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<h1>Eclipse Project<br> | |
DRAFT 3.0 Plan</h1> | |
<p>Last revised Monday, October 27, 2003 (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
marks interesting changes since the <a href="eclipse_project_plan_3_0_20030918.html">previous | |
draft of September 18, 2003</a>)<br> | |
<br> | |
<i> Please send comments about this draft plan to the </i><a href="mailto:eclipse-dev@eclipse.org">eclipse-dev@eclipse.org</a> | |
<i>developer mailing list.</i></p> | |
<p>This document lays out the feature and API set for the next feature release | |
of Eclipse after 2.1, designated release 3.0 (<a href="why_eclipse_3_0.html">Why | |
Eclipse "3.0"?</a>). | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#Deliverables">Release deliverables</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#Milestones">Release milestones</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#TargetOperatingEnvironments">Target operating environments</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility with previous releases</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#Platform">Eclipse Platform subproject</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#JDT">Java development tools (JDT) subproject</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#PDE">Plug-in development environment (PDE) subproject</a></li> | |
</ul> | |
<p>Plans do not materialize out of nowhere, nor are they entirely static. To | |
ensure the planning process is transparent and open to the entire Eclipse | |
community, we (the Eclipse PMC) post plans in an embryonic form and revise them | |
throughout the release cycle. | |
<p>The first part of the plan deals with the important matters of release | |
deliverables, release milestones, target operating environments, and | |
release-to-release compatibility. These are all things that need to be clear for | |
any release, even if no features were to change. | |
<p>The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for the various Eclipse | |
subprojects. Each plan item covers a feature or API that is to be added to | |
Eclipse, or some aspect of Eclipse that is to be improved. Each plan item has | |
its own entry in the Eclipse bugzilla database, with a title and a concise | |
summary (usually a single paragraph) that explains the work item at a suitably | |
high enough level so that everyone can readily understand what the work item is | |
without having to understand the nitty-gritty detail. | |
<p>Not all plan items represent the same amount of work; some may be quite | |
large, others, quite small. Some plan items may involve work that is localized | |
to a single Platform component; others may involve coordinated changes to | |
several components; other may pervade the entire Platform. Although some plan | |
items are for work that is more pressing that others, the plan items appear in | |
no particular order. | |
<p>With the previous release as the starting point, this is the plan for how we | |
will enhance and improve it. Fixing bugs, improving test coverage, | |
documentation, examples, performance, usability, etc. are considered routine | |
ongoing maintenance activities and are not included in this plan unless they | |
would also involve a significant change to the API or feature set, or involve a | |
significant amount of work. All interesting feature work is accounted for in | |
this plan. | |
<p>The current status of each plan item is noted: | |
<ul> | |
<li><b>Committed</b> plan item - A committed plan item is one that we have | |
decided to address for the release.</li> | |
<li><b>Proposed</b> plan item - A proposed plan item is one that we are | |
considering addressing for the release. Although we are actively | |
investigating it, we are not yet in a position to commit to it, or to say | |
that we won't be able to address it. After due consideration, a proposal | |
will either be committed, deferred, or rejected.</li> | |
<li><b>Deferred</b> plan item - A reasonable proposal that will not make it in | |
to this release for some reason is marked as deferred with a brief note as | |
to why it was deferred. Deferred plan items may resurface as committed plan | |
items at a later point.</li> | |
<li><b>Rejected</b> plan item - Plan items that were proposed but judged | |
unworkable are marked as rejected plan items, with an accompanying summary | |
of why they were dismissed. Keeping track of rejected items avoids repeating | |
the discussion.</li> | |
</ul> | |
<h2><a name="Deliverables"></a>Release deliverables</h2> | |
<p>The release deliverables have the same form as previous releases, namely: | |
<ul> | |
<li>Source code release for Eclipse Project, available as versions tagged | |
"R3_0" in the Eclipse Project <a href="http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/">CVS | |
repository</a>.</li> | |
<li>Eclipse Project SDK (includes Platform, JDT, and PDE source zips) | |
(downloadable).</li> | |
<li>Eclipse Platform runtime binary distribution (downloadable).</li> | |
<li>JDT runtime binary distribution (downloadable).</li> | |
<li>Eclipse SDK Examples (downloadable).</li> | |
<li>SWT distribution (downloadable).</li> | |
</ul> | |
<h2><a name="Milestones"></a>Release milestones</h2> | |
<p>Release milestone occurring at roughly 6 week intervals exist to facilitate | |
coarse-grained planning and staging. The milestones are:</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li>Friday June 6, 2003 - Milestone 1 (3.0 M1) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday July 18, 2003 - Milestone 2 (3.0 M2) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday August 29, 2003 - Milestone 3 (3.0 M3) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday October 10, 2003 - Milestone 4 (3.0 M4) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday November 21, 2003 - Milestone 5 (3.0 M5) - <img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
initial API freeze for breaking changes - stable build reflecting progress</li> | |
<li><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> Friday December 19, | |
2003 - Milestone 6 (3.0 M6) - API freeze for breaking changes - stable build | |
with focus on reducing the bug backlog and fixing memory leaks</li> | |
<li><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> Friday February 13, | |
2004 - Milestone 7 (3.0 M7) - stable build reflecting progress</li> | |
<li><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> Friday March 26, | |
