Apptoy - A Java GUI Browser

XML GUI Generator
Apptoy creates GUIs from XML markup. This enables you to develop GUIs without coding them in Java, this simplifies maintenance of the GUI and the GUI markup is more readable than the Java code you would need to write.

At the moment, only SWT is supported. However, the engine was designed to render other toolkits as well. For a later stage, a Swing implementation is planned.

XML Schema Validation
Using XML Schema for the GUI, it's easy to create GUI files with a Schema-sensitive Editor. XML Schema validates the structure of your GUI before it is displayed, it's less error-prone than to code it using Java. On the other hand, the markup is written strictly according to the Toolkit's API, so Apptoy does not restrict you and is no "lightweight" GUI generator but a complete implementation of the GUI toolkit.

Integrated Event handling
Events are handled using the script language you like the most (e.g. JavaScript, Jython, JRuby...) or using Java if you prefer. The Bean Scripting Framework is used to embed the scripting engine of choice, but you can still implement other embedded script engines easily.

"Application Browser"
While you design your forms "HTML-like" in markup files, Apptoy delivers the base to run the GUIs by providing a kind of "Application Browser". While you need the Internet Explorer to browse HTML pages, you use the small-footprinted Apptoy core to display the user interface - a kind of "browser" for your application. You don't need one line of Java code to run your application.

Versatile Use Cases
You can put your forms (the GUI windows) into local files, you can package them into JAR files, you can also put them on a web server and retrieve them using HTTP at runtime.

You can create forms dynamically on your web server using PHP, JSP, ASP...

You can use Apptoy to post your data to a Web Server backend, you can also keep it a simple local application.

You can put the script into the form, you can put it into an external file and include it (e.g. Javascript), you can also build a big framework which is compiled into Java byte-code (e.g. with Jython). And again, you can put the scripts whereever you want: Locally, in a JAR file or on your web server.

You can code your events using the scripting engine. You can also make your event scripts call complex Java code with a short stub.

Of course, Apptoy applications are available on every platform which is able to run Java.

Extendibility
Apptoy is not a fixed set of tags you can use for your GUI. You can extend it by implementing your own controls. These controls go into their own namespace and can just be added by changing the configuration. Your extensions will also be validated against your XSD file.

Open Source Apptoy is open source software, licensed under LGPL to enable users to use it whereever they want, even in commercial closed-source projects, but hopefully a lot in Open Source projects.