205 lines
13 KiB
HTML
205 lines
13 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html
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PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<meta name="DC.Type" content="reference" />
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<meta name="DC.Title" content="Graphical Toolbox and PDML" />
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<meta name="abstract" content="The Graphical Toolbox, a set of UI tools, makes it easy to create custom user interface panels in Java." />
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<title>Graphical Toolbox and PDML</title>
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</head>
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<body id="pdmlpg1"><a name="pdmlpg1"><!-- --></a>
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<!-- Java sync-link --><script language="Javascript" src="../rzahg/synch.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
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<h1 class="topictitle1">Graphical Toolbox and PDML</h1>
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<div><p>The Graphical Toolbox, a set of UI tools, makes it easy to create
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custom user interface panels in Java™. </p>
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<div class="section"><p>You can incorporate the panels into your Java applications, <a href="pdmlbrws.htm#pdmlbrws"> applets</a>, or <a href="../rzakx/rzakxkickoff.htm">iSeries™ Navigator
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plug-ins</a>. The panels may contain data obtained from the iSeries, or
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data obtained from another source such as a file in the local file system
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or a program on the network.</p>
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<p>The <strong>GUI Builder</strong> is a WYSIWYG visual
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editor for creating Java dialogs, property sheets and wizards.
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With the GUI Builder you can add, arrange, or edit user interface controls
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on a panel, and then preview the panel to verify the layout behaves the way
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you expected. The panel definitions you create can be used in dialogs, inserted
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within property sheets and wizards, or arranged into splitter, deck, and
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tabbed panes. The GUI Builder also allows you to build menu bars, toolbars,
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and context menu definitions. You can also incorporate JavaHelp in your panels,
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including context sensitive help.</p>
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<p>The <strong>Resource Script Converter</strong> converts Windows<sup>®</sup> resource
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scripts into an XML representation that is usable by Java programs.
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With the Resource Script Converter you can process Windows resource scripts (RC files)
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from your existing Windows dialogs and menus. These converted files
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can then be edited with the GUI Builder. Property sheets and wizards can be
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made from RC files using the resource script converter along with the GUI
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Builder.</p>
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<p>Underlying these two tools is a new technology called the <strong>Panel
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Definition Markup Language</strong>, or <strong>PDML</strong>. PDML is based on the Extensible
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Markup Language (XML) and defines a platform-independent language for describing
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the layout of user interface elements. Once your panels are defined in PDML,
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you can use the runtime API provided by the Graphical Toolbox to display them.
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The API displays your panels by interpreting the PDML and rendering your user
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interface using the Java Foundation Classes.</p>
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<div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Using
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PDML requires that you run version 1.4 or later of the Java Runtime
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Environment.</div>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Benefits of the Graphical Toolbox</h4><dl><dt class="dlterm"><strong>Write Less Code and Save Time</strong></dt>
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<dd>With the Graphical Toolbox you have the ability to create Java-based user
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interfaces quickly and easily. The GUI Builder lets you have precise control
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over the layout of UI elements on your panels. Because the layout is described
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in PDML, you are not required to develop any Java code to define the user interface,
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and you do not need to recompile code in order to make changes. As a result,
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significantly less time is required to create and maintain your Java applications.
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The Resource Script Converter lets you migrate large numbers of Windows panels
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to Java quickly
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and easily.</dd>
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</dl>
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<dl><dt class="dlterm"><strong>Custom Help</strong></dt>
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<dd>Defining user interfaces in PDML creates some additional benefits. Because
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all of a panel's information is consolidated in a formal markup language,
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the tools can be enhanced to perform additional services on behalf of the
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developer. For example, both the GUI Builder and the Resource Script Converter
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are capable of generating HTML skeletons for the panel's online help. You
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decide which help topics are required and the help topics are automatically
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built based on your requirements. Anchor tags for the help topics are built
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right into the help skeleton, which frees the help writer to focus on developing
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appropriate content. The Graphical Toolbox runtime environment automatically
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displays the correct help topic in response to a user's request.</dd>
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</dl>
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<dl><dt class="dlterm"><strong>Automatic Panel to Code Integration</strong></dt>
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<dd>In addition, PDML provides tags that associate each control on a panel
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with an attribute on a JavaBean. Once you have identified the bean classes
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that will supply data to the panel and have associated a attribute with each
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of the appropriate controls, you can request that the tools generate Java source
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code skeletons for the bean objects. At runtime, the Graphical Toolbox automatically
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transfers data between the beans and the controls on the panel that you identified.</dd>
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</dl>
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<dl><dt class="dlterm"><strong>Platform Independent</strong></dt>
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<dd>The Graphical Toolbox runtime environment provides support for event handling,
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user data validation, and common types of interaction among the elements of
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a panel. The correct platform look and feel for your user interface is automatically
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set based on the underlying operating system, and the GUI Builder lets you
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toggle the look and feel so that you can evaluate how your panels will look
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on different platforms.</dd>
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</dl>
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<p>The Graphical Toolbox provides you with two tools and, therefore,
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two ways of automating the creation of your user interfaces. You can use the
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GUI Builder to quickly and easily create new panels from scratch, or you can
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use the Resource Script Converter to convert existing Windows-based panels
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to Java.
