Application's launch parameters

The JavaFx applications in the examples have so far been launched by the main method of the class that inherits the Application class. Let's take a brief look at launching applications from outside of the Application class. Let's assume that we have the following simple JavaFx for our use.

package application;

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class JavaFxApplication extends Application {

    @Override
    public void start(Stage window) {
        window.setTitle("Hello World!");
        window.show();
    }
}

The application can be launched from outside the class by using the launch method provided by the Application class. A separate class Main launches the application in the example below.

package application;

import javafx.application.Application;

public class Main {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
      Application.launch(JavaFxApplication.class);
  }
}

When the main method of the class above is executed, the user interface defined by the class JavaFxApplication is launched.

The application can also be provided run-time parameters as part of the launch method. In addition to the lauched class, the launch method can be provided an unlimited number of strings that can be used as part of the launch. These strings are available during the application's launch via the getParameters method call.

The getParameters method returns a [Parameters] (https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/javafx/api/javafx/application/Application.Parameters.html) type object whose method getNamed can access a hash table containing key-value pairs. The key-value pairs are given to the launch method in the form --key = value. In the example below, the title is made up of two parameters: organization and course.

package application;

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.application.Application.Parameters;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class JavaFxApplication extends Application {

    @Override
    public void start(Stage window) {
        Parameters params = getParameters();
        String organization = params.getNamed().get("organization");
        String course = params.getNamed().get("course");

        window.setTitle(organization + ": " + course);
        window.show();
    }
}

Launching an application now with the following class sets the application's title to "Once upon a time: Title".

package application;

import javafx.application.Application;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Application.launch(JavaFxApplication.class,
            "--organization=Once upon a time",
            "--course=Title");
    }
}

Parameters could be used to tell the program, for instance, the name of the file used to store and load persons, or even a web address.

Remember to check your points from the ball on the bottom-right corner of the material!