2004 - Milestone 8 (3.0 M8) - stable build reflecting progress</li> | |
<li><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> Friday May 7, 2004 - | |
Milestone 9 (3.0 M9) - stable build - feature complete - development freeze | |
- lock down and testing begins</li> | |
</ul> | |
<p><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> The 3.0 release is | |
targeted for June 2004. All release deliverables will be available for download | |
as soon as the release has been tested and validated in the target operating | |
configurations listed below.</p> | |
<h2><a name="TargetOperatingEnvironments"></a>Target Operating Environments</h2> | |
<p>In order to remain current, each Eclipse release targets reasonably current | |
versions of the underlying operating environments.</p> | |
<p>Most of the Eclipse SDK is "pure" Java code and has no direct | |
dependence on the underlying operating system. The chief dependence is therefore | |
on the Java 2 Platform itself. The 3.0 release of the Eclipse Project is written | |
and compiled against version 1.4 of the Java 2 Platform APIs, and targeted to | |
run on version 1.4 of the Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition.</p> | |
<p>There are many different implementations of the Java 2 Platform running atop | |
a variety of operating systems. We focus Eclipse testing on a handful of popular | |
<span class="header">combinations of operating system and Java 2 Platform; these | |
are our <em>reference platforms</em>. Eclipse undoubtedly runs fine in many | |
operating environments beyond the reference platforms we test. However, since we | |
do not systematically test them we cannot vouch for them. Problems encountered | |
when running Eclipse on non-reference platform that cannot be recreated on any | |
reference platform will be given lower priority than problems with running | |
Eclipse on a reference platform.</span></p> | |
<p>Eclipse SDK 3.0 is tested and validated on the following reference platforms | |
(this list is updated over the course of the release cycle):</p> | |
<table width="95%" border="1"> | |
<tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> | |
<th colspan="4"> | |
<div align="center"> | |
<b><font size="+1">Eclipse Reference Platforms</font></b> | |
</div> | |
</th> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="20%"><b>Operating system</b></td> | |
<td width="8%"><b>Processor architecture</b></td> | |
<td width="6%"><b>Window system</b></td> | |
<td width="66%"><b>Java 2 Platform</b></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>Microsoft Windows XP</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>Win32</td> | |
<td>Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, version 1.4.2 for Microsoft Windows</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>Microsoft Windows XP</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>Win32</td> | |
<td> | |
<p>IBM 32-bit SDK for Windows, Java 2 Technology Edition, Version 1.4.1</p> | |
</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>RedHat Linux 9 Professional</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>GTK</td> | |
<td>Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, 1.4.2 for Linux x86</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>RedHat Linux 9 Professional</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>GTK</td> | |
<td>IBM 32-bit SDK for Linux on Intel architecture, Java 2 Technology | |
Edition, Version 1.4.1</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>SuSE Linux 8.2</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>GTK</td> | |
<td>Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, 1.4.2 for Linux x86</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>SuSE Linux 8.2</td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>GTK</td> | |
<td>IBM 32-bit SDK for Linux on Intel architecture, Java 2 Technology | |
Edition, Version 1.4.1</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>Sun Solaris 8</td> | |
<td>SPARC</td> | |
<td>Motif</td> | |
<td>Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, 1.4.2 for Solaris SPARC</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>HP HP-UX 11i</td> | |
<td>hp9000<br> | |
PA-RISC</td> | |
<td>Motif</td> | |
<td><span class="header">HP-UX SDK for the Java 2 platform, version 1.4.1.03 | |
for hp9000 PA-RISC</span></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>IBM AIX 5.1</td> | |
<td>PowerPC</td> | |
<td>Motif</td> | |
<td> | |
<p>IBM 32-bit SDK for AIX, Java 2 Technology Edition, Version 1.4.1</p> | |
</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>Apple Mac OS X 10.2</td> | |
<td>PowerPC</td> | |
<td>Carbon</td> | |
<td>Java 2 Standard Edition 1.4.1 for Mac OS X</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td>QNX Neutrino RTOS <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td>Intel x86</td> | |
<td>Photon</td> | |
<td>IBM J9 VM for QNX <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
</table> | |
<h4>Internationalization</h4> | |
<p>The Eclipse Platform is designed as the basis for internationalized products. | |
The user interface elements provided by the Eclipse SDK components, including | |
dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings are provided | |
as the default resource bundles.</p> | |
<p>Latin-1 locales are supported by the Eclipse SDK on all of the above | |
operating environments; DBCS locales are supported by the Eclipse SDK on the | |
Windows, GTK, and Motif window systems; BIDI locales are supported by the | |
Eclipse SDK only on Windows operating environments. | |
<p>The Eclipse SDK supports GB 18030, the new Chinese code page standard, on | |
Windows XP and 2000, and Linux. | |
<p>German and Japanese locales are tested.</p> | |
<h4>BIDI support</h4> | |
<p>The Eclipse SDK is a development environment targeted at technical | |
professionals - not an end user application. However, the Eclipse SDK tools will | |
permit technical professionals who are working in English to build Hebrew/Arabic | |
end user Java programs which are themselves not based on the Eclipse SDK. The | |
BIDI support in the Eclipse SDK allows a Java programmer to work with BIDI | |
strings, code comments, etc. but the Eclipse SDK itself is not designed to be | |
localized for BIDI locales and its widget orientation can not be changed.</p> | |
<p><i>IMPORTANT: The above BIDI support is available only on Windows platforms.</i></p> | |
<h2><a name="Compatibility"></a>Compatibility with Previous Releases</h2> | |
