I'm recently writing a javafx application and in one of its parts the client must wait for the server to get a list of people and after getting the list it must be used in a listview that is going to be added to a parent. That parent is and fxml file and after loading it I want to know if it is possible to add the vbox containing the listview to the parent or not. I'd be grateful if anyone could help...
From your question I gather you are not familiar with the idea of a controller or the associated FXML injection performed by a FXMLLoader. This answer by James_D goes over the very basics of the JavaFX lifecycle but it first goes over the basics of the procedure involved when loading a FXML file. If you want to modify the scene-graph that is loaded via FXML then you need to use a controller class with the appropriate FXML annotated fields. For example, let's say your parent is a BorderPane. In your FXML file you'd have:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane?>
<BorderPane fx:id="parent" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/10.0.1"
fx:controller="some.package.YourController">
<top>
<!-- maybe have something like a MenuBar here -->
</top>
<bottom>
<!-- maybe have a some type of status bar here -->
</bottom>
</BorderPane>
Notice the fx:controller attribute; it is the class name of the class to instantiate and use as a controller. Also note the fx:id attribute. In your controller class you'd have:
package some.package;
import javafx.scene.layout.BorderPane;
import javafx.fxml.FXML;
public class YourController {
#FXML
private BorderPane parent; // field name matches the fx:id attribute
#FXML
private void initialize() {
// do any initializing if needed (if not, get rid of this method)
// you can access and modify any FXML injected field from this method
}
}
Then you can use the parent via the controller instance. You could also create and link event handler methods in the controller and do certain behavior based on user actions. It's important to note, however, that how you change the state of the UI in the controllers depends on how you access you model classes. You'll need to have the model available to your controller and possibly have it shared between mutliple controllers. There are a decent number of questions/answers on Stack Overflow about how to do this already.
Here is another resource that may help you: Introduction to FXML.
New to javaFx and wanting to use scenebuilder for GUI development, i've come across an issue with no luck searching the website nor the web in general for my problem, although similar questions have been asked, thought a different perspective could be needed. I am trying to load an FXML file through Netbeans after a quick build to test functionality so the code is simple, but i cannot get the root file to be set in the controller. my code is the following
public class Divergex extends Application {
#Override
public void start(Stage stage) throws Exception {
Parent root = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("DivergexGUI.fxml"));
Scene scene = new Scene(root);
scene.setRoot(root);
stage.setScene(scene);
stage.show();
}
Ive tried suggestions in changing fxroot to a Vbox with no luck, i continue to get a Load exception on the compile :
Exception in Application start method...
Caused by: javafx.fxml.LoadException: Root hasn't been set. Use method setRoot() before load.
yet when i use
scene.setRoot(root);
the same exception is experienced
i've narrowed the issue down to the fact that my FXML file is unable to be set as a root in the Parent object but have had no luck in tackling this. Any suggestions would be great thanks.
<fx:root> specifies a "dynamic root" for your FXML file; this means the root of the FXML file is an object that is set on the loader prior to loading the file. This is typically used for custom controls, where you want the control to be a subclass of Node that can be instantiated using regular Java code, but want to define its layout using FXML. Proper use of <fx:root> (or at least an example of how it can be used) is shown in the standard documentation. In particular, if you use <fx:root> you must:
Create an FXMLLoader instance, instead of using the static convenience FXMLLoader.load(URL) method
Call setRoot(...) on that instance, and pass in the object that is to be the root of the FXML.
For standard FXML use, you just use a regular instance declaration as the root. Almost every example available works this way: probably the best place to start is the official tutorial. In your case, since you want a VBox, you probably just need
<VBox xmlns="javafx.com/javafx/8"; xmlns:fx="javafx.com/fxml/1"; fx:controller="divergex.DivergexGUIController">
<!-- ... -->
</VBox>
Edit If Netbeans is giving you issues, I recommend using Eclipse with the e(fx)clipse plugin. There's a very barebones, but pretty much all you need, tutorial.
uncheck id::root in scence builder
or change id::root to vbox
Just you should not use fx:root construct in scene builder.
so remove this line of code from the fxml file.
