Introduction

Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) is a framework that was developed for the Eclipse platform. It is used to create graphical editors for various diagrams like electrical networks or tree diagrams. Such diagrams offer easy editing capabilities for data in specific domains and are well suited as a graphical representation of that data. Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) has been designed to allow editing of user data, generally referred to as the model, using graphical rather than textual format. It becomes an invaluable tool when dealing with entities that contain many-to-many, one-to-many and other complex relationships. With the popularity of the Eclipse Rich Client Platform, which leads to development of editors for more than just code, the importance of GEF is certain to increase.

Prerequisties

• Attendees must be proficient in Java, graphical user interface programming and should be familiar with the eclipse framework.

Course Content

1. GEF – Overview

• The Big picture – Why and What of GEF
• Architecture – Identifying the key components
• Model View Controller (MVC) and GEF
• Anatomy of a GEF application
• Installation and configuration

2. Draw2d

• Architecture and Component Model
• The LightWeightSystem
• Draw2d Shapes and Widgets
• Painting
• Layout
• Draw2d Event Model
• Hit Testing
• Connections and Routing
• Coordinate System

3. GEF – A Detailed Look

• Applying MVC in GEF
• Attaching an in-memory model
• Creating a custom model
• Implementing a view
• The EditPart as controller
• Implementing a complete graphical editor

4. GEF Controllers

• The EditPart API
• The EditPart lifecycle
• Event notification model
• The EditDomain object
• The PaletteViewer object
• EditPolicies
• Tools
• Request
• Feedback
• Using the Command pattern
• Create graphical views with ScrollingGraphicalViewer

5. GEF Interactions

• Action invocation
• Mouse Clicks
• Drag and Drop
• Hover
• Keyboard input

6. Wiring Components in GEF

• Connections
• The Polyline class
• The Connection interface
• The Connection Anchor interface
• The Connection Router interface
• The Connection Layer class
• The Polyline Connection class
• The Abstract Connection EditPart
• The Node EditPart
• Maintain connections in the model
• Creating and editing Connections
• Bendpoints