JavaFX Scene Graph Object Serialization

Abstract: Data visualization is used in order to analyze and perceive patterns in data. One of the use cases of visualization is to graphically represent and compare simulation results. At Ericsson Research, a visualization platform, based on JavaFX 2 is used to visualize simulation results. Three configuration files are required in order to create an application based on the visualization tool: XML, FXML, and CSS. The current problem is that, in order to set up a visualization application, the three configuration files must be written by hand which is a very tedious task. The purpose of this study is to reduce the amount of work which is required to construct a visualization application by providing a serialization function which makes it possible to save the layout (FXML) of the application at run-time based solely on the scene graph. In this master’s thesis, possible frameworks that might ease the implementation of a generic FXML serialization have been investigated and the most promising alternative according to a number of evaluation metrics has been identified. Then, using a design science research method, an algorithm is proposed which is capable of generic object/bean serialization to FXML based on a number of features or requirements. Finally, the implementation results are evaluated through a set of test cases. The evaluation is composed of an analysis of the serialization results & tests and a comparison of the expected result and the actual results using unit testing and test coverage measurements. Evaluation results for each serialization function show that the results of the serialization are similar to the original files and hence the proposed algorithm provides the desired serialization functionality for the specific features of FXML needed for this platform, provided that the tests considered every aspect of the serialization functionality.