Visual Mobile Designer (VMD):

Develop GUIs rapidly with the Visual Mobile Designer (VMD): Drag and drop components like wait screens, login screens, file browsers, an SMS composer, and splash screens are included. The Analyzer tool helps you decrease file size by identifying unused components for removal, and it also checks for MIDP 1.0 compliance. The VMD also makes GUI localization easier.

NetBeans IDE 6.1 Features :

NetBeans IDE 6.1 Features : 

Create, test, debug and deploy applications that will run on mobile phones, PDAs, set-top boxes, embedded systems — literally billions of devices. Phones, Hand-Held Devices, and Set-Top Boxes

Create, test and debug applications for the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 1.0, 2.0, 2.1 (MSA), the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.0 and 1.1, and the Connected Device Configuration (CDC).  

Visual Mobile Designer:

Develop GUIs rapidly with Version 2 of the Visual Mobile Designer (VMD) Drag and drop components like wait screens, login screens, file browsers, an SMS composer, and splash screens onto a canvas. The VMD also makes GUI localization easier.

Mobile Game Builder: 

Develop mobile games with a visual editor designed for the MIDP 2.0 Game API. The API allows you to create game scenes with sprites on a game canvas using tiled layers and layer management. 
Modular Build System

Enhance the Mobility pack by plugging-in your own components. You can add new platform types, deployment types, configurations providers, and more.

Integrated Tools:

The IDE integrates tools for JMUnit testing, MIDlet signing, certificate management, automatic code obfuscation, integrated over-the-air (OTA) emulation, push registry emulation, WMA emulation for SMS and CBS messages, new deployment methods, and Wireless Messaging and Multimedia APIs. You have complete control over these tool using standard Apache Ant scripts.

Access to Web Services:

Write applications that access web services directly from JSR-172-enabled phones. Use the Wireless Connection Bridge to access web services (or other server-side data) via servlets from any device using MIDlets.

NETBEANS MASTER INDEX

NETBEANS MASTER INDEX :

It consists of NetBeans Tutorials/Articles Categories. 

For example : Netbeans 6 Quick Start ; Editor Features (1) - Edit Hints ; NetBeans 6.0 GUI Builder demo ; Guided Tour of the New NetBeans CVS Support etc. 

The NetBeans IDE 6.1:

Release provides several new features and enhancements, such as rich JavaScript editing features, support for using the Spring web framework, and tighter MySQL integration.

This release also provides improved performance, especially faster startup (up to 40%), lower memory consumption and improved responsiveness while working with large projects.

Testing and Debugging the Project :

Now you will create and run a test for the project using JUnit and then run it in the IDE's debugger to check for errors.

In the JUnit test, you will test the LibClass by passing a phrase to the acrostic method and using an assertion to indicate what you think the result should be.

Creating JUnit Tests>>Right-click the LibClass.java node in the Projects window and choose Tools >Create JUnit Tests (Ctrl-Shift-U). 

If this is the first time you have created JUnit tests in the IDE, you will be prompted with the Select JUnit Version dialog box. Press Enter to select JUnit 4.x and continue to the Create Tests dialog box.

In the Create Tests dialog box, click OK to run the command with the default options. The IDE creates the org.me.mylib package and the LibClassTest.java file in a separate test folder. You can find this file by expanding the Test Packages node and the org.me.mylib subnode.

In LibClassTest.java, delete the body of the public void acrostic() method. 

In place of the deleted lines, type or paste in the following: 

System.err.println("Running testAcrostic...");
String result = LibClass.acrostic(new String[]
  {"fnord", "polly", "tropism"});
  assertEquals("Correct value", "foo", result);

Save the file by pressing Ctrl-S. 

Running JUnit Tests>>Select the MyLib project node and choose Run > Test "MyLib" (Alt-F6).

The MyLib (test) tab opens in the Output window. The JUnit test cases are compiled and run.

The JUnit test result shows that the test passes. 

You can also run a single test file rather than testing the entire project.

