Jigloo SWT/Swing GUI Builder for Eclipse and WebSphere

Jigloo SWT/Swing GUI Builder for Eclipse and WebSphere

Current version: 4.0.2 released Sep 19th 2007 (Swing AppFramework v 1.0 support, Mac OSX, Matisse GroupLayout support, Tab order editor for Swing and SWT; non-setter method support; Property categories; palette editor; import beans from archive; improved layout support; alignment assistant; improved L&F support; improved parsing; Eclipse 3.3 supported; bugs fixed; et).
Introduction
Note: Jigloo is free for non-commercial use, but purchase of a Professional License is required for commercial use (after successfully evaluating Jigloo).CloudGarden's Jigloo GUI Builder is a plugin for the Eclipse Java IDE and WebSphere Studio, which allows you to build and manage both Swing and SWT GUI classes.

Jigloo creates and manages code for all the parts of Swing or SWT GUIs as well as code to handle events, and shows you the GUIs as they are being built. Jigloo parses java class files to construct the form that you use when designing your GUI (round-tripping), so it can work on classes that were generated by other GUI builders or IDEs, or hand-coded classes. It can also convert from a Swing GUI to a SWT GUI and vice-versa.

Jigloo is straightforward, fast, powerful, easy to use and fully integrated with Eclipse. It can lead to substantial time-savings for GUI development and maintainance tasks. Jigloo is highly-customizable: the parts of your code which Jigloo will parse can be restricted, and the classes which are instantiated when Jigloo parses your code and constructs the Form editor can be specified using patterns. The code generated by Jigloo can also be customized, and existing code can be re-arranged to follow the preferred style (eg, using getters for GUI elements, or separating elements by blank lines, braces or tagged comments).

Custom classes can be added to forms, and JavaBeans with Customizers and custom properties are supported. In addition, Jigloo supports visual inheritance - it can design classes which extend other custom classes, which may be public, abstract or non-public. Navigation between code and form editors is very easy - with Jigloo highlighting the relevant section of code when the form editor has focus, or the relevant form element when the code editor has focus.Components are added, layouts changed etc, by selecting from a palette, or by options in the right-click context menus. They can be resized and dragged about in the form editor and in the outline view, and their properties, layout constraints and event handlers can be changed easily in a properties editor. Multi-selection of components makes widespread changes easy to perform. Class-changing (eg, from a Composite to a Group, a combo-box to a text field, or to any custom class) can also save design time. The GUI can be "previewed" or run using editor actions.

A basic knowledge of the Swing and SWT components is useful, but not essential - and the javadoc can be easily accessed (by a right-click option) directly from the GUI editor.
Where does the name "Jigloo" come from?1) Jigloo = Jig + gloo - because a jig is used to hold pieces together while being assembled - with glue, or2) Jigloo = J + igloo - because if you can't think of anything better, then start your Java project with a J, and an igloo is a cool building.

Features and Requirements
Eclipse:2.1.*, 3.0*, 3.1*, 3.2*, 3.3
Java:1.3, 1.4, 5 or 6
Platforms:Windows, Linux (gtk) and Mac OSX. It has not been tested on other platforms, but may perform successfully on them

Download & InstallationNotes for Eclipse 2, and Java 1.3 users:

If you are using Jigloo with WebSphere with Eclipse 2, or just Eclipse 2 then you need to modify Jigloo's plugin.xml file to remove the following line: from the section of the file. Then restart Eclipse.
If you are using Java version 1.3 then you need to download this xml.jar file and place it in the jigloo plugin folder, then restart Eclipse.

Installation using update manager:
Please note: if you have installed 4.0 RC1 or RC2 you will need to delete these folders from the plugins and features folders in eclipse before installing version 4.0.You should use the Update Manager in Eclipse to download and install Jigloo - just open it (under "Help->Software Updates->Find and Install"). You will need to create a new remote site entry in the update manager for the Jigloo update-site - the url is: http://cloudgarden1.com/update-siteFor more detailed help, read this.
Installation using zip file:

Please note: if you have installed 4.0 RC1 or RC2 you will need to delete these folders from the plugins and features folders in eclipse before installing version 4.0.Alternatively, you can download the zip file from here. Unzip it into the eclipse folder so that the structure is eclipse/plugins/com.cloudgarden.jigloo_4.0.0

Examples: You can create examples using Eclipse's "New" wizard - in Eclipse, choose "File->New->Other" and under "GUI Forms" you will see an "Examples" section.

Documentation and Tutorials:

Three tutorials come bundled with Jigloo, and can also be viewed online:

A Jigloo Swing Tutorial

A Jigloo SWT Tutorial

A Jigloo Swing Application Framework (JSR 296) Tutorial

The documentation bundle "Jigloo GUI Builder User's Guide" is contained in the Jigloo plugin - after you install Jigloo, open up the "Help->Help Contents" menu in Eclipse and go to the entry for "Jigloo GUI Builder Guide". It is recommended you look at the "Quick Start" section in the Jigloo documentation before using Jigloo in earnest. Also, please read the FAQs, which address some common questions/problems. If you will be running SWT applications inside Eclipse, it is important that you read the "Preparing your project to use the SWT classes" part of the "Getting Started" section of the "Jigloo GUI Builder Guide".