Canoo has published an IDE integration plug-in for IntelliJ IDEA and UltraLightClient. This IDE integration plug-in simplifies Rich Internet Application (RIA) development with UltraLightClient (ULC) in IntelliJ's development environment. The free plug-in provides Run/Debug integration for ULC applications and a ULC library wizard.

Building Rich Internet Applications in Java with ULC

UltraLightClient is a library to build Rich Internet Applications (RIA) in Java. Using this standard Java library, developers achieve unprecedented productivity in providing rich, responsive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for enterprise web applications within J2EE and J2SE infrastructures. UltraLightClient builds on available developer know-how by following the Swing API, yet shields the developer from the complexities of client/server code distribution by taking care of the code split and optimizing communication. Application releases are deployed on the server only. The user interface is handled by an application-independent Java presentation engine distributed as an applet to a browser, to Eclipse RCP, or via Java Web Start. See Key Differentiators (http://www.canoo.com/ulc/home/keydifferentiators.html) to find out how ULC compares with other technologies.

UltraLightClient is available for purchase at http://www.canoo.com/ulc. A developer license costs US$ 1495 and includes free runtime distribution on any number of servers. A free evaluation license may be obtained for 30 days.


IDEA Integration Plug-in

The new plug-in integrates ULC's Development Runner into IDEA's context menu and Run/Debug configuration view.

In the same way that a main method of a Java class is launched, ULC developers can launch/debug an IApplication instance within IDEA. The class is initialized in the ULC Development Runner, part of the ULC download package. The Configuration view is used to configure parameters such as Connection Type and Log Level directly from the IDE.

The ULC library wizard creates a global library, containing all classes, sources, and Java Docs required to develop ULC applications. For example, upgrading an existing global ULC library to a new version of ULC is much easier. The wizard is integrated in the Settings view.
The free plug-in requires the latest final release of IDEA (version 4.5.2) and UltraLightClient 5.2 or higher.

The plug-in source code is available for download at the IntelliJ community:
http://www.intellij.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CanooULCPlugin

For further plug-in details see the UltraLightClient Community website.
http://ulc-community.canoo.com/snipsnap/space/Contributions/Integration+Snippets/IDEA+IDE+Integration

UltraLightClient Community

Canoo offers a code community for UltraLightClient at:
http://ulc-community.canoo.com

The purpose of this community site is to provide a platform for ULC developers to share useful extensions, add-ons and integration snippets. All code contributions are free. Current contributions include:
* an application template (http://ulc-community.canoo.com/snipsnap/space/Contributions/Application+Template),
* an integration of JFreeChart (http://ulc-community.canoo.com/snipsnap/space/Contributions/Graphics/JFreeChart+Extension+II),
* a JGraph extension (http://ulc-community.canoo.com/snipsnap/space/Contributions/Graphics/JGraph+Extension),
* a network performance analysis tool (http://ulc-community.canoo.com/snipsnap/space/Contributions/Utilities/Ping).

About IntelliJ
For more information about IntelliJ IDEA, please see http://www.intellij.com.

About Canoo
Canoo (http://www.canoo.com) is specialized in object-oriented, J2EE-based software, delivering solutions for business applications and products for software development. The software company is based in Basel, Switzerland.

http://www.canoo.com/ulc/demos/index.html

and they are doing good in Rich Client vote:
http://www.sys-con.com/java/readerschoice2004/vote.cfm



.V

I can see applets being useful in INTRANET environments , which are controlled by MIS and homogeneous in nature.

But I am not sure if anyone would risk developing a applet for the internet. Tere ae too many issue : firewalls that block applets ( and allow Flash/shockwave -- go figure!! ), incompatible VMs and slow download time.

I love applets / Web Start : its just that I am not sure if developing one for Internet ( and general public use) is not a bad decision. Is it ?

developing one for Internet is a bad decision. Is it ?

1. Clients love RiA! (how much developers hurt does not matter)

2. There are limits to JavaScript/ActionScript and even browsers. Peoples expectations will outgrow it. Those apps will be re-developed.

3. WebStart deploys via browser, BUT THEN IT bypasses the browser! It has not limnits to RiA! Any techical problems are just that, techincal problems. There are major development efforts to improve RiA!

.V
more RiA samples at: sandrasf.com/sites

The applet question is one out of many important factors in choosing your rich client technology. Other key factors are whether you need a proprietary server and/or IDE, etc. Canoo has a list of differentiators that is quite helpful in comparing the technologies: http://www.canoo.com/ulc/home/keydifferentiators.html

...it's got to look good graphically. That's the main factor used to judge rich-client frameworks. :)

I think Bindows and Flash could build more fast and rich Client. see this: www.bindows.net

Bindows looks berry nice nice.

Can anyone coment if they like Bindows UI better than ULC (WebStart) UI (vs Laszlo/Flex)?

.V

Bindows like any other javascript solution which doesn't reload the page but just re-structure it with the DOM, over and over, incurs in the unavoidable problem of memory comsuption growing over the time because of the browsers (all) not clearing completely the memory used by javascript objects.

The components look great, but I see a lot of "IE Only" A lot of good that does for internet applications!

Runs as an applet (very light) passes XML back and forth. Because you are in an applet very rich client functionality as opposed to bindows which looks like jscript for the client model.

Runs on JVM 1.1

http://www.nexaweb.com

But they have no demos AFAIK.
.V

I know this is a day late and a dollar short but nexaweb does have demos now. The demo on the enterprise console is nice with real time data updates that update the UI without the refresh requirements. The Order Management demo needs a little work, does not show a lot of robust features of a true OC or OM product.

IAB Studio is available...
demos, whole product, documentation, examples, support...

IAB Studio is integrated with Eclipse, WebLogic Workshop/Portal, Webshpere and get it now... IAB Studio 3.7 has been release on Jul 25.

- No Applets, no Active-X, no Flash, no beans, no xxxML or JS coding, no …
- No third party software, no plug-ins, no client-side installation, no players, no viewers
- No hassle, no headache, no losses, no losers, …
- Mood - good, joy and fun, attitude - for every one…
- Server-side - Java, client-side - OO JS controls, interface - web browser

Additional information is available:
 
White paper: www.worcsnet.com/WhitePaper.htm
FAQ: www.worcsnet.com/FAQ.htm
Downloads: www.worcsnet.com/downloads.htm
Corporate web site: www.worcsnet.com

See also the following Javadesktop article by Bernhard Wagner on UltraLightClient:

http://javadesktop.org/articles/canoo/index.html