I started using netbeans to design forms to edit the instances of various classes I have made in a small app I am writing. Basically, the app starts, an initial set of objects is selected from the DB and presented in a list, then an item in the list can be selected for editing. When the editor comes up it has form fields for many of the data fields in the class.
The problem I run into is that I have to create a controller that maps each of the data elements to the correct form element, and create an inordinate number of small conversion mapping lines of code to convert numbers into strings and set the correct element in a dropdown, then another inordinate amount of code to go back and update the underlying object with all the values from the form when the save button is clicked.
My question is; is there a more directly way to make the editing of the form directly modify the contents of my class instance? I would like to be able to have a default mapping "controller" that I can configure, then override the getter/setter for a particular field if needed. Ideally, there would be standard field validation for things like phone numbers, integers, floats, zip codes, etc...
I'm not averse to writing this myself, I would just like to see if it is already out there and use the right tool for the right job.
