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Terms, Icons, and Labels

Many classes have shortcut names used when creating (instantiating) a class with a configuration object. The shortcut name is referred to as an alias (or xtype if the class extends Ext.Component). The alias/xtype is listed next to the class name of applicable classes for quick reference.

Access Levels

Framework classes or their members may be specified as private or protected. Else, the class / member is public. Public, protected, and private are access descriptors used to convey how and when the class or class member should be used.

Member Types

Member Syntax

Below is an example class member that we can disect to show the syntax of a class member (the lookupComponent method as viewed from the Ext.button.Button class in this case).

lookupComponent ( item ) : Ext.Component
protected

Called when a raw config object is added to this container either during initialization of the items config, or when new items are added), or {@link #insert inserted.

This method converts the passed object into an instanced child component.

This may be overridden in subclasses when special processing needs to be applied to child creation.

Parameters

item :  Object

The config object being added.

Returns
Ext.Component

The component to be added.

Let's look at each part of the member row:

Member Flags

The API documentation uses a number of flags to further commnicate the class member's function and intent. The label may be represented by a text label, an abbreviation, or an icon.

Class Icons

- Indicates a framework class

- A singleton framework class. *See the singleton flag for more information

- A component-type framework class (any class within the Ext JS framework that extends Ext.Component)

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Member Icons

- Indicates a class member of type config

- Indicates a class member of type property

- Indicates a class member of type method

- Indicates a class member of type event

- Indicates a class member of type theme variable

- Indicates a class member of type theme mixin

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Class Member Quick-Nav Menu

Just below the class name on an API doc page is a row of buttons corresponding to the types of members owned by the current class. Each button shows a count of members by type (this count is updated as filters are applied). Clicking the button will navigate you to that member section. Hovering over the member-type button will reveal a popup menu of all members of that type for quick navigation.

Getter and Setter Methods

Getting and setter methods that correlate to a class config option will show up in the methods section as well as in the configs section of both the API doc and the member-type menus just beneath the config they work with. The getter and setter method documentation will be found in the config row for easy reference.

History Bar

Your page history is kept in localstorage and displayed (using the available real estate) just below the top title bar. By default, the only search results shown are the pages matching the product / version you're currently viewing. You can expand what is displayed by clicking on the button on the right-hand side of the history bar and choosing the "All" radio option. This will show all recent pages in the history bar for all products / versions.

Within the history config menu you will also see a listing of your recent page visits. The results are filtered by the "Current Product / Version" and "All" radio options. Clicking on the button will clear the history bar as well as the history kept in local storage.

If "All" is selected in the history config menu the checkbox option for "Show product details in the history bar" will be enabled. When checked, the product/version for each historic page will show alongside the page name in the history bar. Hovering the cursor over the page names in the history bar will also show the product/version as a tooltip.

Search and Filters

Both API docs and guides can be searched for using the search field at the top of the page.

On API doc pages there is also a filter input field that filters the member rows using the filter string. In addition to filtering by string you can filter the class members by access level, inheritance, and read only. This is done using the checkboxes at the top of the page.

The checkbox at the bottom of the API class navigation tree filters the class list to include or exclude private classes.

Clicking on an empty search field will show your last 10 searches for quick navigation.

API Doc Class Metadata

Each API doc page (with the exception of Javascript primitives pages) has a menu view of metadata relating to that class. This metadata view will have one or more of the following:

Expanding and Collapsing Examples and Class Members

Runnable examples (Fiddles) are expanded on a page by default. You can collapse and expand example code blocks individually using the arrow on the top-left of the code block. You can also toggle the collapse state of all examples using the toggle button on the top-right of the page. The toggle-all state will be remembered between page loads.

Class members are collapsed on a page by default. You can expand and collapse members using the arrow icon on the left of the member row or globally using the expand / collapse all toggle button top-right.

Desktop -vs- Mobile View

Viewing the docs on narrower screens or browsers will result in a view optimized for a smaller form factor. The primary differences between the desktop and "mobile" view are:

Viewing the Class Source

The class source can be viewed by clicking on the class name at the top of an API doc page. The source for class members can be viewed by clicking on the "view source" link on the right-hand side of the member row.

GXT 4.x


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GXT 4 Upgrade Benefits

Upgrading to GXT 4 has many benefits and advantages over GXT 2.