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The converted files can then be edited with GUI Builder. Both tools support
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internationalization.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="pdmlpg1__guibldr"><a name="pdmlpg1__guibldr"><!-- --></a><h4 class="sectiontitle">GUI Builder</h4><p>Two windows are displayed
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when you invoke the GUI Builder for the first time, as shown in Figure 1:</p>
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<p><strong>Figure
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1: GUI Builder windows</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh095.gif" alt="GUI Builder windows" /></p>
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<p>Use the File Builder window to create and
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edit your PDML files.</p>
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<p><strong>Figure 2: File Builder window</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh096.gif" alt="File Builder window" /></p>
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<p>Use
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the Properties window to view or change the properties of the currently selected
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control.</p>
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<p><strong>Figure 3: Properties window</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh097.gif" alt="GUI Builder Properties window" /></p>
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<p>Use the Panel Builder
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window to create and edit your graphical user interface components. Select
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the desired component from the toolbar and click on the panel to place it
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where ever you want. The toolbar also facilities for aligning groups of controls,
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for previewing the panel, and for requesting online help for a GUI Builder
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function. See <a href="wdgexpl.htm#wdgexpl">GUI Builder Panel Builder
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toolbar</a> for a description of what each icon does.</p>
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<p><strong>Figure
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4: Panel Builder window</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh098.gif" alt="Panel Builder window" /></p>
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<p>The panel being edited is displayed in the
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Panel Builder window. Figure 5 shows how the windows work together:</p>
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<p><strong>Figure
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5: Example of how GUI Builder windows work together</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh099.gif" alt="Example of how GUI Builder windows work together" /></p>
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</div>
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<div class="section" id="pdmlpg1__rc2xml"><a name="pdmlpg1__rc2xml"><!-- --></a><h4 class="sectiontitle">Resource Script Converter</h4><p>The Resource
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Script Converter consists of a two-paned tabbed dialog. On the <strong>Convert</strong> pane
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you specify the name of the Microsoft<sup>®</sup> or VisualAge<sup>®</sup> for Windows RC
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file that is to be converted to PDML. You can specify the name of the target
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PDML file and associated Java resource bundle that will contain
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the translated strings for the panels. In addition, you can request that
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online help skeletons be generated for the panels, generate Java source
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code skeletons for the objects that supply data to the panels, and serialize
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the panel definitions for improved performance at runtime. The Converter's
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online help provides a detailed description of each input field on the Convert
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pane.</p>
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<p><strong>Figure 6: Resource Script Converter Convert pane</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh094.gif" alt="Resource Script Converter window: Convert pane" /></p>
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<p>After the conversion has run successfully, you can use the <strong>View</strong> pane
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to view the contents of your newly-created PDML file, and preview your new Java panels.
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You can use the GUI Builder to make minor adjustments to a panel if needed.
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The Converter always checks for an existing PDML file before performing a
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conversion, and attempts to preserve any changes in case you need to run
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the conversion again later. </p>
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<p><strong>Figure 7: Resource Script Converter
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View pane</strong></p>
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<p><img src="rzahh114.gif" alt="Resource Script Converter window: View pane" /></p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div>
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<ul class="ullinks">
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="pdmlbeg.htm">Setting up the Graphical Toolbox</a></strong><br />
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The Graphical Toolbox is delivered as a set of JAR files. To set up the Graphical Toolbox you must install the JAR files on your workstation and set your CLASSPATH environment variable.</li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="pdmltool.htm">Creating your user interface</a></strong><br />
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You can create your user interface using the GUI Builder tool.</li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="pdmlasui.htm">Displaying your panels at runtime</a></strong><br />
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The Graphical Toolbox provides a redistributable API that your Java programs
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can use to display user interface panels defined using PDML. The API displays
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your panels by interpreting the PDML and rendering your user interface using
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the Java Foundation
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Classes.</li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="helpinfo.htm">Editing help documents generated by GUI Builder</a></strong><br />
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For each PDML project file, the GUI Builder generates a help skeleton and puts it into a single HTML document. Before use, this HTML file is broken up into single topic HTML files for each dialog of the PDML project. This provides the user with granular help for each topic and allows you to manage only a few large help files.</li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="pdmlexs.htm">Graphical Toolbox examples</a></strong><br />
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Use these examples to show you how to implement the tools within Graphical Toolbox for your own UI programs.</li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="pdmlbrws.htm">Using the Graphical Toolbox in a browser</a></strong><br />
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You can use the Graphical Toolbox to build panels for Java applets
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that run in a Web browser. </li>
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<li class="ulchildlink"><strong><a href="wdgexpl.htm">GUI Builder Panel Builder toolbar</a></strong><br />
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</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="familylinks">
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<div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a href="page1.htm" title="IBM Toolbox for Java is a set of Java classes that allow you to use Java programs to access data on your iSeries servers. You can use these classes to write client/server applications, applets, and servlets that work with data on your iSeries. You can also run Java applications that use the IBM Toolbox for Java classes on the iSeries Java virtual machine (JVM).">IBM Toolbox for Java</a></div>
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</div>
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<div class="familylinks">
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<div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a href="rzahhxmlmain.htm" title="IBM Toolbox for Java includes several Extensible Markup Language (XML) components, including an XML parser.">Extensible Markup Language components</a></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html> |