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- .. _wicket_ui_overview:
- Overview
- ========
- GeoServer uses a web application framework known as
- `Wicket <http://wicket.apache.org//>`_ for its user interface. Wicket differs
- from most Java web frameworks in that it is component based rather than JSP
- template based. This makes Wicket a more natural web framework for many Java
- programmers who are more familiar with Swing programming than web programming.
- Plug-ins
- --------
- Because of its component based nature Wicket components can be loaded from the
- classpath. Which means that web applications can be built in a modular fashion,
- rather than in a monolithic fashion.
- GeoServer takes this concept one step further to provide a pluggable user
- interface, in which Wicket components can be plugged in via Spring and the
- regular GeoServer plug-in mechanism.
- Each component that is plugged in is described by a **component descriptor**.
- A component descriptor is an instance of the ``org.geoserver.web.ComponentInfo``
- class:
- .. literalinclude:: ComponentInfo.java
- :lines: 24-42,105
- A ``ComponentInfo`` instance contains meta information about the component
- being plugged in such as its title and description, as well as the class which
- implements the component.
- Each subclass of ``ComponentInfo`` represents a specific
- :ref:`extension point <extension_points>`. For instance the class
- ``org.geoserver.web.MenuPageInfo`` represents the extension point for "main"
- pages, ie pages that are linked to from the main menu of the application.
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