Nodes API
Official

What is New (see all changes)?

• Nov 22 '12 Adding @BeanInfoSearchPath annotation

  Adding @BeanInfoSearchPath annotation to allow convenient way of registering BeanInfo search path.

• Sep 12 '12 Adding @PropertyEditorRegistration and @PropertyEditorSearchPath annotations

  Adding @PropertyEditorRegistration and @PropertyEditorSearchPath annotations to allow convenient way of registering property editors.

• Jan 3 '12 ChildFactory.createKeys better supports incremental display

  An implementation of ChildFactory.createKeys may now use List.add a number of times and return true at the end, while still displaying keys incrementally.

• Aug 31 '11 A way to show a custom editor dialog for a property

  Added NodeOperation.showCustomEditorDialog method that shows a modal dialog for given property just like when the [...] button in property sheet is pressed.

• Sep 9 '10 A mechanism to provide node's children lazily.

  Children have a new createLazy(Callable<Children> factory) method, that can be used to provide a lazy children implementation. Callable.call() is called just when node's children are really needed.

Use Cases

For general overview of the concepts related to nodes and explorers, together with code samples, see chapter 7, of NetBeans Platform for Beginners by Jason Wexbridge and Walter Nyland.

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? NodesAPI Exported Official .../org/openide/nodes/doc-files/api.html

Group of property interfaces

Interface Name In/Out Stability Specified in What Document? propertiesHelpID Exported Stable For providing help sets for JavaBeans proerties expertHelpID Exported Stable For providing help sets for JavaBeans properties

Implementation Details

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