For example: <fx:root prefHeight="246.0" prefWidth="479.0" type="AnchorPane" xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/8.0.141" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="application.mycontroller">
When you create FXML file with the help of Scene Builder. It uses fx: root as a pane. Replace it with Anchor Pane
AnchorPane xmlns="http://javafx.com/javafx/11.0.1" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml/1" fx:controller="sample.controller.Controller
It works for me. Anyone can try, it may help for you
Is it possible in a FXML-file to include another FXML-file that describes for example a menubar?
Yes it is. For example:
FXMLLoader loader =
new FXMLLoader(this.getClass().getResource("YourFXML.fxml"));
tabPane.getTabs().get(0).setContent((Node) loader.load());
With the setContent Method I could set a FXML as the Content of this tab.
In other panes you could do the same. An anchorpane could do:
anchorpane.getChildren().add((Node) loader.load());
Hope that helps you ;)
How to get elements or nodes from FXML file using Java, I know the way by using initialization or by setting controller class in FxmL . But I need to do it without any controller. I want to access the nodes inside the fxml file using.
My FXML COde:
HBox fx:id="hbx" id="hbx" alignment="CENTER_RIGHT" prefHeight="100.0"
prefWidth="200.0" BorderPane.alignment="CENTER"
My java Code
System.out.println(par.lookupAll("hbx"));
See my Code above, could you give me a hint?
After loading the FXML file, you can use Node#lookup():
Node node = fxmlParentPane.lookup("#nodeId");
As I understand it, when using FXML to describe a Java FX scene, the controller class is written manually and it's member variables and methods can then be referenced from the .fxml file. When loading the scene using the FXMLLoader, member variables are set to the corresponding scene elements and methods are wired up to the corresponding events automatically. This works but is very cumbersome as changes need to be done in two places and any mistakes will only show up at runtime.
I've seen other GUI frameworks that allow you to instead generate the controller from a scene description as an abstract class which needs to be implemented to access the scene elements and handle the events. An example of what I mean:
I would create the following .fxml file (e.g. using the JavaFX Scene Builder):
<AnchorPane ... >
<children>
<Button fx:id="button" ... text="Button" onAction="#buttonPressed" />
</children>
</AnchorPane>
Somewhere in my build process, the following .java file would be created (e.g. using a Maven plugin):
abstract class TestController {
protected final Parent root;
protected final Button button;
{
// Load test.fxml file
// Assign scene elements to root and button
// Attach event handler to the button that calls buttonClicked()
}
protected abstract void buttonClicked(ActionEvent event);
}
I could then, possibly multiple times, create a concrete implementation of that controller:
final class TestControllerImpl extends TestController {
TestControllerImpl(String buttonLabel) {
button.setText(buttonLabel);
}
#Override
protected void buttonClicked(ActionEvent event) {
button.setText("I've been clicked! What a great day!");
}
}
Is there a project with the goal to do this? Or is there a problem with this approach applied to FXML?
I see the following benefits from this approach:
Declarations for member variables and methods for the controller are automatically generated.
All member variables are final and protected instead of non-final and either public or annotated.
The same for methods, they are protected instead of either public or annotated.
Not implementing a method or misspelling it's name will lead to a compiler error.
Programmatic setup of the scene can be done in the constructor instead of an initialize() method because the constructor will run after the scene has been loaded and its elements assigned to the member variables.
This is now supported in SceneBuilder, NetBeans and in Eclipse. Note this works out of the box in NetBeans and SceneBuilder, but in Eclipse you first need the e(fx)clipse plugin.
SceneBuilder:
With an FXML file open in the editor, enter the menu to select "View" and "Show Sample Controller Skeleton".
Eclipse:
Open the fxml file so the contents are displayed in the code editing pane (you should see the fxml as plaintext xml with syntax highlighting inside Eclipse, not rendered visually in SceneBuilder). Right-click on the code in Eclipse and select "Code" and then "Generate Controller".
