Echo Web Framework

Beta8 adds a much improved TabPane with the capability to render custom graphic borders around tabs. RichTextArea has been overhauled; enhancements include improved aesthetics, cross-browser support, a more standard document format, and new features such as table editing. In server-side Java applications, text components can now progressively notify the server as a user types, making it possible to create "auto complete"-type components with only Java code. Architectural improvements have been made to the framework itself, including new APIs for component developers to receive keyboard events without worrying about browser peculiarities, and an easy and fast API for rendering image-based borders.

Component-specific Changes

• Panel
  • Added support for FillImageBorders (as well as conventional Borders)
• TextComponent (TextField, TextArea, PasswordField)
  • Server-side applications may now be notified immediately after keypress/blur events. The rate at which the server is notified can be configured (e.g., delay since last user keypress).
  • Key events are now available to client-side applications.
  • Improved input suppression when components are outside of modal context.
• WindowPane
  • Updated component to use new FillImageBorder rendering API.
• AccordionPane
  • Added support for setting tab fonts.
• BorderPane
  • Updated component to use new FillImageBorder rendering API.
• RichTextArea
  • Added support for Table editing (insert/delete rows/columns).
  • Added visual table size configurator to "Insert Table" dialog.
  • Implemented paragraph-based formatting, such that pressing ENTER key will create a new paragraph (by inserting a <p> rather than a <br>). Made progress toward toward more standard formatting across all browsers.
  • Switched to a Tango-based default PNG icon set.
  • Separated RichTextArea into two components: RichTextArea remains the complete text editor,
    while RichTextInput is a chromeless rich text input component. The RichTextArea is an application-rendered component which makes use of RichTextInput.
  • Added support for enabling/disabling features.
  • Updated RichTextArea to use auto-sized dialogs.
• TabPane
  • Added support for image borders on tabs and TabPane surround (FillImageBorders).
  • Added support for Insets around background images in tabs, which enables some nice effects when combined with image-based borders.
  • Added support for overlapping tabs.
  • Improved tab scrolling. Added new default icons (Tango-based), rollover effects, bugfixes.
  • Added support for maximum Tab Sizes (cut off tab text when tab is too wide).
  • Tab attributes are now configurable on a per-tab basis (using TabPaneLayoutData).

Framework Changes

• Improved application-rendered components with regard to focus mangement, modal states.
• Added clientKeyDown(), clientKeyPress(), clientKeyUp() API to Echo.Render.ComponentSync for peers that wish to process keyboard input in a cross-platform manner. Keyboard events are fired to application's focused component.
• Added renderHide() and isChildVisible() methods to Echo.Render.ComponentSync, adding robustness to components which sometimes do not render their children (e.g., TabPane).
• Added Echo.Render.renderComponentHide() method to notify rendered component peers that they are being hidden from view (inverse of renderDisplay()).
• Added API for rendering FillImageBorders to DOM.
• Moved wait indicator API from Echo.RemoteClient to Echo.Client. An Echo.FreeClient can thus now can display wait indicators when input restrictions are present.
• The debug console is now draggable.
• Improved display of client-side error messages, e.g., special-colored messages for "soft" errors, e.g., session expiration/out-of-sync.
• Improved exception handling for failed library loads.
• Added complete workaround for the blank screen flaw found in MSIE 7.0.