One file to rule them all
This is the fourth post in a series of posts that offer a preview of the new features in the upcoming UltraLightClient ’08 release. The first post was about forms, the second post discusses invisible table models, the third post introduced the new application services. This post describes how to configure an UltraLightClient ’08 application.
UltraLightClient ’08 will provide an ultra easy way to configure your application. Currently, the application configuration is distributed in several places. And, the configuration method differs from place to place:
| Environment | Configuration Method |
| Applet launcher | Java code and/or HTML tags |
| JNLP launcher | Java code and/or Runtime arguments |
| Servlet container | Java code and/or init parameters in the Servlet deployment descriptor |
| Development setup | Java code and/or static properties of the DevelopmentRunner class |
For example, to change the look and feel of your application you have to code this in your Applet launcher, your JNLP launcher, and your DevelopmentRunner. Or to configure a custom carrier stream provider (to compress transferred data or not), you have to code this in your Applet launcher, your JNLP launcher, your DevelopmentRunner. And for this configuration option you have to be careful to match the Servlet deployment descriptor to your client-side code changes. The result is error prone and redundant code.
This will change in UltraLightClient ’08!
UltraLightClient ’08 provides one central configuration file that holds all the configuration information. The configuration file format is an XML file. This format enables your IDE to provide code completion and documentation for the configuration options. This support makes it a lot easier and less error prone to configure your application than before:
As an example, let’s change the look and feel for your application. The <ulc:lookAndFeel> tag configures the look and feel to be used by all client environments. All environments read this configuration file and configure themselves accordingly. No need to write custom launchers or custom DevelopmentRunners! The configuration file that sets the system look and feel looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ulc:ULCApplicationConfiguration xmlns:ulc="http://www.canoo.com/ulc"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.canoo.com/ulc ULCApplicationConfiguration.xsd ">
<ulc:applicationName>
com.canoo.ulc.testproject.view.HelloApplication
</ulc:applicationName>
<ulc:lookAndFeel>
<ulc:standardLookAndFeel>SYSTEM</ulc:standardLookAndFeel>
</ulc:lookAndFeel>
</ulc:ULCApplicationConfiguration>
Summary: UltraLightClient ’08 makes it ultra easy to configure your application. No more need to write custom launchers and custom DevelopmentRunners.
Try out the new features in the latest milestone. Send us your feedback and help improve the UltraLightClient ’08 release!
