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NetBeansUserFAQ


Here you find answers to frequently asked questions relating to the use of the NetBeans IDE. Don't see what you need here? Check the FAQ Index for a list of all available FAQs.

How To Add FAQ Entries? Only post a question if you also have an answer! If you have a question without an answer, send your question to a NetBeans Mailing List, such as nbusers@netbeans.org or nbdev@netbeans.org, or check the NetBeans Support Resources, and then share your new-found wisdom with the rest of the community here.

IMPORTANT, If you're a Community Member: Once, you're done adding a FAQ as per the above guidelines, please notify NetBeans Community Docs Team by Email

Contents

  • 1 Installation
  • 2 Configuration
  • 3 Migration -- Moving to NetBeans
  • 4 Performance
  • 5 Project System (General)
  • 6 Ant
  • 7 Freeform Projects
  • 8 Maven
  • 9 Navigation
  • 10 Editing
  • 11 Database Connectivity
  • 12 Compiling and Building Projects
  • 13 Debugging
  • 14 GUI Editor (Matisse)
  • 15 Java EE Development
  • 16 Web Services Development
  • 17 Version Control Systems
    • 17.1 CVS
    • 17.2 Subversion
    • 17.3 ClearCase
    • 17.4 Mercurial
  • 18 Issue Tracking Integration
    • 18.1 Bugzilla
    • 18.2 JIRA
  • 19 Profiler
  • 20 Java ME/Mobility
  • 21 NetBeans C/C++ Development Pack
  • 22 NetBeans C/C++ Plugin FAQ and HOW-TOs
    • 22.1 New Features
    • 22.2 General
    • 22.3 Projects, Building and Running your code
    • 22.4 Debugging
    • 22.5 Code assistance
    • 22.6 Remote Development (Introduced in NetBeans IDE 6.5)
    • 22.7 Run Monitor profiling tools (Introduced in NetBeans IDE 6.7)
    • 22.8 Qt Support (Introduced in NetBeans IDE 6.7)
    • 22.9 Unit Tests Support (Introduced in NetBeans IDE 6.9)
  • 23 PHP
  • 24 UML
  • 25 Bug Reporting
  • 26 NetBeans Community
  • 27 Mailing Lists
  • 28 Update Center (Plugin Manager)
  • 29 Plugin Portal
  • 30 License and Legal Questions
  • 31 Contributor Agreement
  • 32 Docs, Support, Training
  • 33 Other Languages
  • 34 Hudson



Installation

General

  • Is there a platform-independent NetBeans installer?
  • I cannot download NetBeans. Is the NetBeans installer available on CD-ROM/DVD too?
  • The JavaDoc popup in the editor remains empty, how do I install documentation?
  • How to solve problems with exceptions in unpack200 during NetBeans installation?
  • How do I perform a silent installation of NetBeans IDE?
  • How to install the IDE of the same version several times ?
  • How can I access installation log files?
  • Is it possible to upgrade from one release to another?
  • Do I need to install the JUnit plugin?
  • How to make sample project templates unreachable in the installation?

MS Windows:

  • When I download the NetBeans installer for Windows, the file lacks the "exe" extension and won't run. How can I run the installer?
  • Vista: What if you face problems with installation of NetBeans IDE
  • Vista: How to avoid problems when installing plugins?
  • Vista: Why did the installer report success but did not install NetBeans?
  • How do I install NetBeans and packs on 64-bit Windows?
  • What to do when NetBeans fails on Win XP with "IllegalStateException: Out of bounds"?
  • Does the NetBeans installer run on Windows 98SE / Windows ME?
  • Can I use UNC paths in the NetBeans IDE?
  • Output window always empty on my 64bit Win7 installation

Linux

  • How do I run the graphical installer on Linux?
  • How to install NetBeans on Ubuntu?
  • Fedora: How to install the NetBeans software?

Mac OS

  • How do I uninstall NetBeans in Mac OS X?

Bundles:

  • Unable to prepare bundled JVM when running NetBeans & JDK installer. What does it mean?

Configuration

The NetBeans userdir (.netbeans)

  • What is the .netbeans directory? What is the userdir and where can I find it?
  • Can I move the .netbeans directory? Can I run NetBeans with an alternate userdir?
  • How can I run multiple instances of the IDE simultaneously?
  • What are the NetBeans startup parameters (a.k.a. command-line options)?
  • What are the NetBeans command-line properties and options?
  • How do I make my custom startup parameters permanent?

JDK/JRE settings

  • Can I specify which Java Development Kit (JDK) NetBeans uses?
  • Can I run NetBeans using only the Java Runtime (JRE)?

Look and Feel

  • The default font size used in menus, dialogs, views, etc. is too small. Can I make it bigger?
  • Can I run NetBeans with a custom look and feel?

