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Hacking Module's XML Layer In NetBeans (Part 1)

Contributed By; Varun Nischal

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I am back with another cool trick and some tips to remember as well. I have been involved in Plug-in Module Development for a few weeks, and it is really cool! This is based on the NetBeans Platform, in particular, on the XML layer file, which is a plugin's optional configuration file.

Pre-requisites

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This trick makes use of an existing tutorial, which is the basis on which I have carried out the trick. So, you must give that a read, if you don’t have any prior experience with NetBeans Platform.

Problem Description

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As mentioned in the tutorial, I created an Action Type (CallableSystemAction), made it a Global Menu Item and Toolbar Button. I named the Action Type (Java file) as SayCheez, and display Name as Say Cheez…

Continuing from that, right-click Project & click on Install/Reload in Target Platform in the context-sensitive popup menu (context-menu). Its running successfully!

Following, is the structure of XML Layer (layer.xml), its similar to the one shown in the tutorial, i.e. how it registers the action into the NetBeans IDE.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE filesystem PUBLIC "-//NetBeans//DTD Filesystem 1.1//EN" "http://www.netbeans.org/dtds/filesystem-1_1.dtd">
<filesystem>
    <folder name="Actions">
        <folder name="Tools">        
            <file name="org-nvarun-tat-SayCheez.instance"/>
        </folder>
    </folder>
    <folder name="Menu">
        <folder name="Tools">
            <file name="org-nvarun-tat-SayCheez.shadow">
                <attr name="originalFile" stringvalue="Actions/Tools/org-nvarun-tat-SayCheez.instance"/>
                <attr name="position" intvalue="150"/>
            </file>
            <file name="org-nvarun-tat-separatorAfter.instance">
                <attr name="instanceClass" stringvalue="javax.swing.JSeparator"/>
                <attr name="position" intvalue="175"/>
            </file>
            <file name="org-nvarun-tat-separatorBefore.instance">
                <attr name="instanceClass" stringvalue="javax.swing.JSeparator"/>
                <attr name="position" intvalue="125"/>
            </file>
        </folder>
    </folder>
    <folder name="Toolbars">
        <folder name="Build">
            <file name="org-nvarun-tat-SayCheez.shadow">
                <attr name="originalFile" stringvalue="Actions/Tools/org-nvarun-tat-SayCheez.instance"/>
                <attr name="position" intvalue="325"/>
            </file>
        </folder>
    </folder>
</filesystem>

• Replace "org-nvarun-tat" with your package name, in which SayCheez resides.

Solution

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Now, its time to present the tricks, that would enable you to Add/Remove a registry from XML Layer, and see instant results, and enhanced productivity.

Tricks

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• By Code Deduction
• By Code Replacement

Tips To Remember

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Note, all the above tricks would work for CallableSystemAction only, I have not tested for CookieAction, though it should work for CookieAction as well, if you are working with only Menu Item, Toolbar Button ! For Editor and File Type Context Menu Item, there are some more tricks to be covered in next part of this series.

Version Compatability

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Works with NetBeans 6.0, 6.1 as said above. Try this out on your version, and make sure to notify us if anything goes wrong!

Thank you!

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