NetBeans Mobility 6.0 CDC Development Quick Start Guide

Introduction

CDC application are designed to run on mobile and embedded devices with at least 2MB of memory. This configuration supports a more feature-rich JVM than MIDP-based mobile phones, which typically have 128 to 512KB of memory and use the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC).

This document takes you through the basics of using NetBeans IDE to create a Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME platform), Connected Device Configuration (CDC) application. We show you four different ways to create a Java ME CDC project that displays a simple form in a device emulator, one for each available profile. We also show an additional way using the NSICom CrEme VM for Windows CE. This document is designed to get you creating applications as quickly as possible.

Contents

Content on this page applies to NetBeans IDE 6.0

Requirements

You must have the NetBeans 6.0 Mobility or Full edition (download) installed before you can start Java ME CDC development. The Client/Server sections require the Full Edition for Web Services support. If you installed only the Mobility Edition, you need to download the following plugins from the Update center (Tools > Plugins):

Adding Emulator Platforms

The NetBeans Mobility Pack supports the following emulator platforms:

Instructions for adding emulator platforms are listed in the NetBeans Mobility Pack for CDC 5.5.1 Installation Guide and work for the 6.0 IDE as well.

Creating a CDC Application

In this section we create a CDC application project for each available profile and, for the Personal and AGUI platforms, create a GUI for the application using the IDE's GUI Builder.

The Profiles described are:

Creating a New CDC Application - Foundation Profile

Here we create a CDC Application, or Xlet, for the Foundation Profile using the Ricoh Embedded Software Architecture Emulator 1.14c.

  1. Choose File > New Project (Ctrl+Shift+N). Under Categories, select Mobility. Under Projects, select the CDC Application template. Click Next.
  2. In the Name and Location panel, name the project MyRicohApplication and specify a location for the project on your computer. Leave the Create Main Class check box selected. Click Next.

    New Project Wizard Name and Location Panel, with values entered as described in the text.
  3. In the Select Platform Page, choose Ricoh 1.14c.


  4. Click Finish. The IDE creates the new application and opens the main class in the Source Editor. The project structure is shown in the following figure. Note that the generated code is based on the profile. In this case, the main class is derived from jp.co.ricoh.dsdk.xlet.Xlet. This profile does not support the Netbeans GUI Designer.

    5.  

  5. To run the project, choose Run > Run Main Project. The emulator displays the text, "TODO implement makeUIControls."

    Screenshot of the Ricoh emulator.
  6. You can also debug the project, and create and debug tests using the JUnit framework.

Creating a New CDC Application - Personal Profile

Here we create an applet for the Personal Profile using the Nokia Series 80 Platform SDK for Symbian OS, for Java, Personal Profile. The Sony Ericsson platform also supports the Personal Profile.

  1. Choose File > New Project (Ctrl+Shift+N). Under Categories, select Mobility. Under Projects, select the CDC Application template. Click Next.
  2. Name the project S80CdcApplication and specify a location for the project on your computer. Leave the Create Main Class check box selected. Click Next.

  3. In the Select Platform Page, choose the Nokia S80 Platform.

  4. Click Finish. The IDE creates the new application and opens the main class form in the GUI Builder, as shown in the following figure. Click on Source to see the source code for the applet. Note that the generated code is based on the profile. In this case, the main class is derived from java.awt.Frame.

Creating the Application Interface Using the Project Matisse GUI Builder

You can use the Project Matisse GUI Builder in the same way you use it for regular J2SE development. In the GUI Builder, right-click the Main.java form and choose Set Layout > Free Design. Then drag and drop components from the Palette window into the Design Area of the GUI Builder. Make sure you only use AWT components in your form. Because all the Nokia Series 80 devices support the Personal Profile, only AWT widgets are available.

For more information on using the IDE's GUI Builder, see the Java GUIs and Project Matisse Learning Trail.

When you are done, right-click the project in the Projects window and choose Run Project. Your application should be displayed in the Applications menu in the device emulator. You can now run the device in the emulator.



You can also debug the project, and create and debug tests using the JUnit framework.

Creating a New CDC Application - AGUI Profile

Here we create a CDC Application, or Xlet, for the AGUI Profile using the Sun Java Toolkit for CDC 1.0.

