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Terms, Icons, and Labels

Many classes have shortcut names used when creating (instantiating) a class with a configuration object. The shortcut name is referred to as an alias (or xtype if the class extends Ext.Component). The alias/xtype is listed next to the class name of applicable classes for quick reference.

Access Levels

Framework classes or their members may be specified as private or protected. Else, the class / member is public. Public, protected, and private are access descriptors used to convey how and when the class or class member should be used.

Member Types

Member Syntax

Below is an example class member that we can disect to show the syntax of a class member (the lookupComponent method as viewed from the Ext.button.Button class in this case).

lookupComponent ( item ) : Ext.Component
protected

Called when a raw config object is added to this container either during initialization of the items config, or when new items are added), or {@link #insert inserted.

This method converts the passed object into an instanced child component.

This may be overridden in subclasses when special processing needs to be applied to child creation.

Parameters

item :  Object

The config object being added.

Returns
Ext.Component

The component to be added.

Let's look at each part of the member row:

Member Flags

The API documentation uses a number of flags to further commnicate the class member's function and intent. The label may be represented by a text label, an abbreviation, or an icon.

Class Icons

- Indicates a framework class

- A singleton framework class. *See the singleton flag for more information

- A component-type framework class (any class within the Ext JS framework that extends Ext.Component)

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Member Icons

- Indicates a class member of type config

- Indicates a class member of type property

- Indicates a class member of type method

- Indicates a class member of type event

- Indicates a class member of type theme variable

- Indicates a class member of type theme mixin

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Class Member Quick-Nav Menu

Just below the class name on an API doc page is a row of buttons corresponding to the types of members owned by the current class. Each button shows a count of members by type (this count is updated as filters are applied). Clicking the button will navigate you to that member section. Hovering over the member-type button will reveal a popup menu of all members of that type for quick navigation.

Getter and Setter Methods

Getting and setter methods that correlate to a class config option will show up in the methods section as well as in the configs section of both the API doc and the member-type menus just beneath the config they work with. The getter and setter method documentation will be found in the config row for easy reference.

History Bar

Your page history is kept in localstorage and displayed (using the available real estate) just below the top title bar. By default, the only search results shown are the pages matching the product / version you're currently viewing. You can expand what is displayed by clicking on the button on the right-hand side of the history bar and choosing the "All" radio option. This will show all recent pages in the history bar for all products / versions.

Within the history config menu you will also see a listing of your recent page visits. The results are filtered by the "Current Product / Version" and "All" radio options. Clicking on the button will clear the history bar as well as the history kept in local storage.

If "All" is selected in the history config menu the checkbox option for "Show product details in the history bar" will be enabled. When checked, the product/version for each historic page will show alongside the page name in the history bar. Hovering the cursor over the page names in the history bar will also show the product/version as a tooltip.

Search and Filters

Both API docs and guides can be searched for using the search field at the top of the page.

On API doc pages there is also a filter input field that filters the member rows using the filter string. In addition to filtering by string you can filter the class members by access level, inheritance, and read only. This is done using the checkboxes at the top of the page.

The checkbox at the bottom of the API class navigation tree filters the class list to include or exclude private classes.

Clicking on an empty search field will show your last 10 searches for quick navigation.

API Doc Class Metadata

Each API doc page (with the exception of Javascript primitives pages) has a menu view of metadata relating to that class. This metadata view will have one or more of the following:

Expanding and Collapsing Examples and Class Members

Runnable examples (Fiddles) are expanded on a page by default. You can collapse and expand example code blocks individually using the arrow on the top-left of the code block. You can also toggle the collapse state of all examples using the toggle button on the top-right of the page. The toggle-all state will be remembered between page loads.

Class members are collapsed on a page by default. You can expand and collapse members using the arrow icon on the left of the member row or globally using the expand / collapse all toggle button top-right.

Desktop -vs- Mobile View

Viewing the docs on narrower screens or browsers will result in a view optimized for a smaller form factor. The primary differences between the desktop and "mobile" view are:

Viewing the Class Source

The class source can be viewed by clicking on the class name at the top of an API doc page. The source for class members can be viewed by clicking on the "view source" link on the right-hand side of the member row.

GXT 3.x


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Super Dev Mode

Super Development Mode quickly compiles the Java source which can be served to the browser using source maps for browser debugging. The process is composed of two parts, the GWT SDM CodeServer and any web application server to host web application resources.

Note: Both the SDM CodeServer and web application are separate distinct servers that run in separate processes at the same time.

  • The SDM Code Server is the compiler.
  • The web application server hosts the HTML and resources.

Reference

SDM CodeServer

Add the gwt-codeserver.jar to the projects classpath. This can be found in the GWT SDK download.

