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NetBeans IDE 4.0 was a major step forward in the life of NetBeans IDE. The introduction
of the new Ant-based project system gives you tighter classpath management,
more versatile build and run options, and the tightest integration to Ant of
any IDE on the market. It also presented a major change in work flow for users
who were used to the NetBeans IDE 3.6 "mounting" system. If you are such
a user and did not want to switch to 4.0 but are now interested in 4.1 (whether because of
project system refinements or the new J2EE support provided), this guide should help your
transition.
NetBeans IDE 4.1 has an innovative project system based directly on Apache
Ant. This project system uses an Ant build script to compile,
run, execute, and test your applications and to store all metadata about the
project.
You don't have to be an Ant expert or even know how to use Ant to work with
your projects in NetBeans IDE. The IDE provides a set of standard project
templates that contain everything you need to develop your applications.
You can configure all your basic compilation and runtime options in the project's
graphical interface.
If you are an advanced Ant user, you can use the full power of Ant to customize your build
process. You can extend a standard project's build script by overwriting its
Ant targets. The IDE also contains a set of free-form project templates
that let you control your project's execution and compilation with your own
Ant script.
In NetBeans IDE 4.1, you create a standard project for each output that you want
to create (in most cases, a JAR file) and set up directional classpath dependencies
between them. These outputs can be built from multiple source package roots (whereas in NetBeans
IDE 4.0, it was possible to have only one source package root per project.)
Within each project, you can have a separate classpath for compiling, running, and
testing your application. If you use your own Ant script to build and execute
your projects, you can create a free-form project in which you can have multiple
outputs.
The following table looks at some of the most visible differences between NetBeans
IDE 3.6 and 4.1:
NetBeans IDE 3.6
NetBeans IDE 4.1
Classpath
There is only one classpath for each project. The classpath
is made up of everything mounted in the Filesystems window.
Each standard project has one classpath per project, but
you can configure different versions of the classpath for testing, running,
and debugging. You can set the classpath for each source package folder in
the Project Properties dialog box for the project.
The classpath for free-form projects is controlled by the Ant script and
can therefore be more complex.
Accessing Files and Project Views
You have to mount every folder that you want to access.
The Filesystems window just provides a folder-based view of the contents
of your sources. You can add individual files to the Projects window.
The Projects window provides a logical organization of your
Java sources and web applications. Sources are displayed per package under
the Source Packages node. The Files window shows you the physical layout
of your project folder on the disk. You can access any location on your
computer in the Favorites window.
Building an Output File
You create a JAR or WAR Recipe node in the Filesystems window and
use the node's properties and contextual menu to generate a JAR or WAR file.
A JAR file is built every time you build a standard J2SE project.
A WAR file is built every time you build a web project.
You set filter and compression options in the Build | Packaging page of the Project
Properties dialog box. Standard projects
build one output file per project.
In free-form projects, the production of output files is controlled by
your Ant script.
Sharing Projects
You cannot share projects and project settings between developers.
All of the project metadata is contained in the project folder,
in the form of Ant scripts, Ant properties files, and a few XML files. You
can put this metadata under version control and identify certain settings
as specific to your installation only.
Configuring Settings
You configure all settings in the Options window. You manage
execution, debugging, and compilation settings using service types that
you assign to a project or individual files.
You set project-related settings, like classpath, compilation settings,
and runtime arguments, in the Project Properties dialog box. You can further
configure settings by editing a project's Ant script and Ant properties
file.
You configure general IDE-wide settings, like syntax coloring, web browser
settings, and system settings, in the Options window.
Web Applications
You have to mount every folder that you want to access.
The Filesystems window just provides a folder-based view of the contents of
your sources. You can add individual files to the Projects window. The JSP
1.2 and 2.0 specifications are supported and JSP files are not
compiled by the IDE, but validated. Tomcat Server 5.5.7 is integrated with NetBeans.
As with J2SE projects, web projects are developed using the
new project system that is supported by Ant. Web projects can use sources
from multiple folders, such as web classes outside WEB-INF/classes
and libraries outside WEB-INF/lib. If a web project depends on
a Java Class library, the library can be handled as a separate project.
There is enhanced support for the JSP 2.0 specification, with wizards for
tag handlers and tag files and code completion for tag library descriptors.
JSP compilation is reintroduced, now handled by Ant. Tomcat Server 5.5.7
is integrated with NetBeans IDE 4.1.
The following table lists the major differences between standard projects and
free-form projects in NetBeans IDE 4.1:
Standard Projects
Free-Form Projects
The IDE uses a NetBeans-generated Ant build
script to build, run, clean, test, and debug your application.
