Chapter 2 Creating and Editing Files 21
CHAPTER
2
Creating and Editing Files
Creating and editing Java source code is the most important function that the IDE
serves, since that's what developers generally spend most of their day doing.
NetBeans IDE provides a wide range of tools that can complement any developer's
personal style, regardless of whether you prefer to code everything by hand or want
the IDE to generate large chunks of code for you.
This section covers the following topics:
■
Creating Java Files
■
Using File Templates
■
Using GUI Templates
■
Editing Java Files in the Source Editor
■
Code Completion
■
Code Templates
■
Special Code Template Syntax
■
Editor Hints
■
Refactoring
■
Working With Import Statements
■

the way other elements are generated. When you create your own templates, you
can make them available in the New File wizard.
Using File Templates
You use the Template Manager to modify and create new templates by choosing
Tools from the main menu and choosing Template Manager. You can create a new
template by copying an existing template and then clicking Edit. For example, if
you want to create a new Java class template, you can duplicate an existing Java
class template, then select the new class and then click Open in Editor. You can
now modify the class in the Source Editor and save it. The new class is now
available in the New File wizard.
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Chapter 2 Creating and Editing Files 23
If you have an existing template that you would like to add to the IDE, click Add
and locate the file on your system. The file is now available as a template in the
New File wizard.
Using GUI Templates
If you want to visually edit a Java GUI form using the IDE's GUI Builder, you
have to create the form's source file using the IDE's Java GUI Forms templates.
This template group contains templates for AWT and Swing forms. For example,
you cannot create a normal Java class file and then change it to extend JPanel and
edit it in the GUI Builder.
For more information about creating Java GUIs in the IDE, see the following:
■
GUI Building in NetBeans IDE 5.0
Editing Java Files in the Source Editor
The Source Editor is your main tool for editing source code. It provides a wide range
of features that make writing code simpler and quicker, like code completion,
highlighting of compilation errors, syntax highlighting of code elements, as well as

Code Completion
When typing Java identifiers in the Source Editor, you can use the IDE’s code
completion box to help you finish expressions. When the code completion box
appears, a box with Javadoc documentation also appears displaying any
documentation for the currently selected item in the code completion box. You
can disable the Javadoc box in the Options window.
Code completion example
You can use the code completion box to generate a variety of code, including the
following:
■
Fill in the names of classes and class members, as well as any necessary import
statement.
■
Browse Javadoc documentation of available classes.
■
Generate whole snippets of code from dynamic code templates. You can
customize code templates and create new ones. See Configuring the Editor
below for more information.
■
Generate getter and setter methods.
To open the code completion box, type the first few characters of an expression
and then press Ctrl-space. Alternately, you can open the code completion box by
pausing after typing a period (.) in an expression. The code completion box opens
with a selection of possible matches for what you have typed so far. You can
narrow the selection in the code completion box by typing additional characters
in the expression.
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Chapter 2 Creating and Editing Files 25

want it to be expanded into something else, press Shift-spacebar to keep it from
expanding.
You can access code templates by doing the following in the Source Editor:
■
Typing the first few letters of the code, pressing Ctrl-spacebar, and then
selecting the template from the list in the code completion box. The Javadoc box
displays the full text of the template.
■
Typing the abbreviation for the code template directly in the Source Editor and
then pressing the spacebar. You can find the abbreviations for the built-in Java
code templates by opening the Editor settings in the Options window and
choosing the Code Templates tab.