Developing Custom GUI Builder in Java

Question

First of all, let me say that I am not looking for a GUI Builder to design my application. I am looking for a GUI Builder component that I can use in my application, to let my users (which are developers) design their application.

In the simplest form, I need a Java component that I can embed to my own application.

Some of the basic requirements for GUI Builder;

• Null Layout Manager for layout. Custom layout managers is a plus, but I don't care for now.

• Customizable output. Output of the GUI shouldn't be in Java. I have a custom XML grammar, so GUI should be transformed to a custom XML not Java.

Either a ready project, or guidelines to code my own is acceptable.

Also, I suspect that I can use Netbeans's GUI Builder for my purpose. Since Netbeans IDE sits on Netbeans platform, its GUI Builder can be available in Netbeans platform. Any advice from expert Netbeans platform developers is welcome.

Answer 1

You could start by looking at the Netbeans Visual Library. I believe it's the tool they used in the first place to build their own GUI Builder.

Answer 2

You can definitely use Matisse (The NetBeans GUI builder) for this.

Geertjans blog is a good starting point.