The IDE uses targets in an existing Ant script
to build, run, clean, test, and debug your application. If the Ant script
does not contain targets for some of these functions, the functions are
unavailable. You can write targets to implement these functions, either
in your Ant script or in a secondary Ant script.
The project classpath is controlled by the
settings you set in the Build | Compiling page of the Project Properties
dialog box. Any changes are immediately registered in the IDE-generated
Ant script.
The project classpath is controlled by your
Ant script. The classpath settings in the Java Sources Classpath page of the Project
Properties dialog box only tell the IDE which classes to make available
for code completion and refactoring. When you change the classpath settings
in the Ant script, you have to update the settings in the project's properties.
The build process is customized by setting
basic options in the Project Properties dialog box or by overwriting targets
in the NetBeans-generated Ant script.
All compilation and runtime options are set
in the Ant build script.
The IDE builds one JAR file (for J2SE projects)
or WAR file (for web projects) for the entire source folder.
The IDE builds as many build products as
are specified in the project's Ant script.
Because the NetBeans 4.x projects structure is so different from that of the previous IDE
versions, automatic importing of NetBeans IDE 3.6 projects is not implemented.
(Since in NetBeans 3.6 you have to mount a single folder numerous times in
order to access all the necessary resources for an application, the IDE would
not be able to tell which of the mount points was an actual source folder.)
To import the source code you were working on in version 3.6, create a new
project for each JAR file or WAR file that needs to be created (or if you have your own Ant script, one
free-form project for the entire application). For more information on importing
source code into NetBeans IDE 4.1, see the following documents:
Although your mounted folders and the settings associated with them cannot
be imported from NetBeans IDE 3.6, many of your general IDE settings are imported
when you first run NetBeans IDE 4.1. Settings from versions of the IDE before
3.6 are not importable.
The following settings are imported from NetBeans IDE 3.6:
The following table explains how to perform common project tasks in NetBeans
4.1:
To perform this task
Follow these steps
Create a standard project from existing sources.
Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N).
Select Web > Web Application with Existing Sources or General >
Java Project with Existing Sources.
Follow the rest of the directions in the wizard.
Create a free-form project from existing sources and Ant script.
Choose File > New Project (Ctrl-Shift-N).
Select Web > Web Application with Existing Ant Script or General >
Java Project with Ant Script.
Follow the rest of the directions in the wizard.
Add a JAR file to a standard project's classpath.
In the Projects window, expand the project's node.
Right-click the Libraries node, choose Add JAR/Folder, and then specify the JAR file that you want to add.
Set up compilation dependencies between projects.
In the Projects window, expand the project's node.
Right-click the Libraries node, choose Add Project, and then specify the JAR
file that you want to add and select the project folder for the project
that you want to add to the project's classpath. Note: For free-form projects, use the Add JAR/Folder command to add the output JAR files of the
project to the classpath.
Add Javadoc documentation and source code to JAR files on the classpath.
Choose Tools > Library Manager from the main window.
If the JAR file is not already registered in the Library Manager,
create a new empty library using the Add Library button.
Select the library in the left panel of the Library Manager.
In the Classpath tab, click Add JAR/Folder and specify the location
of the JAR file containing the compiled class files. A library can contain
multiple JAR files.
Use the Sources and Javadoc tabs to add the folders or archive files
containing the source code and documentation.
Click OK to exit the Library Manager.
If the JAR file is not already on the compilation classpath for your
project, add it to the classpath as described above.
Set project main class, execution arguments, execution working directory,
and VM arguments.
In the Projects window, right-click the project node and choose Properties.
Click Running Project and enter the appropriate information.
Customize build steps.
In the Files window, expand your project folder and open nbproject/build-impl.xml
and nbproject/project.properties. build-impl.xml contains
all of the processing instructions for your project. Do not write to
this file, as any changes to it will be overwritten by the IDE.
Find the build targets and properties that control the build step
you want to change. Each of the major build targets has a pre
and post target that you can override to add instructions before
and after the target is executed.
Double-click build.xml in your project folder and override
any targets from build-impl.xml.
Edit any of the build properties in project.properties. If
you are sharing the project metadata and do not want to share one of
your settings, override it in nbproject/private/private.properties
instead.
Set the build output folder.
In the Files window, expand the nbproject node in your project
folder.
Double-click project.properties to open it in the Source
Editor.
Set the build output folder in the build.dir property.
If you set a build output folder outside of the project folder, it
is not accessible in the Files window. NOTE: The build output folder is deleted every time you clean
the project. You should therefore not set the build output folder
to your source folder.