  1. Choose File > New Project (Ctrl+Shift+N) from the main window.
  2. From Categories, select Mobility. From Projects, select CDC Application. Click Next.
  3. In the Name and Location page:
  1. In the Select Platform page, use the drop-down menus to choose Sun Java Toolkit for Connected Device Configuration for the Java Platform and DefaultColorPhone as the Device. Leave the Profile settings as it is.

    New Project Wizard Select Platform Page. The page shows the following drop-down menu choices: Platform: Sun Java Toolkit 1.0 for Connected Device Configuration; Device: DefaultColorPhone; Profile: AGUI-1.0.
  2. Click Finish. The IDE creates the new application and opens the main class form in the GUI Builder, as shown in the following figure.
    NetBeans IDE with several windows open. The Projects window shows the structure of the newcdc. The Navigator window shows the structure of the main class. The Main window shows the Main.java file in the GUI Designer window. The palette window shows the components available to the AGUI platform.

Creating the Application Interface Using the Project Matisse GUI Builder

You can use the Project Matisse GUI Builder in the same way you use it for regular J2SE development. In the GUI Builder, right-click the Main.java form and choose Set Layout > Free Layout. Then drag and drop components from the Palette window into the Design Area of the GUI Builder. Make sure you only use Swing components in your form. Because the AGUI platform supports Swing, only Swing widgets are available.

For more information on using the IDE's GUI Builder, see the Java GUIs and Project Matisse Learning Trail.

When you are done, right-click the project in the Projects window and choose Run Project. Your application should be displayed in the device emulator.

Shows the Default Color Phone Device Emulator running over the NetBeans IDE.

You can also debug the project, and create and debug tests using the JUnit framework.

Creating a New CDC Application for Windows CE (Using the CrEme VM)

The NSIcom CrEme VM enables you to create and run Java Swing applications for devices running Windows CE.

Creating an Application

  1. Choose File > New Project (Ctrl+Shift+N) from the main window.
  2. Under Categories, select CDC. Under Projects, select the CDC Application template. Click Next.
  3. In the Name and Location Page, name the project cremeapp. Click Next.
  4. In the Select Platform Page, choose pJSCP V4.10. Click Finish.


  5. In the Explorer window, right-click on the Source Packages node of your project and choose New > JFrame form. Click Finish. The NetBeans GUI Builder (Matisse) displays the new form.



    Note: Make sure that the first fragment of code in the main() method is as is shown below when you are going to run the application in CrEme default emulator. This make sure that Swing is loaded. 

    try {
    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getCrossPlatformLookAndFeelClassName());
    } catch(Exception exception) {
    System.out.println("Error loading L&F: " + exception);
}

  6. Use the Project Matisse GUI builder to create your application. You can use the Project Matisse GUI Builder in the same way you use it for regular J2SE development.

    Note that if there is an exception that crashes the emulator, the emulator prints it to the standard output window and waits for a key press. You cannot, however, send the keypress from the IDE. You must instead kill the VM from the Process Explorer.

Compiling and Running the Application on a Device or Emulator

  1. Connect your mobile device using cable or Bluetooth.
    If you have a device, skip to Step 12.
    If you do not have a device, install the Microsoft Device Emulator and the Virtual Machine Network Driver for the Microsoft Device Emulator as described in the NetBeans Mobility Pack for CDC 5.5.1 Installation Guide. Then follow steps 2 through 4.
    If you do have a device, skip to Step 5.
  2. Start the Microsoft Device Emulator by choosing Start > Programs > Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 MSFP Emulator Images > Pocket PC Coldboot. This opens the Pocket PC emulator.

  3. Choose Start > Programs > Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 MSFP Emulator Images > Device Emulator Manager. This opens the Device Emulator Manager.

  4. In the Device Emulator Manager, choose Actions > Cradle.
  5. Open ActiveSync by clicking on the icon in the Application tray.
    If you do not have ActiveSync installed, download and install it as described in the NetBeans Mobility Pack for CDC 5.5.1 Installation Guide.