GWT module flags

Super Dev Mode GWT module configuration flag differences for different GWT versions.

GWT 2.5.1

  • GWT 2.5.1 project module settings.

      <add-linker name="xsiframe"/>
      <set-configuration-property name="devModeRedirectEnabled" value="true"/>
      <set-property name="compiler.useSourceMaps" value="true"/>
      <!-- Optional during debugging only, speed up compiles during debugging -->
      <collapse-all-properties />
    

GWT 2.6.1

  • GWT 2.6.1 project module settings.

      <add-linker name="xsiframe"/>
      <!-- Optional during debugging only, speed up compiles during debugging -->
      <collapse-all-properties />
    

Multi-module SDM

When using multiple project modules, extend the default module and add the SDM linker.

  • Example of extending DemoProjectSdm.gwt.xml

    <!-- File DemoProjectSdm.gwt.xml -->
    <module rename-to='demoproject'>
      <!-- inherits the parent module -->
      <inherits name='com.sencha.project.DemoProject'/>
    
      <!-- GWT < 2.7.0, this child module adds the SDM linker -->
      <add-linker name="xsiframe"/>
      <!-- Optional during debugging only, speed up compiles during debugging -->
      <collapse-all-properties />
    </module>
    

GWT 2.7.0

Super dev mode is on by default.

  • No linker is necessary.

Starting

The IDEs start both the CodeServer and Web Server together and there is no need for separate process starting.

Mobile debugging

Debug the application on remote device browser needs Remote Debugging setup.

Chrome

Configure Chrome to work with Remote Debugging which can be used with Super Dev Mode.

  1. Setup the Chrome browser with Remote debugging. Configuration Instructions
  2. Verify that the SDM launcher has a -bindAddress 0.0.0.0 so that the application can be accessed remotely.
  3. Goto chrome://inspect/#devices and open the SDM entry point URL. i.e. http://192.168.10.52:8888/index.html

Manually start Super Dev Mode

Running SDM from the terminal or command line, requires two steps one to run the SDM Code Server and second run a web application server.

  • GWT < 2.7, first compile Application

Start the code server

GWT 2.6.1

  • Nix terminal example.

      export=~/opt/sdks/gwt-2.6.1
      mkdir work
      java -classpath $GWT_HOME/gwt-codeserver.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-user.jar:app:./lib/*  \ 
      com.google.gwt.dev.codeserver.CodeServer -src src -workDir work com.foo.MyModule
    
  • Windows command prompt example.

      SET GWT_HOME=C:\users\user\opt\sdks\gwt-2.6.1
      md work
      java -classpath $GWT_HOME\gwt-codeserver.jar:$GWT_HOME\gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME\gwt-user.jar:app:./lib/*  ^ 
      com.google.gwt.dev.codeserver.CodeServer -src src -workDir work com.foo.MyModule
    

GWT 2.7.0

Running SDM from the terminal or command line will only take one extra Dev Mode argument -superDevMode.

  • Nix terminal example.

      java -classpath $GWT_HOME/gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-codeserver.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-user.jar:app:./lib/*  \ 
      com.google.gwt.dev.DevMode -superDevMode -remoteUI "${gwt_remote_ui_server_port}:${unique_id}" -startupUrl MyFoo.html \
      -logLevel INFO -codeServerPort 9997 -port 8888 -war /path/to/MyFoo/war com.domain.foo.MyFoo
    
  • Windows terminal example.

      java -classpath $GWT_HOME/gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-codeserver.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-dev.jar:$GWT_HOME/gwt-user.jar:app:./lib/*  ^ 
      com.google.gwt.dev.DevMode -superDevMode -remoteUI "${gwt_remote_ui_server_port}:${unique_id}" -startupUrl MyFoo.html ^
      -logLevel INFO -codeServerPort 9997 -port 8888 -war C:\path\to\MyFoo\war com.domain.foo.MyFoo
    

Start a Web server

Next start the web server (the Dev Mode entry point could be used to run Jetty).

  • For instance if you have python installed run a simple web server, with out servlets in the war directory.

      ./myapp/war>$python -m SimpleHTTPServer
    

Tips

Program args

Helpful program args for super dev mode.

  • -bindAddress 0.0.0.0 - this binds the server on every IP, useful for debugging on a mobile device attached to the same network.

Breaking

Quick way to ask the browser to pause on a breakpoint.

  • Add GWT.debugger() in the java source and when it's called by the browser it will pause on that break point.

Problems

  1. Missing resources during Super Dev Mode compile in GWT 2.6.1 or lower. Copy the resources to the public folder. Fixed in GWT 2.7.
  2. Missing stylesheet in 2.6.1 or lower, add a (deprecated) to the GWT project module. Fixed in GWT 2.7.

GXT 3.x