Release Notes

February 11, 2009

 

About UltraLightClient '08 Update 2

UltraLightClient '08 Update 2 includes the following new features:

Feature	Description
Enhancements in Eclipse project generator	In addition to the template project for a database application the Eclipse project generator can now generate an empty project.
Enhancements in application framework	You can now specify data types and borders in your resource files. And you can specify the styles for your components in your program code, e.g. in a form builder.
New ULCColorChooser component
Premium Support Fixes	This release contains fixes and features that were reported to the premium support mailing list.

Please see the UltraLightClient '08 Update 1 release notes for previous release notes.

The sections Fixed Bugs and Implemented Feature Requests give an overview of the most important differences between UltraLightClient '08 Update 1 and UltraLightClient '08 Update 2.

To migrate from UltraLightClient '08 Update 1 to UltraLightClient '08 Update 2, please see the migration notes.

 

Version Notes

UltraLightClient requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.4.2 or later on the server and on the client. Some addons (e.g. the application framework) require JRE 1.5 or later on the server-side.

To deploy an UltraLightClient application in a JEE server, the server needs to support either at least the Servlet 2.4 specification or at least the EJB 2.1 specification.

 

Modules, Parts and Release Structure

The UltraLightClient release includes all components required to successfully develop and deploy UltraLightClient applications. The UltraLightClient modules, parts, packages, and the structure of the current release are described in the following sections.

 

Modules

The UltraLightClient release is split into modules. Each module belongs to exactly one of five categories:

• All
  All UltraLightClient classes.
  For convenience, contains all other modules (except samples).
• Base
  The UltraLightClient core.
  Always needed, for development and deployment.
• Container
  Server-side integrations into containers, e.g. Servlet, EJB.
  Only needed for server deployment.
• Environment
  Client-side integrations into environments, e.g. Applet, JNLP.
  Only needed for client deployment.
• Addon
  Utilities and extensions, e.g. application framework, test framework, QTP integration.
  Only needed on demand.
• Sample
  Samples demonstrating the usage of UltraLightClient, e.g. Hello, ULCSet, OnlineShop.
  Not needed during development or deployment.

The category and module names are reflected in the directory structure of the release, e.g. environment/applet for the applet module that belongs to the environement category.

A module directory contains subdirectories with the following contents:

• lib
  Jar files that contain the module classes.
  For sample and add-on modules the required libraries.
• resource
  Only for sample modules: the required resources, e.g. images, property files
• src
  Either complete source code or source stubs.
  The source stubs are used to enable code completions in IDEs.
• webapp
  Only for sample modules: ready to deploy web application, i.e. war files

 

Parts

Each of these modules can contain up to four parts:

• Client
  Contains classes to be deployed on the client side.
  Runs inside the sandbox.
• Trusted
  Contains classes to be deployed on the client side.
  Does not run inside the sandbox. The additional permissions required depend on the module.
• Server
  Contains classes to be deployed on the server side.
• Development
  Contains all classes needed during development, i.e. the client, trusted, and server parts plus some additional development classes.

The part names are reflected in the filename of the jar files in the lib and src directory of the corresponding module, e.g. ulc-applet-client.jar and ulc-applet-client-src.jar for the classes and source stubs of the applet module that have to be deployed on the client side.

 

Release Structure

>ULC_HOME<	UltraLightClient home directory
addon       applicationframework       generators       testframework       qtpintegration	Add-ons to the UltraLightClient base framework
base	UltraLightClient base framework
all	For convenience, all UltraLightClient classes
container       ejb       servlet       local	Server integrations including EJB container integration and Servlet container integration and integration into local container for stand-alone (single JVM) ULC applications.
doc       addon        ULCQTPIntegrationGuide.pdf        ULCTestFrameworkGuide.pdf       apidoc       ULCArchitectureGuide.pdf       ULCApplicationDevelopmentGuide.pdf       ULCDeploymentGuide.pdf       ULCEssentialsGuide.pdf       ULCExtensionGuide.pdf       ULCInstallGuide.pdf       ULCReferenceGuide.pdf       ULCTestFramework.pdf       ULCWhitePaper.pdf	UltraLightClient documentation
environment       applet       jnlp       standalone	Client environment integration for applet deployment, JNLP deployment, and standalone deployment.
license	the jar file with the deployment license key
previous_releasenotes	Previous release notes
sample       hello       onlineshop       pie       teammembers       tomcat       trusted       ulcdndset       ulcset	Sample applications with ready to run Tomcat Servlet container
build.txt	Contains the build number
LicenseAgreement.pdf	The license Agreement
releasenotes.html	This document

