Lava - The Java GUI Builder

The Lava Interface

The Lava interface is divided into three main parts :

  1. The main GUI design window and component tree.
  2. The toolbox window.
  3. The properties window.

The Main Window

The Main Lava Window

The main Lava window is where most of the actual design work is done. Central to the window is the design form on which components are drawn and moved around to form the GUI. To the left of the design form is the component tree. The component tree offers a way to move the design form between the different sub components and hence edit nested panels of a GUI. To the top of the screen are the menu system and the min toolbar which act as an interface to all other operations of the system such as loading and saving GUIs.

The Toolbox Window

The Main Lava Window

The toolbox window offers a way to select which components you wish to add to the design form. The window takes the form of an array of buttons each of which represent a JavaBean component that has been specified in the lava.components.ini file. The top left most button represents the selection tool.

The Properties Window

The Main Lava Window

The properties window offers a VisualBasic/BeanBox style property editing system which allows access to the properties of the currently selected components. The window is split into a list of properties and a top section which allows editing of the currently selected property. The property lists are split into layout properties, which relate to how the component is layed out in the design form, and normal properties, which relate to how the component looks and acts.

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