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.