NetBeans 6.0 Visual Mobile Designer custom components: Pim browser

The Visual Mobile Designer (VMD) is the graphical interface in the NetBeans mobility package, allowing you to design mobile applications using drag-and-drop components. VMD allows you to define application processes and design GUIs using components provided by mobility packages or components that you design yourself. VMD contains many standard User Interface (UI) components that you can use to create applications such as Lists, Alerts, Forms, and Images. It also includes custom components that can be used to simplify the creation of more complex features, such as waiting screens, splash screens, table items, and more.

The PIM browser is a custom component that provides easy access to standard mobile device features such as calendars, address books, or task lists. You can use the Pim browser component to allow mobile Java applications to access locally stored personal information databases. This component uses the PIM (personal information Management) API, which is part of the PDA Optional Packages used in the JSR-75 specification for the Java ME Platform. JSR-75 is not part of the MIDP 2.0 specification and is defined as a custom component and can only be used with devices that support JSR-75.

Application Overview

This example shows how to use the Pim browser component in a mobile application that supports JSR-75 devices. It describes the basic functionality of a component, such as browsing the contents of a device's contact database, calendar, or to-do list. In addition to the Pim browser, we need to use three other components: a splash screen, a text box, and an alert.

Software Requirements

Before you begin, you need to install the following software on your computer:

NetBeans IDE 6.0 with mobility package

Java Standard Development Kit (JDK) version 6.0.

If you are not aware of the NetBeans mobility Pack, read the NetBeans 6.0 Mobility CLDC/MIDP QuickStart Guide before continuing.

Installing and running the sample application

Before you begin, you may want to review the final results of this tutorial.

Perform the following steps to install the Pimbrowserexample application:

Download Pimbrowserexample.zip

Unzip the file.

In the IDE, select File > Open Project and browse to the folder that contains the extracted files.

Open the projects and navigator windows. It should look like the following: