JavaBeans Unleashed

Data Items, Commands, and JavaBeans

Data usually falls within the category of some known type or format. Most datatypes can be identified by a MIME type. Examples of data items are HTML files, pictures, sound files, video clips, or spreadsheets. The following are commonly used MIME types:

• "text/html" for HTML files

• "text/plain" for text files

• "image/jpeg" for JPEG images

• "image/gif" for GIF images

Commands define operations on a specific MIME type. Typical commands are View, Edit and Print. An application provides ways of invoking a command for a specific data item.

In the context of JAF, JavaBeans are Java components that operate on data items. For every combination of MIME type and command, there is a JavaBean that performs the desired command. ...