Chapter 18. Customizing Workbench Windows
A side effect of creating applications with a UI framework is that they tend to look somewhat similar. This may be a good thing; as more applications share a UI model, they become familiar in their look and feel and it is easier to learn new applications.
In reality, the modern desktop is a far cry from being an example of uniformity. Even though each OS provides a standard set of native widgets, an increasing number of applications attempt to distinguish themselves by looking different, providing non-rectangular windows, having different layout mechanisms (e.g., tabbed browsing with custom drawn tabs), and often, their own widget sets. It is very common for applications to promote brand recognition based on a specific look.
The next two chapters are dedicated to developers who want to create applications that do not look and feel like Eclipse. In this chapter, you'll learn to:
Understand the different customization options available. Understand their limitations. Extend Hyperbola to allow the toolbar and status line to be hidden. In addition, you'll add a new quick bar to the window layout. Make Hyperbola run in a non-rectangular window.
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