New NetBeans Offers Java 7

Developers will be able to test-drive the next generation Java programming language by using the new version of Oracle's NetBeans IDE (integrated developer environment), released Wednesday.

"The main focus for this release has been providing support for the Java 7 standard edition," said Duncan Mills, senior director of product management for Oracle's application tools group. Mills claimed that NetBeans 7 is the first open source IDE to support the new Java (though JetBrains offers a beta of its IntelliJ IDE that also supports the draft specification).

The IDE has also strengthened its ties with a number of other popular software development management tools such as Git, and offers greater integration with other Oracle products, like the Oracle database and the WebLogic application server.

Oracle acquired NetBeans as part of its 2010 purchase of Sun Microsystems. Oracle already had its own Java IDE, JDeveloper. Since then, the company has redirected JDeveloper development to be more of a tool for enterprises to build Oracle Fusion-based applications, while maintaining NetBeans as a tool for the larger community of Java developers who may or may not use other Oracle software.

"The role of NetBeans is to acknowledge there is a huge Java user community out there who have no other relationship with Oracle at all. We want to provide support for those people to help Java grow and be more popular," Mills said. "There has to be a degree of competition to help to keep driving the market forward."

Oracle estimates that NetBeans is downloaded about 550,000 times a month and has somewhere between 800,000 and 900,000 regular users.

With NetBeans 7, developers will get the chance to test out the new version of Java, formally named the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) version 7.

"Java 7 introduces a whole bunch of constructs that are specifically aimed at making the language more concise and providing a better developer experience," Mills said.

One example is a revamped "switch" statement, which can now evaluate strings, in addition to numerical values. In prior versions of the language, "If you wanted to compare string values, you had to construct a nested 'if..else' statement to do that, which was, frankly, ugly," Mills said.

The IDE will also come with a set of help tools that will suggest ways that a new Java 7 construct could improve a body of code.

While the Java 7 specification is not expected to be finalized until July, Oracle will supply patches and updates to NetBeans 7 to cover any changes until its final ratification, Mills said.

Beyond support of Java 7, NetBeans 7.0 features a number of other enhancements.

The company has expanded its set of tools for production development. NetBeans is now compatible with version 3.0 of the open source Maven build system, which is used to manage multiple software projects. NetBeans also supports the latest version of JUnit testing framework, 4.8.2. And, for the first time, NetBeans has been integrated with the Git version control software.

This is also the first version of the software to include a set of annotations that would allow developers to use NetBeans as a run-time platform, a feature offered by the competing open source Eclipse IDE for several years. "It provides all those bits you always need for any sort of complex desktop application. You have the core part built for you in a pre-built fashion," Mills said.

Another group of improvements center around greater integration with other Oracle products. This is the first version of the software that allows developers to control Oracle's WebLogic application server from directly within the IDE itself, which can be handy in debugging a new program, Mills said. Oracle has also provided a number of tools to more easily build the connectivity between an application and an Oracle database.

NetBeans provides a developer environment for not only Java, but for other languages as well, such as PHP, JavaScript, Ajax, C and C++. The HTML editor now can work with HTML5 code. Support for the Spring user interface framework has been considerably upgraded.

NetBeans 7.0 is a free download for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, and Oracle Solaris.

How do I configure proxy settings for Java?

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This article applies to:

• Browser(s): Internet Explorer, Firefox

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Start the Java Plug-in Control Panel by following these instructions:

1. Click the Start menu
2. Select Settings
3. Select Control Panel
4. Double click the Java icon.
5. Click on the Network Settings button.

6. Select the Use Browser Settings checkbox.
7. Click the OK button to save your changes.

8. Close all browser windows. Restart the browser and try to load the applet.
9. If the applet still does not load and you see the same connection error, try to configure your web browser's proxy settings.

Related information:
What is a proxy server? How do I get proxy server information?

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Web Browser Proxy Configuration
The web browser proxy settings are set as either manual or automatic. Please choose from the instructions below to configure your proxy settings for the browser.

1. Manual Proxy Configuration
2. Automatic Proxy Configuration

1. Manual Proxy Configuration
   1. Internet Explorer
   2. Mozilla
1. Manual Proxy Configuration: Internet Explorer
1. From the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Click the Connections tab.
4. Click LAN Settings button.
5. Click Advanced button. The Proxy Settings dialog box appears.

6. Enter the proxy information. Check with your ISP or Sysadmin to get the proxy settings.
7. Click OK

2. Manual Proxy Configuration: Mozilla
1. From the Mozilla menu bar, click Edit.
2. Select Preferences.
3. Expand the Advanced menu by clicking the  sign.
4. Select Proxies.

5. Copy each address and port number to the corresponding entry into the "Proxies" Tab inside the Java Control Panel utility.
   1. Click the Start menu
   2. Select Settings
   3. Select Control Panel
   4. Double click the Java icon.
   5. Click on the Network Settings button.
   6. Select Use Proxy Server checkbox
   7. Click Advanced button

2. Automatic Proxy Configuration
If your network administrator provides an automatic proxy configuration script, Java Runtime Environment can use the same script to configure itself automatically. Please follow the instructions below to get proxy information from the proxy configuration script.
1. Internet Explorer
2. Mozilla
1. Automatic Proxy Configuration: Internet Explorer
1. From the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools.
2. Select Internet Options.
3. Click the Connections tab.
4. Click LAN Settings.

5. Input the same script name from "Automatic Proxy Configuration URL" field into the "Java Control Panel".
• Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
• Double-click the Java icon.
• Click the General tab.
• Click Network Settings.
• Select Use automatic proxy configuration script checkbox.
• Enter same script name and path as entered in your web browser.

