Populating a diagram involves the following
items:
- Data sources
- Style sheets
- Project
The data sources
The role of the data source is to load the data to display
in the diagram, and possibly write back the data if it has been
modified.
There are the following predefined types
of data source: flat files (in the Designer only), XML, and JDBC.
When you cannot use flat files, XML, or JDBC, you can always
connect the data model to your data by implementing the data
model interface in Java™ .
The style sheets
A style sheet controls the mapping of data to
a graphic representation through style rules conforming to the CSS2 syntax. It defines the way the objects
of your data model will be translated to graphic objects.
You can write these rules using the CSS2
syntax, or you can use the Designer. The Designer helps you to
define style rules in a visual environment: with the Designer,
you do not need to know CSS and you see instantly what your
styling looks like.
The project
The project is an association of a style sheet
and a data source. It groups the inputs for a diagram. A project
is saved as an XML file with the extension .idpr
(JViews Diagrammer Project File).
A project is typically generated by
Designer, the editing tool available for loading data from a data
source and creating a style sheet.
By loading a project in an application,
you make a diagram available for display.