<p>Eclipse 3.0 will be compatible with Eclipse 2.0 and 2.1 to the greatest | |
extent possible.</p> | |
<h3>Compatibility of Release 3.0 with 2.0 and 2.1</h3> | |
<p>Eclipse 3.0 will be compatible with Eclipse 2.0 and 2.1 to the greatest | |
extent possible. The nature and scope of some of the key plan items are such | |
that the only feasible solutions would break compatibility. Since breaking | |
changes are a disruption to the Eclipse community, they cannot be taken lightly. | |
We (the Eclipse PMC) will have an open discussion with the community before | |
approving a proposed breaking change for inclusion in 3.0. In other regards, | |
Eclipse 3.0 will be compatible with 2.0 and 2.1. We also aim to minimize the | |
effort required to port an existing plug-in to the 3.0 APIs. We will provide a | |
comprehensive <em>Eclipse 3.0 Porting Guide</em> that covers all areas of | |
breaking API changes, and describes how to port existing 2.1 plug-ins to 3.0. | |
Up-to-date drafts of the <em>Eclipse 3.0 Porting Guide</em> will be included | |
with milestone builds so that it's possible to climb aboard the 3.0 release | |
wagon at the early stages, or to estimate the amount of effort that will be | |
involved in eventually porting existing plug-ins to 3.0.</p> | |
<p><b>API Contract Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 3.0 will be upwards | |
contract-compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 and 2.1 except in those areas noted in | |
the <em>Eclipse 3.0 Porting Guide</em>. Programs that use affected APIs and | |
extension points will need to be ported to Eclipse SDK 3.0 APIs. Downward | |
contract compatibility is not supported. There is no guarantee that compliance | |
with Eclipse SDK 3.0 APIs would ensure compliance with Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 | |
APIs. Refer to <i><a href="http://eclipse.org/eclipse/development/java-api-evolution.html">Evolving | |
Java-based APIs</a></i> for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that | |
maintain contract compatibility.</p> | |
<p><b>Binary (plug-in) Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 3.0 will be upwards | |
binary-compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 and 2.1 except in those areas noted in | |
the <em>Eclipse 3.0 Porting Guide</em>. Plug-ins that use affected APIs and | |
extension points will need to be ported and recompiled for Eclipse SDK 3.0. | |
Downward plug-in compatibility is not supported. Plug-ins for Eclipse SDK 3.0 | |
will not be usable in Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1. Refer to <i><a href="http://eclipse.org/eclipse/development/java-api-evolution.html">Evolving | |
Java-based APIs</a></i> for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that | |
maintain binary compatibility. | |
<p><b>Source Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 3.0 will be upwards | |
source-compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 except in the areas noted in the <em>Eclipse | |
3.0 Porting Guide</em>. This means that source files written to use Eclipse SDK | |
2.0 or 2.1 APIs might successfully compile and run against Eclipse SDK 3.0 APIs, | |
although this is not guaranteed. Downward source compatibility is not supported. | |
If source files use new Eclipse SDK APIs, they will not be usable with an | |
earlier version of the Eclipse SDK. | |
<p><b>Workspace Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 3.0 will be upwards | |
workspace-compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 unless noted. This means that | |
workspaces and projects created with Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 can be successfully | |
opened by Eclipse SDK 3.0 and upgraded to a 3.0 workspace. This includes both | |
hidden metadata, which is localized to a particular workspace, as well as | |
metadata files found within a workspace project (e.g., the .project file), which | |
may propagate between workspaces via file copying or team repositories. | |
Individual plug-ins developed for Eclipse SDK 3.0 should provide similar upwards | |
compatibility for their hidden and visible workspace metadata created by earlier | |
versions; 3.0 plug-in developers are responsible for ensuring that their | |
plug-ins recognize 3.0, 2.1, and 2.0 metadata and process it appropriately. User | |
interface session state may be discarded when a workspace is upgraded. Downward | |
workspace compatibility is not supported. A workspace created (or opened) by a | |
product based on Eclipse 3.0 will be unusable with a product based an earlier | |
version of Eclipse. Visible metadata files created (or overwritten) by Eclipse | |
3.0 will generally be unusable with earlier versions of Eclipse. | |
<p><b>Non-compliant usage of API's</b>: All non-API methods and classes, and | |
certainly everything in a package with "internal" in its name, are | |
considered implementation details which may vary between operating environment | |
and are subject to change without notice. Client plug-ins that directly depend | |
on anything other than what is specified in the Eclipse SDK API are inherently | |
unsupportable and receive no guarantees about compatibility within a single | |
release much less with an earlier releases. Refer to <i><a href="http://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-API%20use/eclipse-api-usage-rules.html">How | |
to Use the Eclipse API</a></i> for information about how to write compliant | |
plug-ins. | |
<h2>Eclipse Project Subprojects</h2> | |
The Eclipse Project consists of 3 subprojects. Each subproject is covered in its | |
own section: | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#Platform">Eclipse Platform subproject</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#JDT">Java development tools (JDT) subproject</a></li> | |
<li><a href="#PDE">Plug-in development environment (PDE) subproject</a></li> | |
</ul> | |
<p>For each subproject, the items listed reflect new features of the Eclipse | |
Platform, or areas where existing features will be significantly reworked. Each | |
item indicates the components likely affected by that work item (many items | |
involve coordinated changes to several components). Numbers in parentheses link | |
to bugzilla problem reports for that plan item (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?product=JDT&product=PDE&product=Platform&keywords=plan&target_milestone=3.0&target_milestone=3.0+M1&target_milestone=3.0+M2&target_milestone=3.0+M3&target_milestone=3.0+M4&target_milestone=3.0+M5">query | |
bugzilla for all 3.0 plan items</a>). | |
<h2><a name="Platform">Eclipse Platform subproject</a></h2> | |
<p>The Eclipse Platform provides the most fundamental building blocks. Plan | |
items reflect new features of the Eclipse Platform, or areas where existing | |
features will be significantly reworked. Many of the changes under consideration | |
for the next release of the Eclipse Platform address three major themes. Since | |
each theme has a number of items, the committed, proposed, and deferred plan | |
items are grouped in sections by theme:</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#ThemeUserExperience">User experience theme</a> - Improving | |
Eclipse from the point of view of the end user.</li> | |
<li><a href="#ThemeResponsiveUI">Responsive UI theme</a> - Making it easier to | |
write Eclipse plug-ins that keep the UI responsive.</li> | |
<li><a href="#ThemeRCP">Rich client platform theme</a> - Generalizing Eclipse | |
into a platform for building non-IDE applications.</li> | |
</ul> | |
<p>In addition, there are important Eclipse Platform improvements that do not | |
naturally fit into any of the above themes.</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#OtherPlatform">Other Eclipse Platform items</a></li> | |
</ul> | |
<h3><a name="ThemeUserExperience">Theme: User Experience</a></h3> | |
<p>Improving Eclipse from the point of view of the end user. This includes | |
improving both the "out of the box" experience so that new users are | |
productive faster, and finding better ways to scale up to large numbers of | |
plug-ins without overwhelming the user.</p> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Improve UI scalability.</b> Despite efforts to ensure UI scalability | |
with a large base of available tools, the Eclipse workbench still intimidates | |
many users with long menus, wide toolbars, and lengthy flat lists of | |
preferences. This problem is acute in large Eclipse-based products. The | |
Platform should provide additional ways for controlling workbench clutter, | |
such as further menu and toolbar customizability, distinguishing between | |
novice and advanced functions, supporting different developer roles, and more | |
specific object contributions for particular file types. [Platform UI, | |
Platform Debug, JDT UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37929">37929</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve initial user experience.</b> Users who are new to an | |
Eclipse-based product can find their first experiences with it overwhelming, | |
even daunting. The initial experience would be improved if a product could | |
preconfigure the workbench to show only the subset of function that a new user | |
really needs; welcome pages could be personalized for particular users roles | |
or levels of experience. [Platform UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37664">37664</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Aid ongoing learning.</b> Users who work with a complex Eclipse-based | |
product need not be familiar with all of its function in order to be | |
productive. When they do come to use function which they have never used | |
before (or not recently enough to be fresh in memory), it is important that | |
the product be able to quickly train and guide the user in using that new | |
function. The current Eclipse has many elements that aid learning (examples, | |
tips and tricks, F1 help, active help links); the work item is to apply them | |
effectively in the Eclipse UI and recommend how other plug-ins do similarly. | |
[Platform UI, Help] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37666">37666</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve UI affordances.</b> There are a number of areas of the UI where | |
Eclipse is not providing enough cues to the user (e.g., no cue for available | |
help, no cue for maximize/restore view, no cue for mandatory/optional fields | |
in wizards). Make a systematic pass though the UI to improve its affordances. | |
[Platform UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37667">37667</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve file encoding support.</b> Eclipse 2.1 uses a single global file | |
encoding setting for reading and writing files in the workspace. This is | |
problematic; for example, when Java source files in the workspace use OS | |
default file encoding while XML files in the workspace use UTF-8 file | |
encoding. The Platform should support non-uniform file encodings. [Platform | |
Core, Platform UI, Text, Search, Compare, JDT UI, JDT Core] [Theme: User | |
experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37933">37933</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Evolve the Eclipse user experience.</b> Eclipse 3.0 should have a new | |
look that makes more effective use of the capabilities of current desktop | |
computers. This includes allowing the user to customize the workbench by | |
creating floating toolbars and views, and supporting tear-off views and | |
dockable toolbars where supported by the underlying window system. [Platform | |
UI, JDT UI, SWT] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37997">37997</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve keyboard bindings. </strong>Several things should be done | |
to improve keyboard bindings. First, custom key bindings currently work only | |
in the main Eclipse window, and not in secondary windows like dialogs, | |
wizards, and floating views (another plan item). For example, custom editor | |
key bindings do not work in a text control in a preference dialog. Eclipse | |
should support custom key bindings in the places where the user reasonably | |
expects. Second, the key customization dialog should be improved. Finally, | |
make a systematic pass through the UI to rationalize the initial set of key | |
bindings. [Platform UI, SWT] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37934">37934</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve editor management.</strong> The current mechanism for | |
switching between editors using tabs does not scale to having many open | |
editors. Eclipse should provide a more scalable and stable, yet efficient, UI | |
for switching between editors. [Platform UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37670">37670</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Improve text editor interaction. </strong>The text editor should | |
