More than a GWT reference, less than a GWT reference. You won't find obscure references, but you will find what you need to get started: a basic reference, downloads, and tutorials.
This site is not intended to be a replacement for the Google Docs for GWT, and by no stretch of the imagination would anyone say it is. It's a personal view of what I would have liked to have had available when I started with GWT and Java back when I was a lad and GWT was in version 1.1.0.
You'll probably get most from this site if you are wondering what GWT can do, or if you have worked out the basics and are wondering what else you can do with GWT.
The framework for the site is available for download along with a basic css file and an example file. It lets you build menus nested to any depth with automatic history support, and lets you lazy load (search engine friendly) HTML pages from the web server, like the ones on this site.
This site is intended to be a GWT resource at the low to middle range of experience, the sort of thing I couldn't find when I was beginning. It isn't intended to be a replacement for the Google Docs for GWT. If you want a complete technical reference, then you should go here
| AbsolutePanel | DIV | ComplexPanel | Position widgets absolutely | |
| CellPanel | TABLE | ComplexPanel | [Abstract] Subclass your own cell panels | |
| ComplexPanel | - | Panel | [Abstract] Subclass panels with more than one widget | |
| DeckPanel | DIV | ComplexPanel | Display widgets - one visible at a time | |
| DisclosurePanel | TABLE | Composite | Show/hide a details pane | |
| DockPanel | TABLE | CellPanel | Add widgets N, S, E, W around a central cell | |
| FlowPanel | DIV | ComplexPanel | Add widgets as if to a normal DIV | |
| FocusPanel | DIV | SimplePanel | Add focus to non-focusable widgets | |
| FormPanel | DIV | SimplePanel | Submit a form to a server | |
| Frame | IFRAME | - | Add an IFRAME to the application | |
| HorizontalPanel | TABLE | CellPanel | Add a chain of cells horizontally | |
| HorizontalSplitPanel | DIV | SplitPanel | Move the border between two cells | |
| HTMLPanel | DIV | Add HTML, then access the elements that have IDs | ||
| Panel | - | Widget | [Abstract] Base for all panels | |
| ScrollPanel | DIV | SimplePanel | Stack child widgets, displaying contents of only one | |
| StackPanel | TABLE | SimplePanel | Add a vertical chain of widgets | |
| SimplePanel | DIV | Panel | [Abstract] One-widget panel | |
| TabPanel | TABLE | VerticalPanel | Add virtual card-index dividers | |
| VerticalPanel | TABLE | CellPanel | Add a chain of cells vertically | |
| VerticalSplitPanel | DIV | SplitPanel | Move the border between two cells | |
| Button | The user clicks it, the application does something | |||
| CheckBox | Displays and/or gets input for a true/false condition | |||
| Composite | [Abstract]A class to let you build your own widgets | |||
| FileUpload | Allows the user to upload files. Must be inside a FormPanel | |||
| FlexTable | A table with varying numbers of cells in a row. Expands as required. | |||
| Grid | A fixed-size table of cells which can hold text, HTML or widgets | |||
| Hidden | A hidden text field for use on a form | |||
| HTML | A widget which holds raw HTML | |||
| Hyperlink | A widget which lets the user jump to somewhere else in the application | |||
| Image | Holds an image for display | |||
| Label | A one-line text box | |||
| ListBox | A list of available selections as a list or dropdown | |||
| MenuBar | A dropdown menu bar holding MenuItems or another MenuBar | |||
| MenuItem | An item in a MenuBar - it either fires a command, or cascades into a submenu | |||
| PopupPanel | An alert panel within the appliation | |||
| PushButton | A button which can be styled | |||
| RadioButton | One of a set of mutually exclusive options | |||
| RichTextArea | Like a text area but with text fomatting | |||
| SuggestBox | A TextBox which has a dropdown list of suggestions | |||
| TabBar | A kind of horizontal menu you can make look like tabs | |||
| TextArea | A multi-line box for entering text | |||
| TextBox | A single-line box for entering text | |||
| ToggleButton | A click to latch/click to release button | |||
| Tree | A hierarchical node-based display widget | |||
| ChangeListener | Text has changed | |||
| ClickListener | Something has been clicked | |||
| EventListener | A catch-all for when ANYthing happens | |||
| FocusListener | Something has got or lost focus | |||
| HistoryListener | The user/program has navigated history, or the program has addedhistory | |||
| KeyboardListener | Keypress, or down or up | |||
| LoadListener | Something has loaded | |||
| MouseListener | The mouse has done something in your widget (yuk!) | |||
| MouseWheelListener | The mouse wheel has moved | |||
| PopupListener | A popup has popped up or down | |||
| ScrollListener | Scrolling has occurred | |||
| TableListener | A cell has been clicked | |||
| TreeListener | A tree item has been selected or its state has changed | |||
| WindowCloseListener | Window closing - Are you sure? Really sure? Positive? | |||
| WindowResizeListener | The window is a different size |
GWT From Zero - A Free Email Course - For Real Beginners
This is not the course for you if you have got GWT up and running, if you know how to display widgets, if you know about listeners, if you know about styles and the DOM, if you can use history, and if you can fade the page out while you show a popup.
If you can't do that, and want to know how, then you might want to sign up for it.
It's free (as in no money) and always will be. But it's in beta and I'd like feedback at the end. So that's the price
You don't need to have ever seen Eclipse, Java, or GWT before, It would help if you know the difference between a class and an object and it would help if you have used a language that uses curly brackets, but even these aren't actual requirements if you are happy to cut and paste and experiment
- Day 1 - Getting to 'Hello' - You get Eclipse running, you get GWT, you download a working project, and you learn how to clone it (no messing about with applicationCreator or projectCreator, ever), and you learn what does what in it.
- Day 2 - Playing with simple widgets - You get to know some of the screen elements - buttons, text input, you add a ClickListener to a button, you create a SuggestBox which shows all the countries in the world, and you add some styling to it.
- Day 3 - Responding to events - You learn how to respond to clicks and other events and you create a routine which will respond to any (or every) event.
- Day 4 - Laying it out - VerticalPanels, HorizontalPanels, TabPanels, DockPanels, FlexTables and more. Styling via the DOM, Primary, secondary and dependent styling - how and when and why to use each.
- Day 5 - Putting it all together - You build a web-site - OK, not a big one, but it's a web site, it has three pages (you can easily add more), it has history, it fades out the background and pops up a message if the bookmark is wrong, and it's pure GWT.
"But I haven't even downloaded GWT!"
True. But it's not impossible, and it's free, so why not give it a try?
Free email support
If you tell me what you don't understand, I'll get back to you - and I'll try to improve the course so I don't get the same question again.
