The late Rodney Dangerfield was a comedian whose trademark line was: "I don't get no respect."

In the NetBeans IDE there is a window available called Favorites. Unlike its siblings the Projects, Files, and Runtime windows it does not get opened by default the first time you start the IDE. I suspect that is why so many users have never discovered it. The end result is that the Favorites window does not get the respect it deserves.

Frankly, I can't live without it. This is from the online IDE's help file:

The Favorites window enables you to access any file on your computer or network without having to create a project for the file. You can open the Favorites window by choosing Window > Favorites (Ctrl-3).

When you first open the Favorites window, it only contains your computer's home directory. You can add any folder to the Favorites window by right-clicking in the window and choosing Add to Favorites. If the folder is registered as a VCS working directory in the Versioning Manager, VCS commands are also available for the folder.

A few weeks ago I was at a work shop where I watched several demos of the new Enterprise Pack tools that are coming in version 5.5.1 of the IDE. The folks doing the demos were, with perhaps only a few exceptions, experienced NetBeans users. Yet repeatedly I saw them follow the same pattern: if a step of their demo required them to modify a file (sample data for example) that was outside their project they would switch from the IDE to the operating system's file explorer utility.

I restrained myself (yes I know, that's unusual) from shouting out: "Use the Favorites window!" :-)

Last week when I was at St. Paul College I was supposed to do a demo of the Favorites window. That demo had been specifically requested by our host, Warren Sheaffer. He sees a need for the Favorites window when teaching because for some assignments he has the student start with an existing source file that is available outside of the project on which the student is working.

But time got away from us and it slipped my mind. So I offer this small blog entry as a substitute.

One additional note: the Favorites window will be more powerful in the upcoming NetBeans 6.0 release (Milestones are available now - select Q-Build from the download page). In 6.0 the Favorites window will work better with other applications - you will be able to drag files or folders between the Favorites window and other applications.

As much as I like the Favorites window, its new capabilities are not the main focus of NetBeans 6.0. To see the key new features in NetBeans 6.0, be sure to attend NetBeans Day in San Francisco on May 7. It is a free event but you do have to register. The first 400 people in the door will get a free copy of the upcoming book: Rich Client Programming.