support folding of text regions, which can be leveraged by the Java editor to | |
collapse regions, such as an individual method's body or Javadoc comment, or | |
the import declarations of a compilation unit. The text editor should also | |
support splitting so that the user can simultaneously view and edit | |
discontiguous regions of the same document. [Platform Text, JDT UI] [Theme: | |
User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37671">37671</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve text editor presentation.</strong> The text editor should | |
support an optional marginal change bar that can show how the current document | |
differs from another of its states, such as a local history state or a | |
repository version. Also, text editors should support for emphasizing a text | |
region by changing its background color. [Platform Text, JDT UI] [Theme: User | |
Experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37672">37672</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve text editor typing.</strong> The set of key actions | |
available in the text editor should be enriched with additional common | |
operations like insert line, duplicate line, transpose, and convert to | |
uppercase. The current JDT editor support for templates with variables should | |
be generalized and pushed down so that it is available in all text editors. | |
[Platform Text, JDT UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37674">37674</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve global text search/replace.</strong> Global text search | |
should allow regular expressions in search patterns. The replace action should | |
be more visible in the UI, and be easier to use in the case of bulk changes. | |
[Platform Search] [Theme: User Experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37675">37675</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Allow dynamic help content.</strong> Existing help content consists | |
entirely of static HTML pages. Additional flexibility would be provided by | |
allowing help content to include JSPs, possibly with access to the user's | |
Eclipse environment. [Platform Help] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37676">37676</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Simplify update manager UI.</b> User feedback indicates that the update | |
manager UI is too powerful and occasionally confusing to users. It should be | |
simplified in order to provide a clear path for the common tasks, embrace | |
progressively disclosure, separate update search from platform configuration | |
tasks, and make more economical use of screen real estate for properties. | |
[Platform Update] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37678">37678</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Allow editors to open files outside workspace.</b> A common request is | |
to be able to use Eclipse to open a file that is not part of the workspace, or | |
perhaps even one on a remote system. In addition, applications would like to | |
provide file extension associations so that double-clicking on a file in the | |
OS desktop would open the associated Eclipse editor. The operations and | |
capabilities available on these "outside of the workspace" files | |
would need to be defined. [Platform UI] [Themes: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37935">37935</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Display HTML in a widget.</b> In Eclipse 2.0 and 2.1, the only supported | |
option for rendering HTML in the workbench is to use OLE to link to IE. This | |
support is Windows only; there is no such option in other operating | |
environments. Even on Windows, this only works for IE and not other browsers. | |
There are already several Eclipse components that could benefit from HTML | |
display functionality in a widget: welcome pages; update manager update site | |
overview; hovers that show Javadoc. The Platform should provide a portable way | |
to display HTML in a widget and support it in all operating environments. | |
[Platform UI, SWT] [Themes: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36952">36952</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve workspace synchronization with file system.</b> A file resource | |
in the workspace gets out of sync when the underlying file in the file system | |
is created, deleted, or rewritten outside of Eclipse. File resources usually | |
remains out of sync until the user explicitly hits Refresh. The Eclipse | |
Platform should provide ways to keep the in-memory representation in sync with | |
the file system; for example, by hooking OS file system callbacks where | |
available, and by polling for file system changes in a background thread. | |
[Platform Core, Platform UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36962">36962</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Content-type-based editor lookup.</strong> The choice of editor is | |
currently based on file name patterns. This is not very flexible, and breaks | |
down when fundamentally different types of content are found in files with | |
undistinguished file names or internal formats. For example, many different | |
models with specialized editors get stored in XML format files named *.xml. | |
Eclipse should support a notion of content type for files and resources, and | |
use these to drive decisions like which editor to use. This feature would also | |
be used by team providers when doing comparisons based on file type. The | |
several existing file-type registries in Eclipse should be consolidated. | |
[Platform Core, Platform UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37668">37668</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve support for opening workspaces.</strong> Many users use | |
multiple workspaces as a way to keep their different projects or work items | |
separate. Currently, this requires launching Eclipse multiple times with | |
different command line arguments, which is not particularly convenient for | |
users. Moreover, when the command line argument is not specified, the | |
workspace location defaults to a directory inside where the code for Eclipse | |
is installed. Eclipse should improve how workspaces get opened, use a | |
user-specific default workspace location more suitable for shared multi-user | |
Eclipse installs, and facilitate switching between workspaces. [Platform Core, | |