Select the LibClass.java tab in the Source Editor and choose Run > Run File > Test "LibClass.java" from the Run menu. 

The JUnit API documentation is available from the IDE. Choose Help > Javadoc References > JUnit API.

You can learn more about JUnit by visiting http://www.junit.org 

Debugging the Project :

In the LibClass.java file, go to the acrostic method and place the insertion point anywhere inside b.append(args[i].charAt(i));. Then press Ctrl-F8 to set a breakpoint. 

Choose Run > Debug Main Project (Ctrl-F5). The IDE opens the Debugger windows and runs the project in the debugger until the breakpoint is reached. 

Select the Local Variables window and expand the args node. The array of strings contains the phrase you entered as the command arguments. 

Click Step Into (F7) in the toolbar to step through the program and watch the acrostic being constructed. 

When the program reaches the end, the debugger windows close.

Setting Up a Web Application Project :

Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N) from the main menu. Under Categories, select Web. Under Projects, select Web Application then click Next.

In Step 2, enter HelloWeb in the Project Name text box. Notice that the Context Path (i.e., on the server) becomes /HelloWeb.

Specify the Project Location to any directory on your computer. For purposes of this tutorial, this directory is referred to as $PROJECTHOME. 

Note: Creating a project in NetBeans IDE 6.1 includes new options which can be left at the default. For example, the Use Dedicated Folder for Storing Libraries checkbox may be left unselected.
If you are using NetBeans IDE 6.1, Click Next; otherwise continue to step 5. 

Select the server to which you want to deploy your application. Only servers that are registered with the IDE are listed. 

Select the version of Java EE you want to use with your application and click Next.

In the Frameworks panel, click Finish to create the project. 

The IDE creates the $PROJECTHOME/HelloWeb project folder. The project folder contains all of your sources and project metadata, such as the project's Ant build script.

The HelloWeb project opens in the IDE. The welcome page, index.jsp, opens in the Source Editor in the main window. You can view the project's file structure in the Files window (Ctrl-2), and its logical structure in the Projects window (Ctrl-1)

Composite View :

A design pattern that is used to present information in JSP pages. This design pattern creates an aggregate view from component views. Component views might include dynamic and modular portions of the page. The Composite View design pattern pertains to web application design when you are creating a view from numerous subviews. Complex web pages frequently consist of content derived from various resources. The layout of the page is managed independently of the content of its subviews. For instance, a view might have subviews such as Navigation, Search, Feature Story, and Headline.

When creating a composite view, you can include static content and dynamic content. Static content might consist of an HTML file. Dynamic content is a fragment of a JSP page. The specific content can be determined at either JSP translation time or at runtime.

Front controllers :

Components that are responsible for routing incoming requests and enforcing navigation in web applications. For more information on the use of the Front Controller design pattern, see the J2EE Patterns catalog.

JSP Pages :

Files that are used in web applications to present information to end users and to enable data from end users to flow back to the server. JSP pages must be placed within a web application in order for the JSP pages to be executable within the IDE.

Servlets :

Java classes that execute within a servlet container, which is typically running within a web server. Servlets are used to do the following:

Generate dynamic content.
Extend the capabilities of web servers and web-enabled application servers.
Interact with web clients (typically a browser application such as Netscape or Internet Explorer) using a request-response paradigm.

Where can I find emulators to use for Mobility projects in Netbeans IDE :

Java ME emulators help developers test applications on multiple devices without actually having to acquire the actual hardware. Most UIQ emulator platforms can be easily registered within the IDE. Even non-UIQ emulators can registered with a bit of extra work. Instructions about adding and changing MIDP emulator platforms in the IDE can be found in the Quick Start Guide. Information about installing CDC emulator platforms can be found in the CDC Emulator Platform Setup Guide.

The Sun Java Wireless Toolkit is bundled in the Mobility and Full installations of the IDE and also available through the Tools > Plugins > Available Plugins menu. Note that the WTK is not bundled with the MacOS X or Solaris distributions of the SDK. (more)

Creating C and C++ Projects :

NetBeans C/C++ support lets you create C and C++ Application and Library projects with generated makefiles, as well as C and C++ projects from existing code.

