Project wizard

The Project wizard creates a JBuilder project file, which has a .jpr or .jpx file extension. The project file contains the project settings and a list of all the files added to the project. Project settings will vary according to the type of project you create, but can include directory structure, paths to libraries, sources, JDK versions, and relevant deployment settings. JBuilder uses the list of files and the project settings whenever you load, save, change, build, or deploy a project.

To open the Project wizard, use one of the following options:

You don't edit a project file directly, but it is modified whenever you use the JBuilder development environment to add or remove files or to set other options. You can see the project file as the top node of the project tree in the project pane. You can modify Source Path and Out Path information, as well as compiler, run, debug, code style, and other options, using the Project Properties dialog box (Project|Project Properties).

The Project wizard creates a project file with either a .jpr or .jpx extension. Both project file types are available in all editions. The .jpr file type is suitable for most purposes. The .jpx file type is an XML file that better supports team development features and version control (available in JBuilder Enterprise edition) in addition to the usual project file functions.

To change the extension of the project file, right-click the project file in the project pane. Select Rename "[project file name]". Change the file extension to the other legal project file extension and click OK or press Enter.

Either project file type organizes the other files in the project and maintains the project properties (paths to source files, libraries, JDK version, and so on). To learn more about file types in JBuilder, see "Creating and Managing Projects" in "Building Applications with JBuilder".

Step 1 of 3

Set the project template and the names of the project file and all the directories that will contain files generated by the project.

  1. Set the project file name and type.

  2. Select the project you want to use as a template for the present project. This sets the default paths and directories. All paths and names can be changed in the wizard; this only sets default behavior.

    Choosing the default project template sets the root path to lead to the jbproject directory in your home directory, and makes your source, backup, and output directories the descendants of your project directory.

    Choosing another project as the template sets the new project's paths so that the new project directory (with its descendants) is a subdirectory of the template project's project directory.

  3. Set the names of the directories. (Set the paths in the next step.)

  4. Decide if you want the project directory to be the parent of the source and output directories. This is the default.
Click Next if you want to change any default paths or make a project notes file. If you're satisfied with the default settings, want to compile against JDK 1.3, don't need to add libraries, and don't want a project notes file, you can click Finish in Step 1.

Step 2

Set your paths in Step 2.
  1. Your project, source, backup, and output paths are set by default according to the preferences you stated in Step 1. You can edit these fields directly or click on the ellipsis buttons (...) to browse to the locations you want to set instead.

  2. Select a JDK version. Version 1.3 is set by default. To compile against another JDK, click the ellipsis button (...) to browse to a registered JDK location or to open the New JDK Wizard to set a path to a new one.

  3. If necessary, add libraries or make new ones. Click Add to browse to an existing library in the Select One Or More Libraries dialog box. You can click New in this dialog to bring up the New Library Wizard.

  4. Decide whether you want to make a project notes file. (If so, you will design it in Step 3.) This is an HTML file with the same name as the project file. It has information about the project (author, company, description of the project) that goes into the About box. It can also be used to keep track of your @todo items after the project is created. You can choose whether the project information you enter in this wizard will be commented into the head of each file other wizards generate for the project.

If you don't want to make a project notes file, click Finish in this step.

Step 3

Make the project notes file in Step 3.

  1. Enter a title for the project, the list of authors, and the name of the company. All of these fields are optional.

  2. Enter a description of the project. This field is also optional.

If you don't want this information commented into the head of wizard-generated files, make sure the Generate Header Comments box is unchecked in each wizard you use.

To learn more about the Project wizard, see "Creating a New Project with the Project Wizard" in the "Creating and Managing Projects" chapter of "Building Applications with JBuilder".