If you're writing an app with lots of options and would like to
create an edit dialog to allow the user to change them then
BeanPeeler could be for you. It allows your app to display
such a dialog without going to the trouble of writing it yourself.
BeanPeeler is a property sheet allowing you to customize javabeans.
It's similar to the property sheets that you get in IDEs such as
Netbeans' Forte that you use to customise components when you
drop them onto a form. It examines a bean for any read/write
properties and constructs a property sheet using dropdown boxes
for properties such as booleans which have discrete values and
textboxes for strings and numbers.
Why is this useful? Well, if you are writing a program
that has many options then it saves you having to write
your own editor dialog. Simply expose the properties you
want to edit in the usual javabeans way: write
and methods for them. You can have more control
over which ones appear in the dialog by using a BeanInfo
class. In the example below I've subclassed a Label and just
exposed the methods for setting the text string,
colours and font. Clicking on the button invokes
which pops up the dialog to allow you to edit the properties.
