Features
These are the features which are available in the latest release:
- Pure Java/Swing
- Most components are replaceable or customizeable
- Several layers and interfaces allow much freedom in creating new features
- Save and load the layout (position of panels), as byte-stream or in xml. Recovery mechanism for missing elements.
- Different "themes", can change look and feel during runtime
- Client can associate buttons, checkboxes, dropdownmenus, etc. with panels
- Popupmenus
- Toolbars
- Behaviour of drag & drop operations can be modified
- Different, independant realms within one application
- "Restricted environment"-mode allows unsigned applets and webstart-applications
- Support for keyboard: shortcuts can trigger actions, pressing a key while moving a panel changes the behaviour of the operation.
- Double clicks with the mouse are handled globally
- "Common project": a set of classes that allow sophisticated user interfaces without much code to write.
- Often needed actions like "close", "minimize" or "externalize"
- Hides the core library almost completely
- Additional menus like "Change the theme" or "list visible panels"
- Colors and font of tabs and titles can depend on content
- Most components can be transparent and/or paint a background image
- Panels size can be locked while resizing its parent window
- A set of preferences that can be modified by the user using a special preference-dialog
Future
Since Java Swing slowly but certainly is reaching the end of its life, so is DockingFrames.
- Bugfixes will be provided as long as people report bugs.
- Help will be provided as long as people ask for it.
- The newest version of Java will be supported. DockingFrames will however not require the newest version of Java to run.
- There are no plans to add any new big shiny features.