    When you open ActiveSync, it should, ActiveSync should detect and connect to the device or the device emulator.
    If it does not:
    1. Click on the ActiveSync icon in the Application Tray.
    2. Choose File > Connection settings.
    3. Do one or both of the following:
  6. Download and install the CrEme VM on your device (download). Double-click on the downloaded file.
    It install both on your PC and your device.
  7. Download and install Swing extensions (CrE-ME410_swing.CAB) for your device from NSIcom (download).
    To install the Swing extensions on your device or device emulator:
    1. In the ActiveSync dialog, choose Tools > Explore Device.
      The Mobile Device opens in an Explorer window.
    2. Copy CrE-ME410_swing.CAB into the Explorer window.
    3. In the device or device emulator, choose Start > Programs > File Explorer.
    4. Start CrE-ME410_swing.CAB.

Running the Application

  1. Right-click the project and choose Properties.
    The Properties page opens.
  2. Under Categories, choose Running.
  3. Choose the NSIcom tab and check Run in remote VM. Click OK to close the Properties page.

  4. Choose Run > Run Main Application.

Using Configurations

You can use configurations to create more than one set of distribution JAR and Java Application Descriptor (JAD) files for your project. This enables you to create one set of source code and customize it for each mobile device you're programming for.

The instructions below are generalized, but work for each of the platforms previously described.

Adding a Configuration

  1. Right-click the Project node and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog, Choose Add Configuration from the Project Configuration drop-down list. This opens the Add Configuration dialog.
  2. Enter a name for your configuration in the Configuration Name field. The name should identify the target platform on which you deploy the JAR/JAD created for this configuration. For this example, enter BlackWhiteDisplay and click OK. You have just created a new configuration.
  3. Configurations can also be added by clicking the Manage Configurations button in the Properties dialog. This brings up the Project Configuration Manager dialog which contains options for adding, removing, or duplicating configurations.

Customizing a Configuration

You can add as many configurations as you would like to your project. You can then modify settings in the Project Properties dialog for each configuration that you've added.

  1. Right-click the Project node and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog, choose the Platform node.
  2. Choose the BlackWhiteDisplay configuration from the configuration combo box at the top of the Properties dialog.
  3. The components in the Platform dialog are all disabled. This is because this configuration is currently taking the values used by the default configuration for this panel. Uncheck the Use Values from "DefaultConfiguration" option at the top of the panel. All components on this panel can now be edited.
  4. Change the Device option to DefaultGrayPhone.
  5. Toggle the Project Configuration dialog at the top of the Properties dialog and observe that the Device option changes based on which configuration is currently selected. This method of configuration customization works for each panel (other than the general panel) in the dialog. Click OK to save your configuration changes and exit the Properties dialog.

Creating an Ability

An Ability is a specific attribute of a project configuration. It can be a physical attribute such as screen size, or an API or JSR supported by the configuration. You can create a new ability and associate it with one or more project configurations. You can then use preprocessior code blocks to associate certain code with that ability. If you later need to add or remove configurations, you won't have to go through all your code and associate the configuration with each code block. Instead, you need only to add that ability to the configuration. The configuration is then automatically associated with any code block that is associated with the ability.

  1. Right-click on the project node and choose Properties.
  2. Choose the Abilities page from the Category menu tree.
  3. Choose a configuration from the Project Configuration dropdown menu. This is the configuration with which the ability is associated.
  4. If necessary, uncheck the Use Values from "DefaultConfiguration" checkbox.
  5. Click the Add button.
    This opens the Add Ability dialog.
  6. In the New Ability dialog, enter a name for the ability, or choose an ability from the drop-down menu. Optionally, enter a value for the ability.
    Click Ok to close the New Ability dialog. The ability is now associated with the selected project configuration.

You can associate the ability with other configurations by choosing a different configuration from the Project Configuration menu and clicking the Add button.

Running Configurations

Configurations can be built and run individually or multiple configurations.

  1. Right-click the Project node and choose Run.
  2. Use the configuration combo box in the Toolbar to change the configuration. Choose Run again.
  3. Two emulators appear, one for each configuration.
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Next Steps

In addition to the IDE's built-in help documentation about Java ME CDC development, tutorials and articles about the technologies supported by the Mobility pack can be found at the following location: