Handling updates to the JavaFX Caspian look

[Jonathan Giles]

Hi all,

I'm asking for another 24 hour review countdown on this API change, 
after which I'll assume an implicit approval has been granted if nothing 
is heard.

The current patch is attached to Jira for your reviewing pleasure. This 
changeset affects the Application class by adding set/get/property Theme 
methods, a convenience setTheme(String themeID) method, and introduces 
two new public API classes: Theme and Themes. I could easily be 
convinced to simplify the Application API changes.

http://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-19713

Thanks,
Jonathan

On 14/03/2012 12:47 p.m., Jonathan Giles wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Today I came across the RT-19713 [1] Jira issue I filed against myself 
> recently. This Jira issue basically states that we should have API in 
> JavaFX that allows for developers to lock down and specify a 
> particular default stylesheet, and if this isn't specified by the 
> developer, they will be automatically updated in future releases if we 
> ever consider changing the default style sheet. We would always ship 
> earlier style sheets as well, so if the preference was set, the style 
> sheet would be there in the jar file.
>
> The reason why I want this feature is that I've seen tweaked caspian 
> style sheets (for example the one used in the upcoming Scene Builder 
> tool) that I would one day love to be the default style sheet for 
> JavaFX as it (in my opinion) is more refined. Similarly, I don't think 
> anyone wants to end up in the same situation as Swing, where the 
> default L&F is Metal, because moving the default to a more modern L&F 
> would potentially break (or at least maim) many deployed Swing 
> applications.
>
> Ideally we would have had API like this from the get-go, but alas, it 
> did not happen. Adding API now that by default auto-updates people is 
> of course breaking a contract we have with developers, but I feel that 
> it is better to break this contract now than to forever wish that we 
> could provide a new style sheet and never be able to do it. I think 
> the main thing is to communicate this change as loudly and from as 
> many roof tops as possible. Perhaps there are others on this list that 
> disagree and have different opinions. Feel free to share them.
>
> Finally, as of now, there is no intention to ship an updated style 
> sheet that would replace the default, but I'm looking ahead to future 
> releases where this may be desired. Perhaps JavaFX 3.0 may include a 
> visual refresh, for example. If anyone has any thoughts on this 
> proposal, please reply on this thread (and preferably also leave a 
> comment on the Jira issue). I don't have any proposed API for this 
> issue, but if anyone has any thoughts on this, please feel free to 
> share them also.
>
> [1] http://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-19713
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan