Your First Project with Vaadin in Netbeans IDE 6.7

Eclipse users have access to the Vaadin Eclipse plugin which is probably the easiest way to get started with the Vaadin framework. But if you prefer Netbeans IDE, this is the article for you. And don't worry, it's almost as easy to get started with Netbeans also.

This tutorial assumes you have downloaded and installed a bundle of Netbeans 6.7 that includes the Apache Tomcat server (the "Java Web & EE" support) and you have the latest Vaadin JAR package at hand.

Creating the Project

Launch your Netbeans IDE and perform the following steps to create a new web project.

• Select 'File -> New Project' to open the New Project dialog window.
• Select 'Java Web' from the categories and 'Web Application' from the project selection and click 'Next' to proceed.
• Type in a name and location for your project (I use HelloVaadin as the name and my default project folder) and click 'Next'.
• Select the 'Apache Tomcat 6.0.18' server and type in preferred context path or use the default (the project name). The context path will define the URL of your application (for example [http://localhost:8084/HelloVaadin).] Click 'Finish' to create the project.
• You can close and ignore the index.jsp, which is opened to the editor by default after the project has been created.

Importing Vaadin Libraries

Next you need to import the Vaadin library JAR package to the project you just created.

• Right-click the 'Libraries' node on your project and select 'Add JAR/Folder...'.
• Locate your copy of the Vaadin JAR file in the opening file dialog and click 'Open'.
• Now you should see the JAR file under the Libraries node.

Writing the Code

Next we create the application class for our simple example application.

• Select 'New -> Java Class' on your project to open the New Java Class dialog.
• Type in your a name and package for your class (I use a class name of HelloVaadin and a package com.vaadin.netbeans.tutorial).
• Select 'Finish' to create the Java class.

This class will be the main application class of our Vaadin application. Therefore it must extend the abstract com.vaadin.Application class and implement the init() method.

Type in or copy-paste the following code to the newly created file:

#!java
package com.vaadin.netbeans.tutorial;

import com.vaadin.Application;
import com.vaadin.ui.*;

public class HelloVaadin extends Application {
	@Override
	public void init() {
		Window mainWindow = new Window("HelloVaadin");
		Label label = new Label("Hello Vaadin user");
		mainWindow.addComponent(label);
		setMainWindow(mainWindow);
	}

}

Defining Deployment Descriptor

To run your application you must define a deployment descriptor for it. Open 'Web Pages -> WEB-INF -> web.xml' file on your project. By default the file is opened in a graphical editor but you can select the XML tab to edit the XML file directly. Type in or copy-paste the following to the contents of the file.

#!xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app version="2.5" 
         xmlns="[http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"] 
         xmlns:xsi="[http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"] 
         xsi:schemaLocation="[http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee] [http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">]
    <display-name>HelloVaadin</display-name>
    <context-param>
        <param-name>productionMode</param-name>
        <param-value>false</param-value>
        <description>Vaadin production mode</description>
    </context-param>
        
    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>HelloVaadin</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.server.ApplicationServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>application</param-name>
            <param-value>com.vaadin.netbeans.tutorial.HelloVaadin</param-value>
            <description>Vaadin application class to start</description>
        </init-param>
    </servlet>
    
    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>HelloVaadin</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
</web-app>

Running Your Application

Now we can run (or debug) the application by simply selecting 'Run -> Run Main Project' (or 'Run -> Debug Main Project'). This starts the Apache Tomcat server and opens up your application in your default browser.

What Next?

Now that you have your environment setup, you probably want to explore more of the features of the Vaadin framework. I would suggest that you head to the Vaadin tutorial. Have fun with Vaadin!

Update

• Vaadin Plugin for Netbeans 6.8
• Using Vaadin Add-ons in NetBeans