 

Fixed Bugs

PR	Description	Comments
UBA-7048	NPE when the default icons for leaf, open and closed nodes are missing or removed from UIDefaults in the L&F.
UBA-7424	ULCTableOperator.findCell() should not assume that view column index == model column index
UBA-7591	Using EaSynthLookAndFeel with ULCTableTree results in StackOverFlowError
UBA-7601	ULCMenuBar.getParent() always returns null
UBA-7605	Unable to run multiple Applets with Java 6 Update 10
UBA-7616	NullPointerException in table binding when adding a bean with indexed properties
UBA-7618	Generated application does not run in Internet Explorer
UBA-7619	ULCTable with hidden columns throws IndexOutOfBounds exception while requesting renderers.
UBA-7620	ULCTable with hidden columns throws IndexOutOfBounds exception while requesting cell editors.
UBA-7624	Sorting / modifying an unsorted table with selection may results in an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
UBA-7627	Adding an empty list to a sorted observable list in table binding results in exception
UBA-7632	ULC's renderer / editor implementation should not ignore value typeString value to enable client side renderer / editor code
UBA-7636	Dragging large number of rows and columns from ULCTable results in OutOfMemory error.	Drag image considers only selected cells that are visible.
UBA-7639	Properties instances are wrong encoded
UBA-7643	Default value for titlePosition property of ULCTitledBorder should be DEFAULT_POSITION instead of TOP
UBA-7646	Having a RowSorter on a ULCTable with null TableHeader results in NPE on the client side.
UBA-7647	ULCTableOperator.getTableHeader() does not return ULCTableHeaderOperator.
UBA-7670	Dragging unuploaded rows in ULCTable will result in wrong transfer data	Drag data only considers selected cells that already have been uploaded.

 

Implemented Feature Requests

PR	Description	Comments
UBA-7528	All AbstractFormBuilder methods that add a component should enable the use of resources to resolve property values	AbstractFormBuilder.startTab() => The key prefix into the resource map is .Tab., e.g. general.Tab.title=General general.Tab.icon=general.png general.Tab.tip=Tooltip of the tab !! AbstractFormBuilder.addLabel() => The key prefix into the resource map is .Label., e.g. general.Label.text=General AbstractFormBuilder.addTitle() => The key prefix into the resource map is .Label., e.g. general.Label.text=General
UBA-7534	ULCComboBoxOperator.selectItem takes too long or even times out.
UBA-7542	Allow to set and get styles via API	New API: LayoutParameter.style() LayoutParameter.getStyle() Style can be set as client property: ULCComponent.putClientProperty(ResourceMap.STYLE_CLIENT_PROPERTY, "Header");
UBA-7544	Provide additional resource converters	New converters for IDataType subclasses: ULCDateDataType => Date(formatPattern,twoDigitYearStartYear) ULCNumberDataType => Number(formatPattern,localeString,min,max,roundingMode) ULCPercentDataType => Percent(localeString,fractionalDigits,roundingMode,groupingUsed) ULCRegularExpressionDataType => Regexp(validateExpression, inputFilterExpression) ULCStringDataType => String(maxLength,mode,ignoreLongStringCompeletely) New converters for ULCAbstractBorder subclasses: ULCBevelBorder => Bevel(bevelType, highlightOuter, highlightInner, shadowOuter, shadowInner) ULCCompoundBorder => Compound(outsideBorder, insideBorder) ULCEmptyBorder => Empty(insets) ULCEtchedBorder => Etched(etchType, highlight, shadow) ULCLineBorder => Line(color, thickness, roundedCorners) ULCMatteBorder => Matte(insets, color), Matte(insets, icon) ULCResourceBorder => Resource(resourceKey) ULCSoftBevelBorder => SoftBevel(bevelType, highlight, shadow), SoftBevel(bevelType, highlightOuter, highlightInner, shadowOuter, shadowInner) ULCTitledBorder => Titled(border,titleText,titleJustification,titlePosition,titleFont,titleColor)
UBA-7545	Provide endColumn() method on form build parameter objects	New API: LayoutParameter.endColumn()
UBA-7546	AbstractFormBuilder.addLabel("foo") should implicitly set widget name to "foo.Label"
UBA-7547	AbstractFormBuilder.addTitle() should return the general parameter object of its label component
UBA-7548	AbstractFormBuilder.addTextField() should set trailing horizontal alignment for numeric text fields
UBA-7549	Abstract form builders parameter objects should support horizontal alignment	New LabelParameter class with the following API: horizontalAlignment() verticalAlignment() horizontalTextPosition() verticalTextPosition() text() New TextFieldParameter API: horizontalAlignment()
UBA-7550	Read only form fields should not receive focus
UBA-7595	Improve handling of client system properties
UBA-7598	Log attribute information when creating a new renderer / editor template
UBA-7599	Immutable borders should have a proper equals() / hasCode() implementation
UBA-7602	UlcUtilities methods should correctly handle menus
UBA-7612	Project generator should be able to generate an empty project	The setup dialog now contains a checkbox that decides if an empty project or a template project is being generated.
UBA-7621	Some sources for bundled jar files are missing in the generated application
UBA-7625	Generated client project should be a Java 1.4 project
UBA-7631	ContentPane and MenuBar should be treated as child components in ULCRootPane's containment hierarchy.
UBA-7633	Provide ULCTable.editCellAt() API	New API: ULCTable: public boolean editCellAt(int row, int column) ULCTree : public void startEditingAtPath(TreePath path) ULCTableTree: public boolean editCellAt(int row, int column) ULCTableTree: public void startEditingAtPath(TreePath path,int column)
UBA-7637	Generated project should have no "-server" postfix
UBA-7654	AbstractFormBuilder.setLabelHorizontalAlignment() should affect all form labels
UBA-7660	Provide ULCColorChooser API	New API: ULCColorChooser

