The JViews Framework
SDK is used to manage graphic objects. You need to be comfortable
with writing Java™ code to use this
SDK. There is no user-friendly GUI to help you out, although some
classes are available as JavaBeans™
for use in your favorite IDE. See Framework classes available as JavaBeans in The Essential JViews Framework.
This topic summarizes the main features of handling graphic
objects. The mapping products do not have wrapped classes of their
own to do this, so if you write your own code you will have to use
JViews Framework
directly.
For map applications, the supplied source
code of the Map Builder shows you how to do this. The easiest way
is to adapt the Map Builder code to the needs of your application.
An
IlvManager
object is the data structure that contains graphic objects, such as
rectangle, polylines, and so on.
The base class for graphic objects is
IlvGraphic
.
Graphic objects can be stored in the manager. The manager is
composed of several storage areas called layers and you can specify
in which layer an object is to be stored. Objects in a
higher layer are displayed in front of objects in lower layers. A
layer is an instance of the class
IlvManagerLayer
.
Note
Do not confuse the storage layer in JViews Framework with the
map layer, which is used mainly for styling.
Graphic objects stored in a manager can be displayed in several
views. A view is an instance of the class
IlvManagerView
. This class is a subclass of the AWT class
java.awt.Container
.
IlvGrapher
is a manager that contains nodes and links. Nodes can be any type
of graphic object. (Links are instances of the class
IlvLinkImage
.) A graphic object becomes a node of a graph if it is added to the
grapher by the
addNode
method. (A link must be added by the
addLink
method.) When a node is removed from a grapher, all the links that
come from and go to this node are also removed. When changing the
position of a node, the connection points of the links are
automatically recomputed.
IlvGraphic
is the abstract base class of graphic objects managed by an
instance of
IlvManager
.
The extensive graphics API of JViews
Framework does far more than the basic management of graphic
objects. It is a powerful tool for customizing and refining Java™ development. The mapping products
give you access to the full JJViews
Framework. For example, JViews
Framework also includes APIs for deploying thin-client
applications.