2. Automatic Proxy Configuration: Mozilla
1. From the Mozilla menu bar, click Edit .
2. Select Preferences.
3. Expand the Advanced menu by clicking the triangle sign.
4. Select Proxies.

5. Input the same script name from "Automatic Proxy Configuration URL" field into the "Java Control Panel".
• Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
• Double-click the Java icon.
• Click the General tab.
• Click Network Settings.
• Select Use automatic proxy configuration script checkbox.
• Enter same script name and path as entered in your web browser.

configuring APACHE TOMCAT...on xp??

Here  we are illustrating the installation process only for Windows. Steps involved in installation and configuration process for Tomcat 6.0.10 are illustrated below:

Step 1: Installation of JDK:  Don't forget to install JDK on your system (if  not installed) because any tomcat requires the  Java 1.5 (Java 5) and Java 1.6 (Java 6) and then set the class path (environment variable) of JDK.

Step 2: Setting the class path variable for JDK: Two methods are there to set the classpath.

1. Set the class path using the following command.
   
   set PATH="C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_08\bin";%PATH%
2. The other way of setting the class path variable is:

First right click on the My Computer->properties->advance->Environment Variables->path.
Set bin directory path of JDK in the path variable.

Step 3: Now it's time to shift on to the installation process of  Tomcat 6.0.10. It takes various steps for installing and configuring the Tomcat 6.0.
For Windows, Tomcat comes in two forms :  .zip file and the Windows installer (.exe file). Here we are exploring the installation process by using the .exe file.  The directory C:\apache-tomcat-6.0.10 is the  common installation directory as it is pre-specified C:\ as the top-level directory. First unpack the zipped file and simply execute the .exe file. 

 The above shown screen shot is the first one shown in the installation process

. Just click on the Next button to proceed the installation process.

 click  "I Agree"  button to continue the installation process.

 Click next to go with  the default components choosen. 

Choose the location for the Tomcat files as per your convenience. 

You can also choose the default location.

Now choose the port number on which you want to run the tomcat server. Tomcat uses the port number 8080 as its default value. But  Most of the people change the port number to 80 because in this case the user is not required to specify the port number at request time. But we are using here the default port number as 8080.  Choose the user name and password as per your convenience. We can change the port number even the installation process is over.  For that,  go to the specified location as " Tomcat 6.0 \conf \server.xml ". Within the server.xml file choose "Connector" tag and change the port number. 

e.g While using the port number 8080, give the following request in the address bar as:

Default Port: http//localhost:8080/index.jsp

In case of port number number 80 just type the string illustrated below in the address bar:

New Port: http://localhost/index.jsp

Note that we do no need to specify any port number in the URL.

Now click on the Next button to proceed the installation process.

The installation process shows the above screen as the next window. This window asks for the location of the  installed Java Virtual Machine. Browse the location of the JRE folder and click on the Install button. This will install the Apache tomcat at the specified location.

To get the information about installer click on the "Show details" button.

After completion of  installation process it will display the window like the above one.

On clicking at Finish button, a window like the above one will display a message printed on the window given below.

After successfully installing, a shortcut icon to start the tomcat server appears in the icon tray of the task bar as shown above. Double clicking the icon, displays the window of Apache Manager for Tomcat. It will show the "Startup type" as manual since we have changed the destination folder for tomcat during the installation process. Now we can configure the other options like "Display name" and "Description" .We can also start, stop and restart the service from here.

If  installation process completes successfully then a window as shown below will appear.

Now , set the environment variable for tomcat :

Step 4: Setting the JAVA_HOME Variable: Purpose of setting the environment variable JAVA_HOME is to specify the location of the java run time environment needed to support  the Tomcat else Tomcat server does not run.  This variable contains the path of  JDK installation directory. Note that  it should not contain the path up to bin folder.

set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_08

Here, we have taken the URI path according to our installation convention

For Windows XP, Go through the following steps:

Start menu->Control Panel->System->Advanced tab->Environment Variables->New->set the Variable Name as  JAVA_HOME and Variable Value as C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0 and then click on all the three ok buttons one by one. It will set the JDK path.

For Windows 2000 and NT, follow these steps:

Start->Settings->Control Panel->System->Environment Variable->New->set the Variable Name as JAVA_HOME and Variable Value as  C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0 and then click on all the three ok button one by one. It will set the JDK path

Now , Start the Tomcat Server :  Start the tomcat server from the bin folder of  Tomcat 6.0 directory by double clicking the " tomcat6.exe "  file. You can also create a shortcut of this .exe file at your desktop.

Stop the Tomcat Server: Stop the server by pressing the "Ctrl + c" keys.

Google Commerce Search 3.0 

brings Instant Search and other new features

Google’s Commerce Search, the search giant’s online shopping product, has been upgraded to Commerce Search 3.0, bringing Instant and other improvements, all aimed to towards delivering a faster, more personalized shopping search experience for consumers, and a better platform for retailers.

Google Commerce Search will now incorporate Google Instant, providing search results in the search bar as you type. Local product availability is also a feature now, with Google pointing out stores near you that stock the product you are searching for. Also new, is product recommendations, a Google Labs feature that has yet to be graduated. It shows what other buyers of the product have to say about it.

With GCS 3.0, portal owners and online retailers will now have 'enhanced merchandising' features, and be able to display banner promotions alongside related searches, and, also have the option of generating query-based landing pages.

Some new shopping sites have also added Google Commerce Search to their portals, such as Forever21, General Nutrition Company, and L'Occitane, bringing Google’s search power to its online shelves, allowing users to find the product they need, sorting by category, price and more. Check out a video below introducing the latest features:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nje9fUcIkKc&feature=player_embedded