The Nelson Framework Wiki
This is the Nelson Project
Created by Peter Pilgrim, who is a Java Champion, founder and organiser of the JAVAWUG (Java Web User Group, London, UK
Peter wrote a blog entry The Nelson Framework, which describes the project in its JavaFX 1.1 state. At JavaOne 2009 in his technical session, Peter announced to audience that he would open source the JavaFX framework that he was developing privately. This, then, is the Nelson Framework.
The current code base is JavaFX 1.2 and is a work-in-progress.
There is no official release yet.
License
The Nelson Framework software is open source and licensed under Mozilla Public License (MPL 1.1).
How To Get Started?
Software Tools
These are the recommended tools and software
- Java (JDK 1.6 update 14 or better ) http://java.sun.com/
- Apache Ant 1.7.1 http://ant.apache.org
- Java FX 1.2 SDK http://javafx.com
- NetBeans 6.7.1 with JavaFX http://javafx.com
- Tortoise SVN or a Subversion Client http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/
Environment Variables
Configure the following environment variables for your operating system. Here are Windows XP / Vista / 7 settings:
JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_14
It helps to point to a version of the JDK
JAVAFX_HOME=C:\opt\javafx-sdk1.2
Obviously, one needs a JavaFX installation on one's machine
ANT_HOME=C:\opt\apache-ant-1.7.1
Nelson FX requires an Apache Ant build the software
ANT_OPTS=-Dplatform.fxhome=%JAVAFX_HOME%
The setting above, points Ant to the correct JavaFX, when building the project(s), standalone outside of NetBeans IDE.
Finally you need to set your PATH environment variable, before you raise a brand new Windows CMD shell.
PATH=%JAVAFX_HOME%\bin;%JAVAFX_HOME%\emulator\bin;%ANT_HOME%\bin;%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%JAVA_HOME%\jre\bin;.... ETC ...
Getting the Source Code
If really does help to be a member of Kenai. Some people have had some trouble registering with Kenai. One suggests an alternative. Register as a Sun Developer Network member first. SDN member can log into Kenai with their SDN user name.
To get the latest source code, perform the following:
svn checkout https://kenai.com/svn/nelson~nelson-framework-svn/nelson-fx1.2/core/trunk nelson-core
This will bring down the Nelson Core project.
svn checkout https://kenai.com/svn/nelson~nelson-framework-svn/nelson-fx1.2/examples/trunk nelson-examples
This will bring down the codebase for the Nelson Examples project.
(In the future, there is a plan to create a Nelson Master project in a similar vain, which build everything. As they used to say in the X Windows 11 development distribution make world | tee make_world.log 2>&1 and then everyone who did this would go away and make a cup of tea, have dinner, take the kids to a movie or so. Just kidding ;-) There will be a Nelson Master project though)
How To Get The Dependencies
Getting back to the Nelson Core project. After the check out of the source code from Kenai, please invoke the bootstrap build file like this:
ant -f bootstrap.xml
This command will pull down from the Internet, iBliblio, a copy of Apache Ivy, Findbugs, Corbertura etc. These will be installed in the tool folder of the project.
Now execute Apache Ivy
ant ivy-resolve
This command invokes Ivy to pull down the project's dependencies into the lib folder of the project.
Unfortunately before you can build you need grab some dependencies manually.
Manual Dependencies
Goto Stephen Chin's JFXtras Project and perform the following sub-steps.
- Download the JFXtras-0.5.jar from JFXtras project. Copy the jar to the project's lib folder.
- Download the JFXtras-Test-05.jar also, but also copy and rename that JAR to lib folder with the filename ``JFXtras-test-05.jar
Build The Software
In the Core project, execute the following
ant jar
This Ant command builds the entire project and creates the project JAR file
The following ANT commands are useful
ant -f bootstrap.xml
Executes the bootstrap Ant build file to download external project tools. This separate build file downloads Apache Ivy, Cobertura, Findbugs into the ``tools folder for the project. (Note: You only have to do this once).
ant prepare
Prepares the build environment, downloads artifacts from Maven 2 and external repositories, if required
ant compile
Compiles the main application code
ant jar
Builds the project and creates the target JAR
ant clean
Removes the build environment targets and compiled artificats
ant install-local
Installs the target JAR into your local Apache Ivy repository.
ant compile
Compiles the unit test code
ant test-compile
Compiles the unit test code
ant test
Runs unit test and generates results
ant ivy-resolve
Resolves the project dependencies with Apache Ivy (see ``ivy.xml and ``ivysettings.xml)
ant ivy-report
Generates dependencies HTML Report with Apache Ivy (see ``ivy.xml)
EXTRAS
ant findbugs
Runs FindBugs on the code base and generates reports, if enabled in the project
ant coverage
Runs Cobertura on the code base and generates reports, if enabled in the project
By the way, these Ant build targets also work in the Nelson Examples project too.
Project Organisation
Source code is under the ``src directory and follows the Maven 2 directory layout conventions.
- src/main/javafx The folder for main JavaFX source code
- src/main/resources The folder for main resources
- src/test/javafx The folder for unit test JavaFX source code
- src/main/resources The folder for unit test resources
The build file is compatible with the NetBeans 6.5 Ant file, however you do not need NetBeans to run it. In order to compile the code, you need to set the variables `nbprojects/project.properties' in order to point to the JavaFX SDK 1.2 distribution on your machine.
Good Luck
After following these instructions, you will have a working project. Please let us know how you get on. Contact us on the mailing list or Twitter
Peter Pilgrim http://twitter.com/peter_pilgrim Blog http://jroller.com/peter_pilgrim
