Binding other controls and properties

Text controls aren't the only bindable SWT widgets. All of the standard SWT widgets, such as combos and labels, are available for binding. You can also bind to nonvisual widget properties, such as enabled. Copy the code from Listing 12 into the Person bean.

                    
private boolean firstEnabled = true;
	
public boolean getFirstEnabled() {
	return firstEnabled;
}

public void setFirstEnabled(boolean firstEnabled) {
	Object oldVal = this.firstEnabled;
	this.firstEnabled = firstEnabled;
	firePropertyChange("firstEnabled", \
	oldVal, this.firstEnabled);
}

Now modify the updatePerson() method in the example.

                    
private void updatePerson() {
	person.setFirst("James");
	person.setLast("Gosling");
	person.setFirstEnabled(false);
}

Finally, add the bindings shown below to the end of the createControls() method.

                    
ctx.bind(new Property(firstText, "enabled"), 
		new Property(this.person, "firstEnabled"), 
		new BindSpec());

ctx.bind(labelFirst, 
		new Property(this.person, "first"), 
		new BindSpec());
ctx.bind(labelLast, 
		new Property(this.person, "last"), 
		new BindSpec());

The new bindings result in the labels of the example changing to the same value as the text widget. The widget for the first field also becomes disabled when you click Change Name. Run the example again and test this functionality.

Another interesting effect of these additional bindings can be demonstrated by typing a few characters in the Last field and pressing Tab. Notice that the Last label also changes. JFace data binding synchronizes the value of the Person bean's last-name field with the widget on focus lost. Because the label is bound to this property, it's also updated.

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Table of contents

• Before you start
• Synchronizing data between domain objects and controls
• The magic of data binding
• How the magic works: Observables
• How the magic works: Observable factories
• How the magic works: ValueBinding
• How the magic works: Putting it all together
• Enabling change from your domain objects
• Binding other controls and properties
• Binding multiple values
• The magic behind lists: Observables
• The magic behind lists: ListBinding
• The magic behind lists: Putting it all together
• Conclusion
• Download
• Resources
• About the author

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