VCE Bridge![]() This feature requires that VA Assist be installed into VisualAge Java. VA Assist can be downloaded and installed from here.
Eclipse does not include a GUI builder. The VCE Bridge feature allows you to access the VA Java VCE (Visual Composition Editor) from within Application Developer or Eclipse by simply clicking on a class or compilation unit and selecting the "Edit GUI" command. Technically, this involves quite a bit of cooperative magic between Application Developer/Eclipse and VA Java.
The obvious limitation here is that you are limited to JDK 1.2.2 features. Since this facility is meant to "bridge" folks from VA Java into Application Developer/Eclipse until the corresponding Eclipse facility is released, it should be viewed as short term and tactical in nature. Once an Application Developer/Eclipse native VCE is released, you would no longer need to use this VCE Bridge feature. All of the CodePro / VA Assist integration features may be configured via the
"CodePro | VA Assist"
options page. On the VA Java side, the Application Developer/Eclipse integration features may be configured
via the "VA Assist | Application Developer/Eclipse" options page. |
When I edit my GUI using the VCE Bridge, why don't I see my layout? |
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VA Java does not
recreate the VCE layout information from the source of the class. Rather, it stores that
meta data within the repository. VA Java does provide a source code generation option for
generating that meta data into a special getBuilderData() method. That
method must be present in any exported class for it to be properly edited using the VA
Java VCE and, consequently, the VCE Bridge. Rather than forcing you to go back an
regenerate all of the source for your GUI classes, VA Assist provides a convenient "Generate
missing meta data methods on export" option that will cause those missing methods
to be generated any time a class is exported either to a directory
or directly to Application Developer/Eclipse. |
If my GUI references any custom components, do those components need to be loaded into VA Java before editing the class with the VCE Bridge? |
Yes. Any custom parts or nested components
need to be present within VA Java. All you need to do is load the VA Java
project containing the referenced components before invoking the VCE Bridge.
One of the basic assumptions of the VCE Bridge
is that you are editing GUI classes originally created in VA Java so you
would have those pieces available already in VA Java. If you load your VA
Java projects into VA Java, that should solve any dependency problems that
you might have.
The VA Java GUI builder only knows about types within its environment.
If you want to use classes that you have created in Eclipse, you will need
to import them into the VA Java environment you want to use. The direct
import from Eclipse option that has been added to the Import
Wizard by VA Assist
should make that easy. If you plan to do this frequently, you might want
to set up an Eclipse
Import set on the VA Java side and use the Task
Scheduler to have it run automatically at VA Java startup. That way,
whenever you invoke the VCE Bridge it will
automatically import your new/changed beans and make them available for
use. |
I having problems getting the VCE Bridge to work; what should I do? |
Here are some questions to ask yourself and
some suggestions:
Sending us a screen shot of both of the above screens in your
environment might help us identify the problem. Are any exceptions
recorded either into the VA Java "ide\program\va-debug.log"
file, the Eclipse "<workspace>\.metadata\.log" file or the
"<workspace>\.metadata\.plugins\com.instantiations.assist.eclipse.core\ws-debug.log"
file? If so, please send us those files. If none are recorded, you can try
turning on the "log communications" options in both products
which will cause communication status messages to be recorded to the log
files which should help us analyze the problem. |
Are there any special considerations when using ClearCase? |
Yes. ClearCase
uses a pessimistic "check-in/check-out" model. Many operations in
Application Developer/Eclipse will
fail unless a type is properly checked out before editing (refactoring, for example). The
same is true for specific CodePro features such as the VCE Bridge and BeanInfo Bridge. In order for the "Edit GUI" and
"Edit BeanInfo" commands to work, make sure that the class that you plan to edit
has been properly checked out from ClearCase. |