File System API
Official

See:
Description

File System API

org.openide.filesystems	NetBeans internally uses the concept of a virtual filesystem.
org.openide.filesystems.annotations	Support for writing annotation processors which generate XML layer fragments.

NetBeans internally uses the concept of a virtual filesystem. This module provide APIs for accessing such virtual files as well as some support classes to make writing of custom vitual filesystems easier.

What is New (see all changes)?

• Feb 3 '12 SPI for Additions to System File System

  Those who wish to influence content of configuration file system have an easier way now.

• Feb 2 '12 Annotations to declare MIME type

  There are new annotations to register mime type. One can either use simpler ones based on extension or XML namespace. In case these registration are not powerful enough one can use the original and flexible XML file based registration which is however processed during compile time to avoid needless XML parsing on each start.

• Jan 20 '12 Introduced FileObject.toURI

  Added FileObject.toURI for convenience.

  Also deprecated FileObject.getURL in favor of toURL which is the same but does not throw FileStateInvalidException, and clarified that URLMapper.findURL(fo, INTERNAL) will never return null.

• Jan 13 '12 Provides default line separator

  FileObject.DEFAULT_LINE_SEPARATOR_ATTR defines file object attribute name to get default line separator. File object can provide default line separator if it differs from System.getProperty("line.separator"). Call fo.getAttribute(FileObject.DEFAULT_LINE_SEPARATOR_ATTR) returns string with default line separator. Default line separator will be used by the text editor if saving new content to an initially empty file. Any other code which creates file content programmatically must manually read this property if it cares.

• Nov 29 '11 Introduced FileObject.revert

  Added revert and canRevert to FileObject.

Use Cases

Many of the usecases are described at the overall documentation, in a way how to register a mime type. Some of the additional usecases are covered here.

How to change menus, etc. after login?

See documentation about dynamically changing the system filesystem.

Exported Interfaces

This table lists all of the module exported APIs with defined stability classifications. It is generated based on answers to questions about the architecture of the module. Read them all...

Group of java interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
FilesystemsAPI	Exported	Official	.../openide/filesystems/doc-files/api.html

Group of property interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
fallback	Exported	Stable	See documentation of FileSystem.

Group of systemproperty interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
org.openide.filesystems.DefaultAttributes.ATTR_NAME_EXT_XML	Exported	Private	Name of attribute file can be changed , if .nbattrs can't be used.
org.openide.filesystems.LocalFileSystem.REFRESH_TIME	Exported	Private	Periodic refresh can be set.
org.openide.filesystems.annotateUnclosedStreams	Exported	Private	If true, better diagnostic information will be available as to when file input or output streams were opened that prevent a file from being deleted because they were not closed. This information comes at a performance cost, however.
allow.filechooser.symlink.traversal	Exported	Private	Used by FileChooserBuilder. If set to false, file choosers created by instances of FileChooserBuilder will traverse symlinks. By default they do not.
forget.recent.dirs	Exported	Private	Used by FileChooserBuilder. If true, FileChooserBuilder will not remember users' recent directories across sessions. This property is provided for applications where a history of recently used directories is a security concern.

Group of layer interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
methodvalue-newvalue	Exported	Stable	.../org/openide/filesystems/FileObject.html When special form of setAttribute is supported by the filesystem, the getAttribute can behave like XMLFileSystem's methodvalue and newvalue attributes: "-//NetBeans//DTD DefaultAttributes 1.0//EN" "-//NetBeans//DTD Filesystem 1.0//EN"
raw-value	Exported	Private	It is possible to prefix call to FileObject.getAttribute with raw: prefix to evaluate the attribute without instantiating it (e.g. get Method or Class values from methodvalue and newvalue attributes. This API is not intended for public use at present and can change in future.

Group of dtd interfaces

Interface Name	In/Out	Stability	Specified in What Document?
attributes-1_0.dtd	Exported	Stable	.../www.netbeans.org/dtds/attributes-1_0.dtd -//NetBeans//DTD DefaultAttributes 1.0//EN
filesystem-1_0.dtd	Exported	Stable	.../www.netbeans.org/dtds/filesystem-1_0.dtd -//NetBeans//DTD Filesystem 1.0//EN

Implementation Details

Where are the sources for the module?

The sources for the module are in the NetBeans Mercurial repositories.

What do other modules need to do to declare a dependency on this one, in addition to or instead of a plain module dependency?

XXX no answer for deploy-dependencies

Read more about the implementation in the answers to architecture questions.