GXT - ImageBundle support

ImageBundle support has been an often requested feature. With M3, we have added ImageBundle support. Icons can be specified in three different methods:

• AbstractImagePrototype (typically from an ImageBundle)
• CSS style name (existing method)
• Image path (String)

All components that support icons now implement the new IconSupport interface:

/**
 * Interface for objects that support icons.
 */
public interface IconSupport {
  /**
   * Returns the icon.
   * 
   * @return the icon
   */
  public AbstractImagePrototype getIcon();
 
  /**
   * Sets the icon.
   * 
   * @param icon the icon
   */
  public void setIcon(AbstractImagePrototype icon);
 
  /**
   * Sets the icon style.
   * 
   * @param icon a CSS style name
   */
  public void setIconStyle(String icon);
}

In addition, there is a helper class, IconHelper, that can be used to create image prototypes from CSS style names, and image paths. Here is an example setting an icon 3 different ways:

// from bundle
    item.setIcon(GXT.IMAGES.editor_bold());
    // CSS style name
    item.setIconStyle("my-icon");
    // image path
    item.setIcon(IconHelper.createPath("/my/url/foo.gif"));

When using ImageBundles, you create classes that extends ImageBundle. Here is a partial look of the new XImages class, which is the ImageBundle GXT uses for all it’s icons:

public interface XImages extends ImageBundle {
  @Resource("hmenu-asc.gif")
  AbstractImagePrototype grid_sortAsc();
 
  @Resource("hmenu-desc.gif")
  AbstractImagePrototype grid_sortDesc();
  ....
}

One immediate benefit we have noticed, is that the icons display immediately when first displayed in the application, rather than incrementally as a page loads. This happens since all the images are combined into one on the server at compile time, and therfore, 1 http request.

Cheers!

Question: I'm very curious how SmartGWT is managing this issue ? Thanks.