Form Object Nodes in the Explorer

The Explorer displays all Java files that have GUI forms as form object nodes (Form object node icon). The Form Editor recognizes only form objects that were created using the IDE's form templates, such as Swing and AWT templates. You cannot manipulated other form objects using the Form Editor.

Note The Form Editor may not be available in your version of the IDE. If it is available, you will see a workspace titled GUI Editing. You can enable the Form Editor module by choosing Tools and choosing Update Center.

Each form object node expands to reveal subnodes for each of its classes (Class node icon) and interfaces (Interface node icon). When you open a file in the Form Editor, a Top Form Component node (icon for Top Form Component Node) appears under the form object node. The Top Form Component node contains nodes for all of the file's components. Right-click any component's node to manipulate its appearance and behavior.

You can right-click any form object node to access a contextual menu containing the following commands:

Badges

The IDE affixes badge icons to Explorer icons to indicate a particular state of the object. The following table lists the badge icons used by the IDE.

Icon Description
Needs compilation badge The file needs to be compiled. It has not been compiled or the source has changed since the last compilation.
Runnable object badge The file is a runnable object.
File cannot be parsed badge The file cannot be parsed. The file might contain an unrecoverable syntactic error or there might have been a problem reading the file.
See also
Source File Nodes in the Explorer
Serialized Prototype Nodes in the Explorer
Class Nodes in the Explorer
Interface Nodes in the Explorer
Field Nodes in the Explorer
Constructor Nodes in the Explorer
Method Nodes in the Explorer
Bean Pattern Nodes in the Explorer

Overriding Methods
Using the Import Management Tool
Synchronizing Source Code
Configuring Java Settings

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