About This Tutorial

1 Hello World, JavaFX Style

• Construct the Application
• Run the Application
• Where to Go Next

2 Creating a Form in JavaFX

• Create the Project
• Create a GridPane Layout
• Add Text, Labels, and Text Fields
• Add a Button and Text
• Add Code to Handle an Event
• Run the Application
• Where to Go from Here

3 Fancy Forms with JavaFX CSS

• Create the Project
• Create the CSS File
• Add a Background Image
• Style the Labels
• Style Text
• Style the Button
• Where to Go from Here

4 Using FXML to Create a User Interface

• Set Up the Project
• Load the FXML Source File
• Modify the Import Statements
• Create a GridPane Layout
• Add Text and Password Fields
• Add a Button and Text
• Add Code to Handle an Event
• Use a Scripting Language to Handle Events
• Style the Application with CSS
• Where to Go from Here

5 Animation and Visual Effects in JavaFX

• Set Up the Application
• Set Up the Project
• Add Graphics
• Add a Visual Effect
• Create a Background Gradient
• Apply a Blend Mode
• Add Animation
• Where to Go from Here

6 Deploying Your First JavaFX Application

• Deployment Modes
• Packaging the Application in NetBeans IDE
  • Sizing the Application Window
• Running the Application Outside NetBeans IDE
• Deploying the Packaged Files
• Other Ways to Package JavaFX Applications

Gail Chappell

Technical Writer, Oracle

Gail is part of the JavaFX documentation team and enjoys working on cutting-edge, innovative documentation.

Nancy Hildebrandt

Technical Writer, Oracle

Nancy is a technical writer in the JavaFX group. She has a background in content management systems, enterprise server-client software, and XML. She lives on 480 acres in the middle of nowhere with horses, a donkey, dogs, cats, and chickens, and stays connected by satellite.

Deployment Modes

JavaFX applications can be run in several ways:

• Launch as a desktop application from a JAR file or self-contained application launcher

• Launch from the command line using the Java launcher

• Launch by clicking a link in the browser to download an application

• View in a web page when opened

Packaging the Application in NetBeans IDE

When you run your application in NetBeans IDE or use the Clean and Build command, your application is packaged for all modes of JavaFX deployment, using options that are set as project properties. By default, applications are packaged into the following files as shown inFigure 6-1:

• A JAR file, which contains the compiled class files and images.

• A JNLP file, which contains a deployment descriptor for the two web modes (Web Start and embedded in browser).

• An HTML file, which contains basic code for running both the Web Start application and the embedded application using the Deployment Toolkit.

• A web-files folder, which contains an offline set of files from the Java Deployment Toolkit to assist with starting up your application. For more information about using the Java Deployment Toolkit in JavaFX applications, see "Deployment in the Browser" at
  http://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/deployment/deployment_toolkit.htm

Figure 6-1 Example of Default Application Packaging

Description of "Figure 6-1 Example of Default Application Packaging"

Optionally, you can package your application as a self-contained application in NetBeans IDE by adding the task shown inExample 6-1 to the build.xml file.

<project name="ColorfulCircles" default="default" basedir="."        xmlns:fx="javafx:com.sun.javafx.tools.ant">    target name="-post-jfx-deploy">        <fx:deploy width="${javafx.run.width}" height="${javafx.run.height}"                   nativeBundles="all"                   outdir="${basedir}/${dist.dir}" outfile="${application.title}">            <fx:application name="${application.title}"                            mainClass="${javafx.main.class}"/>            <fx:resources>                <fx:fileset dir="${basedir}/${dist.dir}" includes="*.jar"/>            </fx:resources>            <fx:info title="${application.title}" vendor="${application.vendor}"/>        </fx:deploy>    </target></project>

A self-contained application runs similar to the way in which a native application runs. The self-contained application package contains your application, the JRE, the JavaFX runtime, and a platform-specific application launcher. An example of a package is shown inFigure 6-2. For additional information, seeSelf-Contained Application Packaging.

Figure 6-2 Example of a Self-Contained Application Package

Description of "Figure 6-2 Example of a Self-Contained Application Package"

Running the Application Outside NetBeans IDE

To run the packaged application outside NetBeans IDE, go to the dist subdirectory of your application project directory and do the following:

• To run the application in standalone mode, double-click the JAR file.

• To run as a Web Start application, either click the link in the HTML page in your browser or double-click the JNLP file. The advantage of using the link in the browser is that the web page contains logic that uses the Deployment Toolkit, which checks to ensure that the minimum required version of both the Java and JavaFX Runtimes are installed on the user's system.

• To run the application in a web page, open the HTML file in a browser.

  
  

  Note: If you open the HTML file in Google Chrome, you might have to click eitherRun this time orAlways run on this site to enable the Java plug-in, as shown inFigure 6-3. Then reload the page to run the application.

  
  

  Figure 6-3 Plug-In Message in Google Chrome

  
  
  
  

  Note: For applications that include FXML markup, NetBeans IDE adds a digital signature to the JAR file by default to ensure that it will run on the web. For more information about packaging FXML applications and FXML deployment, see http://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/fxml_get_started/fxml_deployment.htm

  
  

• To run a self-contained application package, go to the folder that contains the application. If you are running on a Windows or Linux platform, click the launcher file for the application. If you are running on a Mac platform, double click the application folder.

Deploying the Packaged Files

With the Java 7 Runtime and later, you can move the deployment files to other locations without changing any configuration properties in the deployment descriptor (which means the contents of the JNLP file). The files required for each deployment mode are shown inTable 6-1.

Other Ways to Package JavaFX Applications

Instead of using NetBeans IDE to package your deployment files, you can also use the JavaFX Packager tool or a custom Ant task. All of these tools generate a default HTML file with application launch descriptors that you manually copy into your web page, but you can optionally generate the application launch descriptors directly into your own HTML pages using an input template. You can also customize many other aspects of application startup and execution. For more information, seeDeploying JavaFX Applications at
http://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/deployment/jfxpub-deployment.htm