Advantages and benefits

Top benefits

  • Super Dev Mode launch is now faster, which means faster workflow iterations.
  • Faster compiling times, which means faster workflow iterations.
  • Compiling for modern browsers, means you can work with the latest browsers easily.
  • Keep up to date with Java and using the Java 8 language features, which means you can keep your engineers excited about using modern tooling.
  • Support for touch devices and modern browsers, which means customers with new equipment will not have an issue.
  • Overall, developing with GXT 4 provides a better environment for making sophisticated applications.

Note: If you haven't used super dev mode, Support is standing by to help you get started on this track. It doesn't matter how complicated your environment, it's far more flexible in developing complicated applications.

GXT 4.2.x

GXT 4.2.x now supports Java LTS 11, 17, 21 & GWT 2.11.0.

GXT 4.1.x

GXT 4.1.x now supports Java 11 & GWT 2.9.0.

GXT 4.0.x

GXT 4 supports modern and touch devices. It also has more features than GXT 2.

  • GXT 4 provides a theme builder for creating your own skins.
  • GXT 4 provides support for touch devices.
  • GXT 4 supports modern browsers.
  • GXT 4 using the latest Java language
  • Defect fixes and improvements are going into GXT 4.0.x.
  • Support can provide workarounds to issues quickly.

GWT 2.8.2+

You can use GWT 2.8.2 with GXT 4.0.x.

  • HashMap/HashSet now use ES6 maps which makes them faster.
  • New Long emulation is up to 50x faster for smaller numbers. This is really good news
  • if you're writing a grid or spreadsheet app with GWT!
  • Double and Boolean types are no longer boxed, which means less baggage.
  • GWT 2.8 offers many runtime performance improvements.
  • You can use Java 8.
  • Use GWT 2.8.2 Elemental 2 to write HTML5 features with Java. This means it's easier to use the browser Javascript APIs, with Java, keeping everything in Java. This helps catch errors.
  • Use GWT 2.8.2 JsInterop to write

Java 8

You can use Java 8 with GWT 2.8.2 and this gives you the Java 8 language features like lambdas.

Super Dev Mode

  • Super Dev Mode is faster refresh cycle.
  • Super Dev Mode can be used on local and remote servers
  • Super Dev Mode allows for developing in any browser, and easy to switch between them.
  • It's far faster than Classic Dev Mode.
  • Support can help get you setup in any environment.

Engineers

Engineers like to keep up with the latest software tools. Using GXT 4, GWT 2.8.2+, and Java 8 allows them to use a modern tooling environment.

Use the best IDES for Java development, such as Eclipse Oxygen or IntelliJ Idea Ultimate with the GWT plugin.

Tooling

  • Use Eclipse Oxygen or IntelliJ Ultimate to develop your application.
  • Allowing the engineer to choose the best Java tools provides for a happy engineer.

HTML5 and CSS3

You can use HTML5 and CSS3 features in your application development.

  • Use CSS3 to help provide business logic.
  • Modern browsers CSS3 can help speed applications up.
  • Use can use web fonts and icons to help build your business logic.
  • You can use responsive web design, such as flexible fluid layouts using the HtmlLayoutContainer in GXT.
  • Use external style sheets or CssResources with CSS to help build your CSs.
  • Use HTML5 features with GWT Elemental to write HTML5 features in Java.

Tips and Tricks

Find weekly tips and tricks on developing with GXT 4.

  • This makes it easy to come up with ways to build your business logic.
  • More documentation is generated monthly and making it easier to reference the latest API.

Staying with GXT 2.x

What will happen if I stay on GXT 2.x?

The tooling, frameworks will or are no longer supported and this makes it harder to develop the framework with.

And you'll find folks don't want to work on them making it hard to find resources that can do the job.

  • Super Dev Mode won't work with GWT 2.5.x.
  • You can't use GXT 2.x with GWT 2.8.2. They're breaking changes.
  • Modern browser and device development is best done with Super Dev Mode, which means you have to upgrade to use this.
  • Eclipse support for GWT 2.5 will no longer be supported in the future.
  • Classic Dev Mode is outdated and will not work in modern browsers.
  • GXT 2.x won't work with touch devices. The event loops are not wired up to handle touche gestures.
  • GXT 2.x is no longer supported, so if you have a problem it's expensive to fix.
  • Engineers don't want to work on legacy systems, so it's hard to find knowledgeable engineers.
  • Modern browsers inevitably break older features. This has happened with GXT 2. This means you'll have to spend precious new development time on maintenance, which means less progress on new business logic.

GXT 4.x