🎨 JavaFX Live Preview

Edit your FXML and CSSFX — see changes instantly.
No compilation, no waiting. Just save and watch.

✨ What it does

• Open any .fxml file
• Hot-reload FXML — save → reloads instantly
• Hot-reload CSSFX — save → styles update without reloading the scene
• Switch between FXML files — dropdown lists all views in your project
• Responsive viewport presets — Phone (375×667), Tablet (768×1024), Desktop, HD, Custom
• Auto-reload toggle — one click to pause/resume watching
• Error overlay — shows load errors with a clear red banner

🚀 Quick Start

# Open a specific FXML
java -jar javafx-live-preview.jar /path/to/login.fxml

# Or just pick one from the file chooser
java -jar javafx-live-preview.jar

Requires JDK 17 or newer. JavaFX is bundled in the JAR.

📥 Download

Platform
Windows
macOS (Apple Silicon)
macOS (Intel)
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
Linux (Fedora/RHEL)
Linux (any distro)

Installation

Pick your favorite way to install:

Windows

Option A: One-liner (PowerShell)

irm https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer/releases/latest/download/JavaFXLivePreview-windows-x64.exe | iex

Option B: Download & double-click

1. Download the .exe or .msi installer
2. Double-click it
3. Done! No admin rights required.

macOS

Option A: One-liner (Terminal)

curl -L https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer/releases/latest/download/JavaFXLivePreview-macos-arm64.dmg -o ~/Downloads/JavaFXLivePreview.dmg && open ~/Downloads/JavaFXLivePreview.dmg

Option B: Download & drag

1. Download the .dmg (Apple Silicon) or .dmg (Intel)
2. Open it and drag to Applications
3. First launch: Right-click the app → Open → Click "Open" (this is normal for unsigned apps, you only need to do this once)

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Option A: One-liner

curl -L https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer/releases/latest/download/JavaFXLivePreview-linux-amd64.deb -o /tmp/javafx.deb && sudo apt install -y /tmp/javafx.deb

Option B: Download & install

1. Download the .deb file
2. Double-click it or run sudo apt install ./JavaFXLivePreview-linux-amd64.deb

Linux (Fedora/RHEL)

Option A: One-liner

curl -L https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer/releases/latest/download/JavaFXLivePreview-linux-x86_64.rpm -o /tmp/javafx.rpm && sudo dnf install -y /tmp/javafx.rpm

Option B: Download & install

1. Download the .rpm file
2. Run sudo dnf install ./JavaFXLivePreview-linux-x86_64.rpm

Linux (Any distro - Portable)

One-liner:

curl -L https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer/releases/latest/download/JavaFXLivePreview-linux-x64.tar.gz | tar xz && ./JavaFXLivePreview/bin/javafx-live-preview

Or download & extract:

1. Download the .tar.gz
2. Extract it
3. Run ./JavaFXLivePreview/bin/javafx-live-preview

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Notes:

• All Linux packages automatically install Java 17+ if needed
• macOS users: The "app is damaged" warning is normal for unsigned apps. Just right-click → Open once.
• Windows: No admin rights required

🔧 Build from source

git clone https://github.com/SourisCG/JavaVisualizer.git
cd JavaVisualizer
./gradlew shadowJar
# Output: build/libs/javafx-live-preview.jar

🎮 Usage

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Open...] [login.fxml ▼] [Auto ◎] [ Native ▼ ]          ● OK   │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│                    Your JavaFX scene                             │
│                                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

1. Open... — browse for an FXML file (or pass it as CLI argument)
2. FXML selector — switch between all .fxml files in the project
3. Auto toggle — enable/disable hot-reload
4. Viewport — simulate different screen sizes
5. Status — green dot = OK, red = error

📁 Supported project types

Works with any JavaFX project structure:

Type	Detected by
Maven	pom.xml in root
Gradle	build.gradle in root
Plain Java	src/ directory

The app auto-discovers:

• All .fxml files in the project
• All .css files (applied to the scene)
• Classpath (target/classes, build/classes, bin) for controllers

🏗️ How it works

User saves file ──► Polling watcher (every 500ms)
                        │
              ┌─────────┴─────────┐
              ▼                   ▼
        .fxml changed        .css changed
              │                   │
    FXMLLoader.load()    scene.getStylesheets().setAll()
              │                   │
         setRoot()           applyCss() + requestLayout()
              │                   │
              └─────────┬─────────┘
                        ▼
                  JavaFX renders

• No compilation — only reloads FXML and CSS
• No WebSocket / agent — it's a single JavaFX app
• No inotify — uses polling (works everywhere)

🛠️ Packaging

# Fat JAR (any OS)
./gradlew shadowJar

# RPM (Fedora/RHEL)
./packaging/linux/build-rpm.sh

# macOS DMG (generates .icns automatically)
./packaging/macos/build-dmg.sh

# Windows MSI + EXE (requires WIX Toolset + ImageMagick for .ico)
powershell -File packaging/windows/build-exe.ps1

See packaging/ for detailed instructions per platform.

📄 License

MIT — do whatever you want with it.

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Made with ☕ in JavaFX