Chapter 3. Java Web (EE) and Standard Edition (SE) Plug-Ins
This chapter provides details on the Java plug-ins that are included in JBoss Developer Studio.
3.1. Visual Web Tools
Visual Web Tools aids in the development of web pages and web projects.
- Visual Page Editor
- The Visual Page Editor allows an application to be developed in conjunction with a real time visual preview. The application can be viewed either as the source code, as a preview of the application, or both simultaneously in a split-screen presentation. The Visual Page Editor can be used for developing an application using technologies such as JavaServer Faces (JSF), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Struts, and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The Visual Page Editor also features a graphical toolbar for in-line styling.
Figure 3.1. Visual Page Editor
Refer to the Editors chapter of Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details. - JBoss Tools Palette
- The JBoss Tools Palette provides access to a library of tags used when creating JSP and JSF pages. Tags can be quickly inserted into pages from a number of libraries including:
- HTML
- JBoss
- JSF
- JSTL (JSP Standard Tag Library)
- MyFaces
- Oracle ADF (Application Development Framework) Faces
- Struts
- XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language)
Custom-made tags and third-party tag libraries can also be included in the JBoss Tools Palette.
Figure 3.2. JBoss Tools Palette
Refer to the JBoss Tools Palette chapter of the Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details. - Web Projects View
- The Web Projects View is an additional view. It enhances project authoring with a number of features including:
- Project artifacts for JSF and Struts projects are organized by function, allowing for better project visualization.
- Selected items can be dragged and dropped into JSP and other JSF compatible pages including:
- JSF managed bean attributes.
- JSF navigation rule outcomes.
- Property file values.
- Tag library files.
- Tags from tag libraries.
- JSP page links.
- JSF and Struts projects can be quickly created or imported from the shortcut buttons.
- Tag library files can be expanded, inspected, and easily added to the JBoss Tools Palette.
Figure 3.3. Web Projects View for JSF (left) and Struts (right) projects
Refer to the Web Projects View chapter of the Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details. - OpenOn
- OpenOn provides an easy method for switching directly from one project resource to another without navigating through the Package Explorer view. Pressing F3 or Ctrl+ when a reference to another file is highlighted will open the file in the editor.Refer to the Editors chapter of the Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details.
- Content Assist
- Content Assist displays context-specific code completion suggestions while typing, speeding up development and reducing typing errors. Content Assist is supported in the following contexts:The suggestion list can be displayed by pressing Ctrl+Space, and the highlighted entry can be selected and inserted by pressing Enter.
Figure 3.4. Content Assist
Refer to the Editors chapter of Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for full details. - Drag-and-Drop
- Properties, managed bean attributes, navigation rules, tag library file declarations, and JSP pages can all be dragged from the Web Projects view and dropped into the editor to add content.Refer to the Web Projects View chapter of the Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details.
- RichFaces Support
- RichFaces and Ajax4jsf tag libraries can be used from the JBoss Tools Palette, and RichFaces components are rendered in the Visual Page Editor.Refer to the Editors chapter of the Visual Web Tools Reference Guide for more details.