USING BEAN DEVELOPER KIT (BDK)

The Bean Developer Kit (BDK), available from the JavaSoft site, is a simple example
of a tool that enables you to create, configure, and connect a set of Beans. There is
also a set of sample Beans with their source code. This section provides step-by-step
instructions for installing and using this tool. Remember, the BDK is for use with
versions of Java 2 prior to 1.4.
INSTALLING BDK

The Java 2 SDK must be installed on your machine for the BDK to work. Confirm that
the SDK tools are accessible from your environment.
The BDK can then be downloaded from the JavaSoft site (http://java.sun.com). It is
packaged as one file that is a self-extracting archive. Follow the instructions to install
it on your machine. The discussion that follows assumes that the BDK is installed in a directory called bdk. If this is not the case with your system, substitute the proper
directory.

Starting the BDK
To start the BDK, follow these steps:
1. Change to the directory c:\bdk\beanbox.
2. Execute the batch file called run.bat. This causes the BDK to display the three
windows shown in Figure 25-1. ToolBox lists all of the different Beans that have
been included with the BDK. BeanBox provides an area to lay out and connect
the Beans selected from the ToolBox. Properties provides the ability to configure
a selected Bean. You may also see a window called Method Tracer, but we
won’t be using it.

Using the BDK
This section describes how to create an application by using some of the Beans
provided with the BDK. First, the Molecule Bean displays a three-dimensional view of
a molecule. It may be configured to present one of the following molecules: hyaluronic
acid, benzene, buckminsterfullerine, cyclohexane, ethane, or water. This component
also has methods that allow the molecule to be rotated in space along its X or Y axis Second, the OurButton Bean provides a push-button functionality. We will have one
button labeled “Rotate X” to rotate the molecule along its X axis and another button
labeled “Rotate Y” to rotate the molecule along its Y axis.