li>Utilities.loadImage is now ImageUtilities.loadImage
	<li>Utilities.mergeImages is now ImageUtilities.mergeImages
	</ul>

	</ul>

	<h3>New & Changed Tools in NetBeans IDE 6.5</h3>

	<ul>
	<p><li><b>Project Properties Dialog.</b> New tab in NetBeans Platform project type's Project Properties
	dialog. The new tab is called 'Window System' and lets you specify
	whether the windows in the window system are draggable, closeable, etc.
	<p><li><b>New Module Project Wizard.</b> There is a new checkbox which
	you need to select if you want the wizard to create a layer file for
	your module.
	<p><li><b>New File Dialog Wizards.</b> Two new wizards in the
	New File dialog, for generating a starting point for using
	two of the new API/SPIs listed: Code Generator and Quick Search.
	<p><li><b>Improved File Dialog Wizards.</b> Some artifacts are no longer
	created. Instead, new entries are added to the layer for artifacts
	that used to be created but were typically never changed:
	<ul>
	<li><b>New Window Component wizard:</b> now no action
	is created by this wizard. Instead, it is wrapped in the layer file, where new
	entries are added for this purpose. In addition, there is
	a new checkbox 'Keep preferred size when slided in', which lets
	you specify whether your window should support the new feature that
	gives you control over the slided-out window.
	<li><b>New File Type wizard:</b> no data loader and
	no node are created. Instead, these are wrapped in the layer, where
	they are declared.
	<li><b>New Action wizard:</b> if you select an 'Always Enabled' action, the wizard
	will create a standard JDK ActionListener class, instead of a CallableSystemAction.
	New entries are registered in the layer, which maps your ActionListener to its
	NetBeans API requirements.
	<li><b>New Options Window wizard:</b> now you
	can specify whether your new tab will be a miscellaneous tab
	within one of your own Options window tabs.
	</ul>
	</ul>

	<h3>New Video Series</h3>

	<p>A new series of screencasts is introduced in 6.5, to get you started with gaining
	a conceptual understanding of the NetBeans Platform. Guided by the screencasts,
	you will understand the NetBeans Platform's problem domain and you will see the
	main APIs in action via a series
	of demonstrations using NetBeans IDE. The current parts of the series are as follows:

	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/video-part-1-introduction-netb-0">Part 1: Runtime Container</a>
	<li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/top-10-netbeans-apis-part-2">Part 2: Lookup API</a>
	<li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/top-10-netbeans-apis-part-3">Part 3: Window System API</a>
	<li><a href="http://netbeans.dzone.com/news/video-part-4-introduction-netb">Part 4: System Filesystem API</a>
	</ul>

	<p><b>Note:</b> The topics in this series are also covered in the <a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/courses/nbplatform-certified-training/">NetBeans
	Platform Certified Training</a>.

	<p>More coming soon...

	<h3>New Tutorials</h3>
	<p>All tutorials at <a href="https://netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html">http://www.netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html</a>
	are updated. In some cases, there are big changes in the texts, because of the above
	changes in the APIs and in the tools. The following are published for the first time in the 6.5 release cycle:
	<ul>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-runtime-container.html">NetBeans Platform Runtime Container Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-quick-search.html">NetBeans Platform Quick Search Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-generator.html">NetBeans Platform Code Generator Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-completion.html">NetBeans Platform Code Completion Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-mark-occurrences.html">NetBeans Platform Mark Occurrences Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-code-template.html">NetBeans Platform Code Template Tutorial</a>
	<li><a href="../tutorials/nbm-java-hint.html">NetBeans Platform Java Hint Tutorial</a>
	</ul>

	<h3>New Teaching Materials</h3>
	<p>The <a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/courses/nbplatform-certified-training/">NetBeans Platform Certified Training</a> has been delivered to a number
	of companies and institutions during the 6.5 release cycle and a new page
	has been created, for ALL the slides ever made by anyone in
	relation to the NetBeans Platform:

	<ul>
	<li><a href="http://edu.netbeans.org/contrib/slides/netbeans-platform/">NetBeans Platform Teaching Resources</a>
	</ul>

	<p>The page is useful to <u>teachers</u> of the NetBeans Platform, i.e., either
	to people who are giving one-off presentations or to those who are giving
	full-blown courses covering several days to newbies or advanced users
	of the NetBeans Platform. If you have slides that should be added to the list,
	please join & write to nbedu@netbeans.org saying so.

	</body>
	</html>