Sunday, March 22, 2015

Drombler Commons: Conventions to simplify FXML loading

Correctly loading a FXML file in JavaFX usually requires quite some boilerplate code.

In my projects I came up with a new naming convention:

If a class "mypackage.<name>" loads a FXML file, then the FXML file should be in the same package and be named "<name>.fxml".


One advantage is, that when following this naming convention it's quite easy to see, which FXML loader/ fx:root-controller and FXML file belong together.

Another advantage is, that when using a utility method, the loading code for eg. a fx:root-based mypackage/MyPane.fxml file (a construct I can highly recommend) such as:


can be simplified to this:


This code will:
  • set the ClassLoader
  • set the root
  • set the controller
  • set the ResourceBundle by looking for a mypackage/MyPane.properties file (or a locale specific derivation using the default Locale)
  • set the location to mypackage/MyPane.fxml
  • load the mypackage/MyPane.fxml file
  • reduce code duplication 
  • reduce typos

The FXMLLoaders utility class provides several other utility methods taking advantage of this naming convention, such as utility methods for loading non-fx:root based FXML files, which then for a mypackage/MyApplication.fxml file such as:


can simplify the loading code to this:


Other variants allow to specify an alternative ResourceBundle or a pre-existing FXMLLoader.

The FXMLLoaders utility class is provided by the Drombler Commons - FX - Core artifact:


Like the other Drombler Commons artifacts, it can be used inside and outside of an OSGi environment.