 

Migration Notes

Migrating an existing application

To integrate the new features into an existing application you can perform the following steps.

1. Application configuration file
Copy the files from <ULC_HOME>/base/configuration/ into the root source directory of your project. Open the ULCApplicationConfiguration.xml file and specify the application class name of your application. Provide all the configuration elements that you want to use, as for example the lookAndFeel, carrierStreamProvider or modelAdapterProvider. Add the servlet configuration for the client properties access to your web.xml:

	<servlet>
		<description>
			delivers the client configuration data
		</description>
		<servlet-name>ConfigPropertiesDownloader</servlet-name>
		<servlet-class>
			com.ulcjava.container.servlet.server.servlets.ConfigPropertiesDownloader
		</servlet-class>
	</servlet>
	<servlet-mapping>
		<servlet-name>ConfigPropertiesDownloader</servlet-name>
		<url-pattern>/clientconfig.properties</url-pattern>
	</servlet-mapping>
	

2. Libraries
The number of libraries you need to cope with is reduced dramatically. You find then in the <ULC_HOME>/all/lib directory. For an overview of the libraries see Section 3.4 in the ULCApplicationDevelopmentGuide.
3. Application framework
To use the features of the application framework it is neccessary that your application class inherits from com.ulcjava.applicationframework.application.Application. Rename the start() method to startup(). You could also inherit from com.ulcjava.applicationframework.application.SingleFrameApplication and distribute the creation of the GUI into the different createStartup...() methods. Code that must be executed before the GUI is created goes into the initialize() method.
Create a resources package beneath the package of the application class and create the <ApplicationClassName>.properties file.
4. Easydeployment
For the easydeployment feature to be working you must have the application configuration file and the application class must inherit from com.ulcjava.applicationframework.application.Application.
• Copy the content of the WebContent directory that is in <ULC_HOME>/addon/generators/templates/projecttemplates/server/ to the projects web content directory.
• Remove the PersistenceServletContextListener configuration entry from the web.xml
• Replace the placeholder tokens in the web.xml :
  • @projectname@, an arbitrary name of your project.
  • @rootpackage@, the root package of your project (for example com.sample.ulc)
  • @rootpackagepath@, the root package as path formated (for example com/sample/ulc)
• Rename the appletPage.jsp into @projectname@.jsp.
• Copy the libraries for the servlet environment into the WEB-INF/lib directory. Copy the libraries of your project into the WEB-INF/lib directory, the libraries that are to be downloaded by the client must be (re)named to end with -client.jar.
• ulc-all5-server.jar
• ulc-all5-client.jar
• commons-beanutils-1.8.0.jar
• commons-collections-3.2.1.jar
• commons-logging-1.1.1.jar
• jstl.jar
• jnlp-servlet.jar
• jdk5tools.jar

 

Known Problems and Limitations

You can find known problems and limitations in our issue database.

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