Platform UI] [Themes: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37681">37681</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Provide a general purpose navigator.</b> The Eclipse Navigator view | |
presents a view of resources in the workspace. The Eclipse Platform should | |
provide a more flexible, general purpose, extensible navigator infrastructure | |
that would make it possible to show other objects as well (like an the | |
extended physical view provided by Windows Explorer). [Platform UI, JDT UI] | |
[Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36961">36961</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<p>These items are next in line for this release. As committers complete their | |
assigned tasks, or additional help becomes available, some of these items may be | |
committed for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Add cheat sheets </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36946">36946</a>)<br> | |
<b>Add table of contents support to wizards </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36947">36947</a>)<br> | |
<b>Add project templates </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36960">36960</a>)<br> | |
<b>Allow automation of common tasks</b> (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37936">37936</a>)<br> | |
<b>Support workspace checkpoint and rollback </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36958">36958</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Display HTML help infopops </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37677">37677</a>)<br> | |
<b>Add capabilities </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36959">36959</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve local history </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37679">37679</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Add Eclipse automation </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37680">37680</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h3><a name="ThemeResponsiveUI">Theme: Responsive UI</a></h3> | |
<p>Making it easier to write Eclipse plug-ins that keep the UI responsive. Areas | |
for improvement run the gamut from the UI becoming sluggish (or temporarily | |
freezing) when blocking operations are done in the UI thread, to long-running | |
operations like builds and searches which could be performed in the background | |
while the user continues to work.</p> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Responsive UI theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Support concurrent activities.</b> In Eclipse 2.0 and 2.1, certain | |
operations like builds and searches always run synchronously and block the | |
user at the UI from doing work until the build has completed. The Eclipse | |
Platform should support operations running asynchronously in the background, | |
so that the user is not forced to be entirely idle while long-running | |
operations are in progress. This will likely require an improved concurrency | |
architecture with more explicit rules. [Platform UI, Platform Core, Platform | |
Text, JDT Core, JDT UI, PDE] [Theme: Responsive UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36957">36957</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Establish UI responsiveness targets.</strong> Eclipse should | |
establish quantitative responsiveness targets for key user actions, such as | |
opening an editor, popping up a view context menu, switching perspectives, | |
etc. These guidelines should be supported by automated benchmarks that allow | |
the responsiveness of the Eclipse UI to be measured and tracked. [Platform, | |
JDT, PDE] [Theme: Responsive UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37682">37682</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve update manager search.</b> Update manager searches for new and | |
updated features are done in the Eclipse client. These searches, which can be | |
time- consuming, are done only on request, and the user cannot do anything in | |
Eclipse until the search has completed. There are several ways update manager | |
searches could be improved: provide update search APIs; allow searches to run | |
asynchronously in the background; allow background searches to be scheduled | |
periodically, or on startup; allow searches to be done on the server, thereby | |
enabling sites to provide custom search implementations. [Platform Update] | |
[Theme: Responsive UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37684">37684</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve scalability for large help books.</strong> Improve | |
scalability for large help books. Although the help system does deal well with | |
large collections of topics distributed across many books, browser performance | |
degrades severely when a large number of topics (2000+) are concentrated in a | |
single book. This performance problem needs to be addressed, possibly by | |
lazily loading navigation information. [Platform Help] [Theme: Responsive UI] | |
(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37685">37685</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Responsive UI theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Address platform-specific UI performance problems.</strong> There | |
is a noticable UI performance and responsiveness difference between Eclipse | |
running on Windows and Eclipse running on Linux GTK, Linux Motif, or QNX | |
Photon, all on the same hardware, with Windows clearly outperforming the | |
others. Improvements made to SWT alone have not reduced this "performance | |
gap" enough. In order to improve Eclipse performance in the other | |
operating environments, we need to make a concerted effort to determine the | |
root causes (suspects include low-level thread scheduling and | |
synchronization), and then take steps to address them. [SWT, Platform UI] | |
[Theme: Responsive UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37683">37683</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Responsive UI theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h3><a name="ThemeRCP">Theme: Rich client platform</a></h3> | |
<p>Eclipse was designed as a universal tool integration platform. However, many | |
facets and components of Eclipse are not particularly specific to IDEs and make | |
equal sense in non-IDE applications (e.g., window-based GUI, plug-ins, help | |
system, update manager). Certain changes, like factoring out IDE-specific | |
facilities, would allow the Eclipse Platform to be generalized into a rich | |
