Thanks for the links, Nikita. I'll read them. It'll be disappointing if JavaFX is incompatible.
On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 11:08 AM Nikita Timofeev <[email protected]> wrote: > JavaFX is problematic because of its licensing. It's a GPL project so it > generally has very poor compatibility with Apache. > I think it's possible to use it with a custom non-apache build or to > provide tools to download Java FX as part of the Modeler installation, > but we cannot distribute it directly as part of official Apache binaries. > But that is a legal question that I do not fully understand, despite > several attempts to comprehend it. > > [1] https://www.apache.org/licenses/GPL-compatibility.html > [2] https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#gpl-cpe > [3] https://www.apache.org/legal/resolved.html#prohibited > > On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 1:25 AM Michael Gentry <[email protected]> wrote: > > > So... Just to add some JavaFX commentary here... > > > > I still think the JavaFX prototype I did is worthwhile for fleshing out. > > You can edit your UI in Scene Builder and wire everything up easily. For > > most of the typical tasks, it is easy to continue with what is there > > (basically connecting inputs -- text fields, etc -- to the backend data > > model). A couple months ago I started adding Undo/Redo to it and need to > > pick that up again. Probably need a few days to implement it (at least > > partially, might not get all the undo/redo things done initially). > > Allergies and taxes were a distraction, but I should start it again. > > > > Thanks, > > mrg > > > > > > On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 10:24 AM Andrus Adamchik <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > > So I feel like the advent of agentic coding opens up new possibilities > > for > > > CayenneModeler. While some want you to think you can simply prompt > Claude > > > to "Rewrite CayenneModeler in JavaFX" (or Electron or JetBrains Compose > > > Multiplatform), still with our limited resources, building and > supporting > > > an entirely new thing is realistically out of reach. > > > > > > But I think we can take the current Swing app to a new level by > > augmenting > > > our rusty Swing skills with AI. A few of my experiments adding this or > > that > > > UI piece were mostly successful. A few idea on top of my mind: > > > > > > 1. A built-in MCP server for DB Import and CGen. This is to close the > > loop > > > on agentic coding, allowing to use both of these tools from an agent > CLI. > > > (The MCP idea was what prompted me to look into this to begin with) > > > 2. Fix table editors UX (selections conflicting with cell editors) > > > 3. Write unit tests > > > 4. Modernizing L&F. Not sure how far we can get while staying in Swing, > > > but worth a try. Looking at FlatLaf lib, which is a successor of > JGoodies > > > that we already use > > > 5. Implement dozens of small usability features (such as showing > > currently > > > selected Obj|DbEntity in tab view headers, etc.) > > > > > > My first pass (about 70% done) was not anything visual, but rather > > > refactoring the existing messy code to rid it of various architectural > > > experiments accumulated over the years (such as auto-bindings) and > > unifying > > > the MVC structure to be as close as possible to vanilla Swing. > > Ironically, > > > Claude was not that helpful in this process. It was good old IDE > > > refactoring, manually going through hundreds of files chasing dead code > > and > > > inconsistencies. > > > > > > Anyways, just putting this on the radar. > > > > > > Andrus > > > > > -- > Best regards, > Nikita Timofeev >