Arguments and Properties

  • How can I have two or more main classes with different arguments in one project?
  • How can I run/debug a program in NetBeans with certain Java system properties set to certain values?
  • How can I run/debug a program in NetBeans with certain environment variables set to necessary values?

Templates

  • How do I use Templates? What substitutions can be made in Templates?

Mac OS

  • How to improve graphics of drag&drop actions on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)?
  • How to invoke a popup menu from the keyboard on Mac OS X?

Miscellaneous

  • Can I associate a file type with NetBeans to open files of that type from the File Explorer?
  • I have multiple monitors, why are context menus displayed on the wrong screen?
  • Can I run an annotation processor from my project?
  • How can I setup the NetBeans working environment to be completely portable? (e.g. on a USB drive)
  • When scrolling large files under Linux the text becomes garbled, how to solve this?
  • How can I incorporate Cobertura code coverage into my Ant script?
  • Can I suppress the Master Password dialog?

Migration -- Moving to NetBeans

  • Is there any information available which would help me decide whether I should switch to NetBeans?
  • Can I import an Eclipse project into NetBeans?
  • Can I import a JBuilder project into NetBeans?
  • How can I import projects from other IDEs?
  • Where can I find plug-ins for NetBeans?
  • Is there a functionality similar to 'Generate Element Comment' (Alt+Shift+J) from Eclipse?
  • Does NetBeans support Eclipse key mapping?

Performance

  • My NetBeans IDE is slow. What can I do?
  • How to make scanning/indexing/Go To Type faster?
  • What are the memory requirements of Netbeans IDE?
  • How do I set the JVM's heap size?
  • I get an OutOfMemoryError while building a project having more than 6000 source files. What do I do?
  • How to decrease startup time of NetBeans (Disabling Netbeans modules)?
  • Can I eliminate pauses caused by garbage collection?
  • Can I have my files on network drives?
  • What can I do if Netbeans IDE runs out of file descriptors?
  • Why is browsing for a file from within any Open Dialog so slow?
  • Can I improve performance by changing the look and feel?
  • How to create a CPU profiling snapshot if I want to report a performance problem?
  • How to create a memory snapshot if I want to report OutOfMemoryError?
  • NetBeans IDE is scanning/parsing/indexing for ages? Yes, it's a bug!
  • My NetBeans IDE consumes a lot of memory, especially on 64 bits. What can I do?
  • Visual Designer for J2ME applications is very slow. How can I change the slow routing? (Netbeans 6.9.1 only)

Project System (General)

  • How can I package and distribute my executable Java application?
  • Broken References: Why aren't my projects referring to each other using relative paths?
  • Why are some project categories missing from the New Project dialog?
  • How do I set or modify the language encoding for a project?
  • Why can't two projects share a source root?

Ant

Do not forget the Apache Ant FAQ for questions not specific to NetBeans.

  • Can I pass parameters into the Ant Script?
  • My build script has lots of "private targets", can I prevent these from appearing in the Run Target menu?
  • How Do I Define a Shortcut for an Ant Target?
  • I am using an optional task such as FTP and it says it cannot create a task definition, and to check my classpath. What did I do wrong?
  • My script works fine from the command line, after I set my CLASSPATH, but I cannot compile inside NetBeans. Why?
  • ...but what if the classpath needed to compile with changes?
  • ...but the script is not even mine, I just want to run it.
  • My entity includes do not work. I just get a red "X" on the build script.
  • Can I open a web browser on an HTML page generated by an Ant script?
  • Does NetBeans improve the performance of Ant in any respect?

Freeform Projects

  • Is there any documentation on freeform projects, or samples?
  • Can I have multiple source roots in a freeform project?
  • Why can't I add a library to the classpath of my freeform project?
  • How can I set which JDK to use for my freeform project?
  • Are there some diagnostics I can use for configuration problems in my freeform project?

You may also be interested in trying AutomaticProjects.

Maven

  • Can I use the Nexus repository manager with the IDE?
  • Can I debug Maven builds (mojo code) from the IDE?
  • How do I specify Maven proxy settings?

Navigation

  • How Can I Quickly Navigate to Methods and Fields?
  • I want to view/edit a file on my disk, but I don't want to set up a project for it. Is there a way to open random files?
  • Can I view the package structure of my project as a tree?
  • How do I quickly find the current file in Projects/Files/Favorites view?
  • Why there is no "places bar" on right side of Open Project on Windows?

