Building a JavaFX application using Gradle

Question

I'm trying to build a relatively simple JavaFX application using Gradle. However, I have no idea how to do it.

I'm relatively new to Gradle, and for simple (non-javafx) project I've successfully used the plugins java and application to build and package libraries and command-line applications.

However, I'm completely stuck when it comes to JavaFX. I've read this article, which suggests using the JavaFX plugin, however I could only find the source code for this plugin, but no documentation on how to actually obtain it an use it (in the article they simply apply it from a remote URL, but that fails on my machine, says I'm not authorized...)

Any clues on how to do this properly?

Answer 1

Here's an example Gradle JavaFX build on GitHub. Note that according to Bintray, the latest version of the plugin is 8.1.1, so replace the '0.3.0' in the plugin URL with '8.1.1' if you want the latest.

Just to be clear, this is a very unusual way to distribute a Gradle plugin. Most are much easier to incorporate in a build!

Edit: up-to-date fork that works using "apply plugin" https://github.com/FibreFoX/javafx-gradle-plugin

Answer 2

Here is my example project with OpenJDK 12, JavaFX 12 and Gradle 5.4. It uses the JavaFX Gradle plugin.

• Opens a JavaFX window with the title "Hello World!"
• Able to build a working runnable distribution zip file (Windows to be tested)
• Able to open and run in IntelliJ without additional configuration
• Able to run from the command line

I hope somebody finds the Github project useful. Feel free to clone it. It is licensed with the Unlicense.