client platform for building non-IDE applications.</p> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Rich Client Platform theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Enable Eclipse to be used as a rich client platform.</b> Eclipse was | |
designed as a universal tool integration platform. However, many facets and | |
components of Eclipse are not particularly specific to IDEs and would make | |
equal sense in non-IDE applications (e.g., window-based GUI, plug-ins, help | |
system, update manager). The Eclipse Platform should factor out and segregate | |
IDE-specific facilities (e.g., everything having to do with workspace | |
resources) so that a subset of it can be used as a rich client platform for | |
building applications. [Platform Core, Platform UI, Platform Update] [Theme: | |
Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36967">36967</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Provide user settings.</b> It should be possible to store user settings | |
(preferences, compiler settings, repositories lists, etc.) that are not | |
specific to a workspace separate from the workspace, so that they can be used | |
in other workspaces or by other users. [Platform Core] [Themes: Rich client | |
platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36965">36965</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Remove configuration state from workspace metadata area.</strong> | |
Feature and plug-in configuration state is currently stored in the metadata | |
subdirectory of each workspace. This has the drawback that product | |
configuration actions done in one workspace do not carry over to other | |
workspaces. Configuration state should be moved out of the workspace into the | |
install directory (single-user installs) or to a dedicated read-write product | |
configuration area (shared multi-user installs). This would mean that | |
configuration states would be in a known location for external tools to find. | |
Different workspaces might still have different configurations, which could be | |
achieved by referencing a named configuration state stored centrally. | |
[Platform Update] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37686">37686</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Provide update manager operations API.</b> Most of the logic currently | |
in the update manager UI should be pushed into a new operations layer. This | |
operations layer would be to Update Core what JFace is to SWT. The APIs would | |
enable update tasks to run headless, and would enable updates to be scripted. | |
[Platform Update] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37688">37688</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Allow uninstalling features.</b> The update manager can disable features | |
and plug- ins, but this is done without deleting their files. The update | |
manager should keep track of the features and plug-ins that it installs, and | |
fully support uninstalling them. [Platform Update] [Theme: Rich client | |
platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37689">37689</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Rich Client Platform theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Support adding and removing plug-ins dynamically.</strong> | |
Installation and configuration of features and plug-ins currently only happens | |
during Eclipse Platform startup. The plug-in registry should be made dynamic | |
so that features and plug-ins can be added or removed without necessarily | |
having to restart Eclipse. This will also entail adding mechanisms for | |
handling the arrival and departure of extensions and extension points. | |
Additional mechanisms such as services will be added to support the dynamic | |
programming model. Alternative runtimes (e.g., OSGi) which offer explicit | |
support for dynamic components will also be investigated and used as | |
appropriate. Plug-in developers will likely require additional support from | |
PDE in writing and debugging well-behaved dynamic plug-ins. [Platform Core, | |
PDE] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37687">37687</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Allow plug-in deactivation.</strong> In order to scale to a large | |
number of plug-ins, Eclipse does not activate a plug-in until its code is | |
actually needed. However, once activated a plug-in remains active for the | |
remainder of the session. Unfortunately, this means that an active plug-in | |
will occupy memory space for its code and objects even if it is only used | |
occasionally. Many users have sessions lasting days or weeks, and this bloat | |
taxes processor memory and JVM performance. The analogy is a long play where | |
the actors enter the stage on cue, but cannot leave it until the play is over. | |
The Eclipse Platform should support plug-ins that can be safely deactivated | |
when the user needs to recover valuable memory space. Another alternative is | |
to provide a way to quietly shutdown and restart the Platform. [Platform Core, | |
Platform UI] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36956">36956</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Add a security model.</strong> Security needs are pervasive. The | |
Eclipse Platform should provide the basic framework for a security mechanism | |
that can be used by all plug-ins, including a simple credentials store and | |
user authentication. Additionally, key parts of the Platform itself should be | |
secured, such as the ability to install plug-ins, which might need to be | |
restricted in certain products or for certain users. [Platform Core, Platform | |
Update] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37692">37692</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Support product branding.</strong> Eclipse-based products need the | |
ability to adopt a product-specific look and/or apply corporate branding. | |
Eclipse should provide mechanisms to allow such customization. This must be | |
done in such a way that plug-ins can be developed independent of any | |
particular look, and can be shared across products with different looks. | |
[Platform UI, SWT] [Theme: Rich client platform] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37693">37693</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, Rich Client Platform theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h3><a name="OtherPlatform">Other Eclipse Platform Items</a></h3> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Improve SWT accessibility support.</strong> In Eclipse 2.1, SWT | |
