The GEF (graphical Editor Framework) Eclipse Project Primer Series (1)---overview

The full English name of GEF is the graphical Editor Framework. The Chinese books of the GEF are largely not available on the market. But a lot of Eclipse's two-time development projects may need to use the technology of Eclipse's GEF. GEF is one of the eclipse projects, the well-known xmind software (http://www.xmind.net/) is developed based on GEF, as shown in the diagram below, the interface is very beautiful and flexible, in addition, the Windowbuilder tool (http:/ /WWW.ECLIPSE.ORG/WB) was also developed by the base GEF, and a BPEL project in Apache was developed based on GEF. The above is just three examples, similar to the other examples are very many, the author is not listed.

Performance of the Xmind workspace based on the GEF

Now that we know what GEF can do, how is the framework of the GEF formed? In other words, what technologies do you need to learn and learn about GEF? You crossing, and listen to the author slowly give you a word.

The GEF Eclipse Project consists of three major sectors: DRAW2D, Zest and GEF. Readers may be surprised to see why the GEF Eclipse Project also includes the GEF itself. In fact, it's a good idea to use the GEF as a replacement for the entire GEF Eclipse project, just like we sometimes use Beijing instead of China, just a name. The following three components are described below:

(1) draw2d

DRAW2D is a lightweight drawing framework. The so-called lightweight is relative to the heavyweight, lightweight refers to these draw2d drawing (figure) is a pure Java object drawn out, and the specific operating system resources are not directly linked. And heavyweight means that every SWT's widgets (parts) are APIs associated with specific operating system resources. Say less nonsense, then what is the main function of draw2d? In plain view, draw2d is primarily used to display graphical information, so the draw2d graphic is displayed in the SWT canvas, and it is important to note that it does not provide interactive behavior.

(2) Zest

Zest is a framework built on the DRAW2D framework. It provides functionality similar to JFace (JFace relative to SWT). Using zest can easily bind a Java model with draw2d graphics.

(3) GEF

GEF is also a framework built on the DRAW2D framework. Provides a very rich API that allows users to interact with graphical interfaces, such as drag-and-drop artboards (palette), print, and physical manipulation of graphical interfaces (e.g., drawing wrong, canceling, or rolling back).

In short, the following picture represents the author's words.

Here are some other reference articles:

Http://www.cnblogs.com/bjzhanghao/archive/2005/02/09/103595.html
Http://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-GEF-Draw2d/GEF-Draw2d.html
Http://wiki.eclipse.org/GEF_Description
Http://wiki.eclipse.org/GEF_Description2

Following the author's follow-up articles, we will introduce the relevant technologies of draw2d,zest and GEF, and combine some practical examples, so please look forward to ...