Reflecting, Introspecting, and Customizing JavaBeans

By Laura Bennett
2003-10-09


Reflecting, introspecting, and customizing JavaBeans
The Sun JDK JavaBeans API provides a framework for defining reusable software components that can be manipulated in a visual builder tool. You may have already read the developerWorks tutorial Designing JavaBeans for visual programming. This article extends your design so that visual builder tools can use reflection, introspection, or both to analyze JavaBeans and consequently to allow users to customize them. It includes an example showing how to add your beans to WebSphere AppletDesigner, where users can customize or manipulate the beans from within the tool itself using property editors or customizers you design.

JavaBeans are designed to have properties. These properties are attributes or characteristics that define the behavior or state of an object. Properties are referenced by a name and can be of any type. For example, image name is an attribute of an image bean . The image bean might also have a property like backgroundColor . These properties are usually exposed to a user in a visual builder so that they can be changed or customized.

Tutorial Pages:
» Reflecting, introspecting, and customizing JavaBeans
» Reflection
» Customization using property sheets and editors
» Customization using customizers
» Summary
» Resources


First published by IBM DeveloperWorks

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