Editing

  • I cannot type some characters or they appear in an unusual way.
  • The code completion shortcut (Ctrl-Space) doesn't work or causes problems. Is there an alternative?
  • The code completion shortcut produces a beep in files known to allow code completion and the code completion window disappears without warning while typing. What can I do?
  • Scrolling in editor under Linux is slow. Is there any possibility to make it faster?
  • Can I use back references when using regular expressions in the Find/Replace dialog?
  • Where can I find a printable Keyboard Shortcut Card?
  • Is it possible to split the editor and edit one file in two editor windows?
  • What is hyperlinking and how can I use it?
  • What are macros and how can I use them?
  • Can I compare (diff) two files outside version control?
  • Can I Create Custom Code Folds?
  • How various line separators (EOLs) are handled?
  • Removing CRLF from all the java files of a project (Converting to Unix format)
  • I want to use UTF-8 and multibyte characters in Netbeans.
  • How can I insert newline characters using the 'search & replace' dialog?
  • How do I set or modify the language encoding for a project?
  • How are file templates defined in NetBeans IDE 6? What is FreeMarker?
  • Is there a list of all the predefined variables for templates, like ${user} and ${date}?
  • How to globally change the user name that is used in file templates?
  • How can I distribute my file templates to my users?
  • I want to fine-tune font rendering settings.

Database Connectivity

  • When I connect to my database, I can't see my tables, but if I use another tool, I can see them fine. Where are they?
  • I built a database application using an embedded database (Java DB or HSQL), but when I run it, none of the tables or data I created are there!
  • "What is .netbeans-derby dir, what does it store, and how can I change its location?
  • How do I install the NetBeans sample databases or the Sakila sample database for MySQL?
  • How do I start/stop the MySQL Server from NetBeans IDE?
  • How do I secure my database password?
  • How do I secure my MySQL password?

Compiling and Building Projects

  • I get an OutOfMemoryError while building a project having more than 6000 source files. What do I do?
  • After I make an incompatible change to one class, do I need to do a Clean and Build to see what it broke?
  • How can I customize what goes into my project's JAR file?
  • Can I exclude some classes or packages from compilation?
  • How can I have two or more main classes with different arguments in one project?
  • I get "Failed to load Main-Class manifest attribute" when trying to run a JAR file
  • I want to use my own keystore when signing a Java project for Java WebStart deployment
  • How can I use the NetBeans Visual Library in my own project?
  • How do I set or modify the language encoding for a project?
  • Is there support for the Java Remote Method Invocation API (RMI)?
  • How does Compile on Save (CoS) work?

Debugging

  • While debugging, how can I back up and repeat a step without starting over?
  • Can I step into the JDK code during debugging?
  • How do I attach NetBeans debugger to a running application?
  • How do I debug NetBeans?
  • How do I debug an applet remotely?
  • I'm running into problems when trying to debug. What can I do?
  • Why can't I step into my source code when using the Ant debug target that I generated in the IDE for my free-form project?
  • Printing debug messages
  • How to use Method breakpoints?
  • How to use Field breakpoints?
  • Conditional Breakpoints
  • Stack Operations
  • Debugging in AWT hangs X-Windows
  • Debugger log


GUI Editor (Matisse)

  • Can I edit the blue, guarded blocks of code when developing a GUI?
  • Components unexpectedly moved in container during design
  • What is the .form file?
  • Can I generate the .form file for an existing class?
  • What is the Swing Layout Extensions library (org.jdesktop.layout) and do I need it?
  • How can I set the GUI builder to generate javax.swing.GroupLayout instead of org.jdesktop.layout.GroupLayout?
  • How to run/distribute my GUI application created in NetBeans?
  • How to package the swing-layout-<version>.jar library into my application JAR?
  • Can I distribute NetBeans layout libraries with my application?
  • How can I design forms with GridBagLayout?
  • How do I create a custom container bean?
  • Can I create forms by extending other forms?
  • How can I use a custom subclass of a Swing component? Do I need to install it to the palette?
  • How can I define a baseline rules for my custom component?
  • Can I define my own spacing scheme (default gaps between components)?
  • I installed my component to the palette, but get some error message when trying to use it!
  • How can I define an icon for my component added to the palette?
  • Is there a way to restore the default palette?
  • How do I create a radio button group?
  • How do I set tab names in a JTabbedPane?
  • Can I change the type of already created forms?
  • How do I add several GUI components in one go?
  • How do I create array of GUI controls?
  • How can I dynamically create a variable number of GUI components?
  • What are Generate Mnemonics Code options for and how do they work?
  • How to use a Master/Detail panel as a component in other GUI forms?
  • How do I use an IDENTITY column in a Java Desktop Application?
  • Why does my Java Desktop Application fail to launch?

Java EE Development

  • How do I change the web browser for JSP and web module execution?
  • Are the Enterprise Resource Wizards (e.g., Call EJB), available from JSPs as well as servlets?
  • Is there support for using a tag library in a web application?

Web Services Development

  • How to customize generated schema for WSDL file
  • How to use WSDL Customizer in NetBeans
  • JAX-WS Web services on JBoss in NetBeans IDE
  • Can I define a WSDL SOAP binding as RPC style binding?
  • Can I access RPC/encopded web service by using JAX-WS client?
  • How to change Web Ser
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