The ConceptBase Java User Interface (short: CBIva) is similar to the traditional CBworkbench. It is based entirely on Java, so it should be usable on all plattforms with a Java 1.1 virtual machine. Besides the standard class library of Java, CBIva uses the Java Foundation Classes (alias Swing) 1.0.1 and the Java Generic Library 3.1.0 of ObjectSpace, Inc.
Currently, CBIva can only be run as a stand-alone Java application and not as an applet inside a web browser. The main reason for this is that at the time of the release no Java 1.1 compliant web browsers are available and the security model of Java will allow only a subset of the functionality of the user interface.
If you have installed a Java 1.1 virtual machine, you can
start the Java user interface simply by typing $CB_HOME/bin/CBjavaInterface
on UNIX or executing the file CBjavaInterface.bat in the directory
$CB_HOME/bin on a system with Windows NT/95. After a few seconds, the CBIva main
window should pop up. Figure 3.15 shows the main window without a connection to the ConceptBase
server. In this case, some buttons and menus are disabled.
Figure 3.15: Main Window of CBIva
The user interface uses the MDI (multiple document interface) model, i.e. all windows
are displayed as subwindows in the main window. If you do not like this you can turn this feature off
by selecting the menu Options 
Look & Feel MDI on/off or
by using the command line option -DMDI=no. Furthermore, you can move a single window
out of the main window by clicking the out button in the upper right corner of
the window. To move it back into the main window you can press the in button
which has then replaced the out button.
Figure 3.16: Main Window of CBIva with more sub windows
The main window consists of a menubar, a toolbar with a button panel, the area for subwindows and a status bar. The first sub window, a Telos editor, can not be closed, because it also contains the history window, which records all operations for later reuse. In the following, each component of the user interface is explained.