Overview (Options Dialog and SPI)

Options Dialog and SPI
Package	Description
org.netbeans.api.options
org.netbeans.spi.options

Options Dialog module contains implementation of Options Dialog and simple SPI. This SPI allows installation of custom options panels / categories to Options Dialog. This module contains implementation of Miscellaneous Panel ans Miscellaneous Panel SPI too. OptionsDialogSPI

What is New (see all changes)?

Dec 3 '13 API to handle selection of subcategory from a composite OptionspanelController
Added API to handle selection of subcategory. It is meant to be called from a composite OptionspanelController and delegates to OptionspanelController.setCurrentSubcategory.
Mar 15 '13 Should Import Require Restart?
Should an import of settings require a restart? Some applications need that, some don't. There is a branding API to control such behavior now.
Feb 26 '13 API to control whether the options window should be modal or not when opened
Added API to control whether the options window should be modal or not when opened.
Oct 18 '12 API to handle successfull search in some panel in options window
Added API to handle successful search in some panel in options window. By default no action is performed. Each implementor should make special actions, for example to choose a specific sub-panel, if this is required.
Oct 2 '12 Annotation to register keywords for some panel in the Options dialog
Introduced an annotation inside OptionsPanelController to register keywords for some panel in the Options dialog declaratively.

Use Cases

Register top level Options Panel

Client can install new panel to Options Dialog - see JavaDoc for OptionsCategory class.

Register panel to Advanced Options Panel

Client can install new panel to Advanced Options Panel - see JavaDoc for AdvancedOption class.

Exported Interfaces

This table lists all of the module exported APIs with defined stability classifications. It is generated based on answers to questions about the architecture of the module. Read them all...

Group of java interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
OptionsDialogSPI	Exported	Official	.../spi/options/OptionsCategory.html

Group of property interfaces

Interface Name

In/Out

Stability

Specified in What Document?

Group of layer interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
OptionsDialogSPILayers	Exported	Under Development	.../spi/options/OptionsCategory.html Use OptionsDialog folder for registration of custom top level options panels. Register your implementation of OptionsCategory there (*.instance file). Standard file systems sorting mechanism is used.
AdvancedPanelSPILayers	Exported	Under Development	.../netbeans/spi/options/AdvancedOption.html Use OptionsDialog/Advanced folder for registration of custom panels to Miscellaneous Panel. Register your implementation of AdvancedCategory there (*.instance file). Standard file systems sorting mechanism is used.
OptionsExportLayers	Exported	Under Development	Use OptionsExport/<MyCategory> folder for registration of items for export/import of options. Registration in layers looks as follows <folder name="OptionsExport"> <!-- category --> <folder name="MyCategory"> <!-- category display name --> <attr name="displayName" bundlevalue="org.netbeans.modules.mymodule.options.Bundle#Category_Display_Name"/> <!-- item --> <file name="MyItem1"> <attr name="displayName" bundlevalue="org.netbeans.modules.mymodule.options.Bundle#Item1_Display_Name"/> <!-- include regex pattern rooted to userdir --> <attr name="include" stringvalue="config/Preferences/org/netbeans/modules/mymodule/.\|config/mymodule/."/> <!-- exclude regex pattern rooted to userdir --> <attr name="exclude" stringvalue="config/mymodule/obsolete/."/> </file> <!-- item --> <file name="MyItem2"> <attr name="displayName" bundlevalue="org.netbeans.modules.mymodule.options.Bundle#Item2_Display_Name"/> <!-- include pattern with properties constrain --> <attr name="include" stringvalue="config/mymodule[.]properties#key[1-9].\|keyA.*#\|config/mymodule[.]xml"/> <!-- exclude pattern with properties constrain --> <attr name="exclude" stringvalue="config/obsolete[.]properties#key5"/> </file> </folder> </folder> Include/exclude patterns may contain either a regular expression defining files relatively to userdir (see MyItem1) or a compound pattern defining files and property keys (see MyItem2). A compound pattern consists of file regex pattern followed by hash delimiter (#) then property key regex pattern followed by another hash delimiter. Hash delimiter can be ommited at the end of compound pattern. For example, a compound pattern can have the following structure `filePattern1#keyPattern1#\|filePattern2\|filePattern3#keyPattern3`.

Group of branding interfaces

Interface Name In/Out Stability Specified in What Document?

org.netbeans.modules.options.export.OPT_RestartAfterImport

Exported

Under Development

By default importing settings (as described by OptionsExport API does not require restart. Some systems may however support complex modifications to the installation structure. Then they should brand the OPT_RestartAfterImport to true. NetBeans IDE does require restart after settings import.

Implementation Details

Where are the sources for the module?

The sources for the module are in the Apache Git repositories or in the GitHub repositories.

What do other modules need to do to declare a dependency on this one, in addition to or instead of a plain module dependency?

Nothing.

Read more about the implementation in the answers to architecture questions.

Options Dialog and SPIOfficial