NetBeans:
In NetBeans it is even easier, right-click the fxml file in the project explorer and select "Make Controller".
Update Nov 2020
This answer is now outdated.
As various more recent answers have pointed out, there are now a variety of additional different tools available for automatically generating FXML controller classes from FXML documents. Many of these are targeted as extensions, features or plugins to existing development tools, such as SceneBuilder, Idea, Eclipse or NetBeans.
I suggest that interested readers review both this answer and other answers to this question, then look at their individual use-case and toolset chain and choose the solution which is most appropriate for them from the available choices.
There is nothing I know that does exactly what you propose in your question.
Likely this answer will probably end up pretty outdated over time.
Alternate Technologies
JRuby achieves most of your outlined benefits using a slightly different approach - it uses jRuby's dynamic programming magic to automatically create Ruby class members from the FXML dynamically a runtime.
Tom Schindl wrote a tool which generates Java code from FXML. Of the approaches listed in this answer, Tom's tool seems closest to your question.
SceneBuilder Skeletons
A similar Java code generator from FXML is available in SceneBuilder View | Show Sample Controller Skeleton feature, which is described in this blog post. When I use SceneBuilder, I use this feature all the time and try to keep my controllers really light so they are almost all auto generated code from the SceneBuilder skeleton feature.
It is slightly annoying though because it doesn't achieve a clean separation of generated code from hand written code, so you need to be careful when you do updates to the FXML and want to generate a new skeleton and copy and paste it over parts of your existing Controller (plus that is a slightly error prone manual operation that takes a little bit of developer time).
Source code for SceneBuilder is available if you want to see how it works.
Potential Build Tool Plugins
Such a code generation feature might make a worthwhile addition to some of the existing build tools in the JavaFX ecosystem, such as the JavaFX Maven plugin or JavaFX Gradle plugin (or a separate plugin in it's own right).
Future Development
I believe that Oracle are also working on a feature extension for FXML for a future JavaFX release (post Java 8) which compiles FXML directly to Java byte code (class files), bypassing the Java source code step. This kind of feature would probably achieve most of your outlined benefits.
It is possible with NetBeans version 8.
Open FXML , go to Source and click generate controller.
Edit: Now can be done in any IDE , Eclipse needs a plugin thought.
For Intellij Idea IDE users, FXMLManager to the rescue. See the plugin homepage
"When clicking right mouse button on .fxml file, there is new menu item "Update Controller from FXML".
Clicking this item will modify FXML Java Controller:
Remove all #FXML fields that are missing in FXML and their getters/setters
Add all #FXML fields that are missing in Controller
#Deprecate all ActionEvent methods that are missing in FXML
Create all ActionEvent methods that are missing from Controller"
As I know, there are two kind of solutions exist in netbeans.
First, netbeans's internal feature "Make Controller", which you can see with right mouse click on the fxml document. it will generate controller class which will work with FXMLLoader. The controller's java file name should be indicated in the fxml document. (left panel -> Controller -> Controller class)
Parent root = FXMLLoader.load(getClass().getResource("FXMLDocument.fxml"));
Second, netbeans's plugin "FXML 2 JAVA Converter", which you can install from menu (Tool -> Plugin -> Available Plugin -> FXML 2 JAVA Converter). and you can see "Generate Abstract Class" menu item with right mouse click on the fxml document. It will generate source code from fxml document and you can use it as an abstract class without using FXMLLoader like normal JavaFX project not JavaFXML project.
Now you can easily do it with eclipse Just do these simple steps :
Go to your fxml file that you want to create Controller for
Right Click and Click source
Click Generate Controller
Click here to see the Picture of How to do it.
If you're using IntelliJ ide, you may have to try FXML Helper plugin.
First, install the plugin from the File | Settings... | Plugins. After the installation restart the ide, Now right click on the .fxml document and select the FXML Helper menu. That`s all.
#Feuermurmel
no there is not any ways to generate automatically controller class for particula .fxml file.
you should define dynamically declare variable and method with anotation #fxml and set(bind) in scence builder.