Package org.eclipse.ui.forms

Interface IFormPart

All Known Subinterfaces:
IDetailsPage
All Known Implementing Classes:
AbstractFormPart, DetailsPart, SectionPart
public interface IFormPart
Classes that implement this interface can be added to the managed form and take part in the form life cycle. The part is initialized with the form and will be asked to accept focus. The part can receive form input and can elect to do something according to it (for example, select an object that matches the input).

The form part has two 'out of sync' states in respect to the model(s) that feed the form: dirty and stale. When a part is dirty, it means that the user interacted with it and now its widgets contain state that is newer than the model. In order to sync up with the model, 'commit' needs to be called. In contrast, the model can change 'under' the form (as a result of some actions outside the form), resulting in data in the model being 'newer' than the content presented in the form. A 'stale' form part is brought in sync with the model by calling 'refresh'. The part is responsible for notifying the form when one of these states change in the part. The form reserves the right to handle this notification in the most appropriate way for the situation (for example, if the form is in a page of the multi-page editor, it may do nothing for stale parts if the page is currently not showing).

When the form is disposed, each registered part is disposed as well. Parts are responsible for releasing any system resources they created and for removing themselves as listeners from all event providers.

Since:
3.0
See Also:

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    void
    commit(boolean onSave)
    If part is displaying information loaded from a model, this method instructs it to commit the new (modified) data back into the model.
    void
    dispose()
    Disposes the part allowing it to release allocated resources.
    void
    initialize(IManagedForm form)
    Initializes the part.
    boolean
    isDirty()
    Returns true if the part has been modified with respect to the data loaded from the model.
    boolean
    isStale()
    Tests whether the form part is stale and needs refreshing.
    void
    refresh()
    Refreshes the part completely from the information freshly obtained from the model.
    void
    setFocus()
    Instructs form part to transfer focus to the widget that should has focus in that part.
    boolean
    setFormInput(Object input)
    Notifies the part that an object has been set as overall form's input.

  • Method Details

    • initialize

      void initialize(IManagedForm form)
      Initializes the part.
      Parameters:
      form - the managed form that manages the part

    • dispose

      void dispose()
      Disposes the part allowing it to release allocated resources.

    • isDirty

      boolean isDirty()
      Returns true if the part has been modified with respect to the data loaded from the model.
      Returns:
      true if the part has been modified with respect to the data loaded from the model

    • commit

      void commit(boolean onSave)
      If part is displaying information loaded from a model, this method instructs it to commit the new (modified) data back into the model.
      Parameters:
      onSave - indicates if commit is called during 'save' operation or for some other reason (for example, if form is contained in a wizard or a multi-page editor and the user is about to leave the page).

    • setFormInput

      boolean setFormInput(Object input)
      Notifies the part that an object has been set as overall form's input. The part can elect to react by revealing or selecting the object, or do nothing if not applicable.
      Returns:
      true if the part has selected and revealed the input object, false otherwise.

    • setFocus

      void setFocus()
      Instructs form part to transfer focus to the widget that should has focus in that part. The method can do nothing (if it has no widgets capable of accepting focus).

    • isStale

      boolean isStale()
      Tests whether the form part is stale and needs refreshing. Parts can receive notification from models that will make their content stale, but may need to delay refreshing to improve performance (for example, there is no need to immediately refresh a part on a form that is current on a hidden page).

      It is important to differentiate 'stale' and 'dirty' states. Part is 'dirty' if user interacted with its editable widgets and changed the values. In contrast, part is 'stale' when the data it presents in the widgets has been changed in the model without direct user interaction.

      Returns:
      true if the part needs refreshing, false otherwise.

    • refresh

      void refresh()
      Refreshes the part completely from the information freshly obtained from the model. The method will not be called if the part is not stale. Otherwise, the part is responsible for clearing the 'stale' flag after refreshing itself.