JFX Blocks (GUI) 0.3 Released

JFX Blocks (GUI) 0.3 has been released on Kenai. Here is the list of changes for this release:

• Five new controls introduced (AutoComplete, MediaPlayerBar, MessagePanel, NavigationTrail, SearchBox)
• New ArrowPoint shape
• Navigator has been renamed to NavigatorBlock (now located in org.jfx_blocks.gui.block)
• Basic search functionality provided by SearchProviderBlock (located in org.jfx_blocks.gui.block), which will be moved into the next JFX Blocks (Core) release
• Removed Toolbar control since JavaFX (ver 1.3 onwards) now covers it as a preview control
• MediaPlayerBar control is only available in the desktop profile due the use of desktop only GUI multithreading (may change in future releases)

In order to deliver a MediaPlayerBar control that would work as intended the FX.deferAction function had to be used. The deferAction function is only available in the desktop profile so it created a bit of a problem. Either not deliver the control at all or make it only available on the desktop, I chose the latter. As a result it exposes the less than ideal situation with GUI multi-threading for JavaFX where options are limited, and even worse the only option works with desktop JavaFX applications provided Decora is used.

With Prism due to replace Decora (as the standard graphics rendering system) soon a completely new multi-threading system will need to be built for JavaFX. Otherwise there will be some show stopper situations that will prevent a JavaFX application from being developed/deployed. For instance having more than one change made to the GUI at the same time without freezing the application. If the JavaFX team needed a good reason to kick start the initiative sooner rather than later then here it is!