XUI and JavaFX
For some time, and for lots of reasons, we have wanted to embed Flash graphics in XUI. Now we have a JavaFX component and can render JavaFX within a XUI application.
While we managed to play Flash animations within XUI applications the results were always poor and the integration never felt right. JavaFX on the other hand, being built on a Java platform, should integrate very nicely and even though it is still in its early days we hold high hopes for it.
But why would one want to use JavaFX and XUI together? Well, I have long held the view that programmers should not be responsible for all of the content in an application, programming isn't even a good metaphor for creation of some of the content used in modern applications. There are many situations where animators or visual artists would be better at providing content than programmers.
- A typical business application may include 'advertorial' content to introduce new products or special offers. Such content works best when it is visually rich and in part entertaining.
- An engineering application may include animated cutaways to show how a machine works.
- An educational programme may simulate a process to for clarity.
And the list goes on and on, but at the end of the day it's about choosing the best tool for the job. Mostly I see JavaX as being complementary to XUI and to Java. We will continue to enhance XUi and extends its visual capabilities, but we would like to have a vector for graphic artists to contribute. We already started using SVG for this purpose and we can do quite a bit with SVG and Java2D, but its not a solution for everyone. JavaFX will be a nice option
So as a first step in the integration of JavaFX and XUI the OpenJFX Canvas component has been wrapped as a XUI component. The component is little more than a proof of concept at present, but I will extend its capability as I learn more about JavaFX and as the tooling improves. I'm sure it will be interesting