Jaxer Quick Start Guide

Quick Start Show Me! Documentation

This page provides a quick overview of how to install Jaxer, view the Jaxer screencasts and demo applications included with Jaxer, and quickly create a simple application.

Note: If you are using Milestone 9 or an earlier version of Aptana Studio, uninstall your old version, then download and perform a clean install of the current version of Aptana Studio from the Aptana Studio download page.

Installing Jaxer

You have the option of either installing Jaxer as a standalone web server on your computer, or using the Jaxer server that is automatically bundled with Aptana Studio.

Installing the standalone Jaxer server

How to set up the standalone Jaxer server

Installing Jaxer for new Aptana Studio users

If you are new to Aptana Studio, you can download a bundled version of Studio and Jaxer from the Aptana Studio download page.

Installing Jaxer for current Aptana Studio users

Jaxer is bundled with Aptana Studio v1.1+. To upgrade to the current version of Studio, open Studio and choose Help > Check for Aptana Studio Updates now.

Note: A quick summary of all the Jaxer features available in Studio is listed here.

Creating your first Jaxer application

Standalone Jaxer Server

To create a Jaxer application if you are using the standalone Jaxer server:

Create a new folder for your project under the public folder in your installation folder. Use your favorite web editor to create the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files for your project inside the new folder. Preview your project in a web browser at http://localhost:8081/[my_project].

For help with building your first project, read through the code sample walkthroughs described on the Aptana samples page.

Jaxer Server inside Aptana Studio

To quickly get up and running with Jaxer inside of Aptana Studio:

Click the Jaxer button [image]

on the toolbar to start the internal Jaxer Server.

This displays an informational dialog explaining more about Jaxer and provides a link to a complete Jaxer overview. The arrow just to the right of the Jaxer button contains a menu for Jaxer-related views and documentation.

Create a new general Web project in Studio:

From the File menu, select New > Project... Select Default Web Project under Aptana Projects (shown below), and click the Next button. Type a name for your project, and click Next. Check the box(es) next to any JavaScript libraries that you want to include in your project and click Next. To automatically add Jaxer to support to your project (optional), click the Select All button on the Jaxer Support wizard page to configure this project for Jaxer development, and click Next.

[image]

Click the Finish button.

The wizard will now create your new project.

Create your web page:

In the Project View, right-click your new project and select New > HTML File to add an HTML file to your project. Copy and paste the snippet of sample HTML code below into your editor:

Quick Jaxer Sample

This demonstrates server-side DOM and JavaScript and also callbacks.

Save your HTML file. Click the Firefox tab at the bottom of the HTML editor to preview your web page in the internal Firefox browser in Studio.

Viewing the Jaxer screencasts and sample applications

You can learn more about Jaxer by viewing our screencasts on aptana.tv:

http://www.aptana.tv/

After viewing the Jaxer screencasts, another great way to learn about the capabilities of Jaxer is to view some of the included sample applications. The Aptana samples page provides an introduction to each of the included samples.

If you are an Aptana Studio user, you can learn about previewing and importing the Jaxer samples by reading the Getting started with Jaxer in Aptana Studio Help topic. If you are using the standalone Jaxer server, start your server (as described in the installation links above), and go to the Jaxer landing page in your web browser: http://localhost:8081/aptana/. From here, click the Samples and Tools link on the left to browse the included samples.