With a C/C++ Application, Dynamic Library, or Static Library project, the IDE controls all aspects of how your application is built, run, and debugged. You specify project settings when creating the project and in the Project Properties dialog box. The IDE generates a makefile in which all of your settings are stored.

Creating a C/C++ Application Project :

1. Open the New Project wizard by choosing File > New Project.
2. In the wizard, select the C/C++ category.
3. The wizard gives you a choice of four types of new projects: C/C++ Project From Existing Code, C/C++ Application, C/C++ Dynamic Library, and C/C++ Static Library. Select C/C++ Application and click Next.
4. Create a new C/C++ Application project from the wizard using the defaults. You can choose the name of the project and the location of the project.
5. Click Finish to exit the wizard.

A project is created with four logical folders. A logical folder is not a directory.
It is a way for you to organize your files and does not reflect where the files are physically stored on disk.

Files added to logical folders are automatically part of the project and are compiled when you build the project.

Files added to the Important Files folder are not part of the project and are not compiled when you build the project. These files are just for reference and are convenient when you have a project with an existing makefile.

Testing Your Work in Netbeans IDE Ver. 6.X :

Now build and run your project.

1. In the Projects window, right-click the JavaPrj node and choose Build from the pop-up menu.
2. In the Projects window, right-click the JavaPrj node and choose Run from the pop-up menu. The Run Project dialog box appears.
3. In the Run Project dialog box, click OK to select the bankpack.AccountTest as the main class. The IDE executes the application and displays the following output in the Output window.

Version Control in 6.1 beta release :

Developer Collaboration combined with the integrated file version control makes the NetBeans IDE a powerful tool for your distributed development team.

Integrated Version Control Tools The IDE recognizes your existing version-controlled directories automatically. Context menus allow you to quickly update, check out, compare (diff), and rename files, and commit modifications. CVS, Subversion, Mercurial* Choose between the three most popular version control systems: CVS, Subversion or Mercurial. The Subversion implementation supports file, http, https, svn, and svn+ssh authentication protocols. The CVS implementation supports pserver, ext, local and fork authentication protocols. (*) A Mercurial plugin is available from the Plugin Manager (Tools > Plugins). File Status and History Use the Versioning window to see all recent changes in a directory with one glance. Badges and colors on file names inform you about the file status. Get a quick overview of each file's history, read commit log messages, and roll back changes to previous versions if necessary.
Line-Based Diff Viewer New, removed, and modified lines are clearly color-coded in the Editor's left sidebar, and quick navigation marks are placed in the errorstripe to the right. Clicking on the left sidebar allows you to roll back individual changes, or to open the Diff Viewer. Use the Diff Viewer to compare two files side by side, line by line, if immediate and transparent conflict resolution is necessary. The Diff viewer includes a full-featured editor pane so you can resolve merge conflicts in the current file in an intuitive way.
Remote Project Sharing With the Developer Collaboration plugin* you share NetBeans projects in real time over the network. You can review your partners' work, or allow them to make remote changes to your project: All invited parties are able to compile, debug, profile, and run the shared application, and you can watch each other make changes to the source code. Developer Collaboration Chat Discuss source code in style with remote developers: The Developer Collaboration plugin* allows you to send instant messages in plain text, XML, HTML, or Java, complete with syntax highlighting.

Editor's Features in 6.1 beta release :

Editor 6.1 Features :

The language-aware editor highlights code syntactically and semantically, and assists you with smart code-completion and improved navigation.

