4.5.9. Desktop Client Specifics

Implementation of the generic user interface in the Desktop Client block is based on Java Swing. The main classes available in the desktop client infrastructure are described below.

Figure 4.26. Classes of the Desktop Client Infrastructure

Classes of the Desktop Client Infrastructure


  • App – central class of the desktop application infrastructure. Contains links to Connection and main TopLevelFrame, as well as methods for initialization and retrieval of application settings.

    In your application, you should create a custom class – inheritor of App and override the following methods:

    • getDefaultAppPropertiesConfig() - should return a string where all application properties files should be listed separated by spaces: 

      @Override
protected String getDefaultAppPropertiesConfig() {
    return "/cuba-desktop-app.properties /desktop-app.properties";
}

    • getDefaultHomeDir() - should return path to the folder, where temporary and work files should be stored. For example: 

      @Override
protected String getDefaultHomeDir() {
    return System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.mycompany/sales";
}

    • getDefaultLog4jConfig() - should return name of the Log4J file, if it is defined for the project. For example: 

      @Override
protected String getDefaultLog4jConfig() {
    return "sales-log4j.xml";
}

    Additionally, for your custom class inheriting from the App you should define main() method in the following way: 

    public static void main(final String[] args) {
    SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
        public void run() {
            app = new App();
            app.init(args);
            app.show();
            app.showLoginDialog();
        }
    });
}

  • Connection - is a class that provides the functionality of connecting to middleware and storing a user session.

  • LoginDialog – the dialog to enter credentials. In your application you can create an inheritor of LoginDialog and redefine the createLoginDialog() method of the App class to use it.

  • TopLevelFrame – inheritor of JFrame, which is the top level window. The application has at least one instance of this class created when application is started and containing the main menu. This instance is returned by the getMainFrame() method of the App class.

    When a user detaches tabs from the main window or a TabSheet (see detachable attribute), additional instances of TopLevelFrame that do not contain main menu are created.

  • WindowManager - the central class implementing application screens management logic. openEditor(), showMessageDialog() and other methods of the IFrame interface implemented by screen controllers delegate to the window manager. WindowManager class is located in the platform’s common gui module and is abstract. The desktop desktop module has a dedicated DesktopWindowManager class that implements desktop client specifics.

    Typically, WindowManager is not used in the application code directly.

  • ExceptionHandlers - contains a collection of client-level exception handlers.

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