Language-Aware Editor An IDE is much more than a text editor. The NetBeans editor indents lines, matches words and brackets, and highlights source code syntactically and semantically. The editor supports several languages including Java, Ruby, C/C++, XML, HTML, RHTML, JavaScript, and JSP. It can be extended to support any other language.
Live Parsing The IDE parses the source code live while you type. This way the editor is able to immediately mark errors and highlight occurences. Tooltips and editor glyphs unobtrusively display hints, quick fixes, warnings and language documentation. Refactoring The IDE's refactoring actions allow you to restructure code without breaking it. For example, when you rename an identifier or move a method to another class, don't use Search and Replace: The IDE can identify and update all occurences instantly.
Smart Code Completion The editor provides automatic code completion in several languages, including Java, Ruby, XML, C/C++, HTML, RHTML, JSP, and JavaScript. While you type, it lists possible completions: The most obvious and common options are listed at the top, but you can always choose from the full set of options at the bottom. Go to File, Go to Type Open any file or type with one quick keyboard shortcut, or go directly to a declaration with a single click. In the Go To dialogs you can type in file or type names using camel case and even wild cards, and do a case sensitive search over all open projects.
Insert Code The editor can generate code for you in Java or Ruby. A dialog is provided to give you complete control over which methods are created and which class attributes they access. You can override methods and generate dynamic code blocks such as loops, javadoc and accessors. With a few keystrokes you insert commonly used code snippets from live templates, including a rich set of surround-with code.
Inspect Members Inspect the members of any Java class in a convenient popup window. Use filters to control the level of detail that is displayed. Inspect Hierarchy Inspect the hierarchy of any Java class in a convenient popup window that can display base classes and interfaces and derived classes and interfaces. Use filters to control the level of detail that is displayed.
File History You can always use a file's Local History to view recent modifications and revert changes, even if the file is not handled by a version control system. Navigation Use the Navigator's Members and Hierarchy Inspectors to navigate within files fast. The error stripe gives you an immediate overview of all highlighted lines in a file: With a single click, you jump to errors, hints, annotations, or search results. Fully Configurable User Interface Use keyboard shortcuts or click configurable toolbar icons to access tools for compiling, refactoring, profiling, debugging and unit testing. Editor fonts and colors can be fully customized. All windows can be individually positioned and split vertically or horizontally.

Required Software for 6.1

Required Software for 6.1 :

NetBeans IDE runs on the J2SE (Java SE Development Kit) JDK 5.0 Update 14 and higher (including JDK 6.0), which consists of the Java Runtime Environment plus developer tools for compiling, debugging, and running applications written in the Java language.

You can download the JDK for your platform from one of the sites listed below:

• Solaris: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
• Windows: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
• Linux: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
• Mac OS X: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/javaformacosx104release5.html (Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later). Java upgrades for Mac OS-X are also available via Apple's Software Update mechanism.
• Open VMS: http://h18012.www1.hp.com/java/download/index.html

Note: You can download archived versions of the JDK at http://java.sun.com/products/archive/index.html.

Recommended Hardware Configurations for 6.1

Recommended Hardware Configurations

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2:
  
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 1 GB of free disk space


• Microsoft Windows Vista:
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 1 GB of free disk space


• Ubuntu 7.x:
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space


• Red Hat EL 4:
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV or equivalent
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space


• Solaris OS version 10 (SPARC):
  • Processor: UltraSPARC IIIi 1 GHz
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space


• Solaris OS version 10 (x86/x64 platform edition):
  • Processor: AMD Opteron 1200 Series 2.8 GHz
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space


• Macintosh OS X 10.4.9 Intel:
  • Processor: Dual-Core Intel
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space


• Macintosh OS X 10.4.9 PPC:
  • Processor: PowerPC G5
  • Memory: 1 GB
  • Disk space: 850 MB of free disk space
  For more information, see Using NetBeans on Mac OS X.

Supported Technologies :

NetBeans IDE 6.1 Beta supports the following technologies and has been tested with the following application servers. If you plan to use versions of JBoss, WebLogic, or Struts other than those explicitly listed, please note that you may encounter unpredictable IDE behavior as a result of the technologies being external interfaces which the project team has little or no control over.

6.1 beta release new features addition :

What's New in 6.1 Beta Release :

NetBeans IDE 6.1 is a significant update to NetBeans IDE 6.0 and includes the following changes:

• A new window system that includes transparency.
• Sharability of projects. This new feature in default Java, Web and all J2EE project types allows to create projects that share definitions of libraries. That in turn allows to create self-contained projects or set of projects that can be built from the command line, on continuous integration servers and by users of other IDEs without problems.
• Javadoc and sources association. Now any JAR item on the project classpath can be associated with its Javadoc and sources too.
• JSF CRUD Generator. With this feature, you can generate a JavaServer Faces CRUD application from JPA entity classes.
• New MySQL support in Database Explorer. This feature allows you to register a MySQL Server, view databases, view, create, and delete databases, easily create and open connections to these databases, and to launch the administration tool for MySQL. This also allows you to easily create NetBeans sample databases so that following tutorials, blogs, and so on is significantly easier.
• Inspect Members and Hierarchy Widnows. Inspect Members and Hierarchy actions now work when the caret in the Java Editor is on a Java class for which there is no source available.
• Support for Java Beans. You can now view Java Bean patterns in the Navigator and BeanInfo Editor.
• Javadoc Code Completion. Editing of javadoc comments is more convenient with code completion.
• JavaScript support.
• Spring Framework Support.
• On Demand Binding Attribute for Visual Web JSF projects.
• Axis2 support for web services.
• SOAP UI integration for Web Service testing and monitoring.
• The integration of the December 2007 through February 2008 bug fixes listed on the following page: http://wiki.netbeans.org/wiki/view/NetBeans6.0PatchesInfo.

For information about the main development features in NetBeans IDE, see the NetBeans IDE 6.1 Information page.

6.1 Beta Release Feature Highlights

6.1 Beta Release Feature Highlights :

JavaScript Support Semantic Highlighting Code Completion and Type Analysis Quick Fixes and Semantic Checks Refactoring

Performance Enhancements Up to 40% faster startup Smarter parsing so that code completion is faster Less memory consumption

Spring Framework Support Bundled Spring Framework 2.5 library Wizards for XML configuration files and Spring Web MVC controllers Code completion of bean names and Java classes and properties Spring Web MVC framework support in web project

New MySQL Support in Database Explorer Register MySQL servers View, create, and delete databases Easy launch of the administration tool for MySQL

Java Beans Support Bean Patterns in Navigator Generate Bean Property BeanInfo Editor

JSF CRUD Generator Quickly create a database application Supports one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many entity relationships

Ruby/JRuby Support Editor enhancements, including new hints and fixes Support for JRuby fast debugging Platform Manager Server and database integration improvements in Rails projects

Javadoc Code Completion Supports standard tags: @param, etc. Code completion for parameters, exceptions, etc.

Sharing Projects (AKA Sharable Libraries) More easily share projects with other members of your team through version control systems Specify libraries using relative library path for default Java, Web, and all Java EE project types Declare project dependencies with relative library paths Enable unattended builds for your projects

• New Update Center Modules

• ClearCase Support

• AXIS Support

• SOAP UI Support

NetBeans IDE 6.1 Beta Release Overview :

The NetBeans IDE is a modular, standards-based, integrated development environment (IDE) written in the Java programming language. The NetBeans project consists of an open source IDE and an application platform, which can be used as a generic framework to build any kind of application.

The NetBeans IDE 6.1 release provides several features and enhancements, such as rich JavaScript editing features, support for using the Spring web framework, tighter MySQL integration, and better mechanisms for projects to share use of libraries. The acclaimed support for Ruby/JRuby has been enhanced with new editor quick fixes, a Ruby platform manager, fast debug support for JRuby, and many other new features and fixes.

By popular demand, the bean pattern and JSF CRUD generation features that were missing in the 6.0 release have returned. In addition, early versions of new modules, such as ClearCase support, are available as plugins. This release also provides improved performance, especially faster startup (up to 40%), lower memory consumption and improved responsiveness while working with large projects. See below for a list of features in this release.