controls tap in to the MSAA 1.3 accessibility support, allowing accessible UIs | |
to be built with SWT on Windows. SWT accessibility support should be extended | |
to GTK operating environments, and updated on Windows for MSAA 2.0. [SWT] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37694">37694</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve action contributions.</b> The current action contribution story | |
is diverse and complex, and the interactions between key bindings and | |
retargetable actions, unclear. Eclipse should unify the action contribution | |
support, provide simplified support for key bindings, and clarify the | |
interactions between key bindings and retargetable actions. Eclipse should | |
also support new types of actions contributions, such as combo boxes in | |
toolbars, and enable additional UI customization. [Platform UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36968">36968</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve SWT support for right-to-left languages.</b> Allow the | |
appropriate widget orientation for right-to-left languages. [SWT] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36951">36951</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve UI guidelines.</strong> The current Eclipse UI guidelines | |
are somewhat dated and do not cover as much as they need to. Eclipse should | |
provide comprehensive UI guidelines so that plug-in developers can create | |
plug-ins with UIs that fit well into the overall Eclipse workbench (a subset | |
of these guidelines would likely apply to general applications built with | |
Eclipse). [Platform UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37695">37695</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Remove dependency on Xerces.</strong> The Xerces plug-in currently | |
provides XML support for the Eclipse platform. XML support is now incorporated | |
into J2SE 1.4, and the presence of the Xerces plug-in can create conflicts. | |
Eclipse Platform should consistently use the built-in XML support that ships | |
with JDK 1.4, or possibly an alternative XML parser such as <a href="http://www.xmlpull.org/">XMLPull</a> | |
which has a much smaller footprint. [Platform Core] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37696">37696</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve Ant.</strong> Eclipse should allow the option of running | |
Ant in a separately-specified JVM. The Ant editor should support refactoring | |
inside Ant scripts. [Ant Core, Ant UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37697">37697</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Support HTML help pages in archives.</b> A JAR or zip file is a | |
convenient way to keep the large number of HTML files of a Javadoc web | |
together. The Eclipse help system should also plug-ins to contribute (and | |
refer to) HTML pages located in archives. [Platform Help] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37698">37698</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve organizational control over product updates.</b> In | |
organizations where there are many users and installs of the same Eclipse | |
product, the local administrator should have ways of managing how the product | |
installs gets updated. For example, the local administrator should be able to | |
proxy a remote update site and serve up supported updates hosted locally | |
within the organization, thereby conserving bandwidth, minimizing download | |
failures, and keeping things inside the organization's firewall. [Platform | |
Update] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37702">37702</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Provide working sets for help infocenter.</b> Persistent help working | |
sets were added in Eclipse 2.1. This support is not available is infocenters, | |
where the user must still rely on searches (which are not persisted). | |
Persistent working set support should be added to infocenters as well. | |
[Platform Help] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37703">37703</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Provide improved table and table tree widgets. </b>Eclipse customers are | |
finding that the existing table and table tree custom SWT widgets lacks | |
required functionality, exhibit undesirable layout and resizing behavior, and | |
are generally ill-suited for presenting large data models. Their largely | |
unsuccessful attempts to define their own custom table tree widget have shown | |
it to be a very challenging task requiring expert-level knowledge of SWT. SWT | |
should provide improved table and table tree widgets. [SWT, Platform UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37998">37998</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve feature model and build support.</strong> The current | |
nested feature structure is static and unconditional. This makes nested | |
features hard for developers to manage (version brittleness, platform-specific | |
feature ids) and greatly increases the download size of service releases. We | |
should allow all included features and a feature's required plug-ins to be | |
conditionalized, and improve PDE to build nested features and fill in | |
constituent version numbers at build time. [Platform Core, Platform Update, | |
PDE] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37713">37713</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Improve team control over resource operations.</strong> Eclipse | |
currently provides limited hooks (edit/save, move/delete) so that team | |
providers can control or influence operations on resources in the workspace. | |
However, there are some aspects and operations over which team providers have | |
little or no influence, such as resource creation and copying. Eclipse should | |
offer team providers better control over resource operations. [Platform Core, | |
Platform Team] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37722">37722</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Support logical resources.</strong> The Eclipse Platform supports a | |
strong physical view of projects, files, and folders in the workspace. | |
However, there are many situations where a physical view is not the most | |
salient or useful for many purposes. In some cases, multiple distinct objects | |
happen to be stored in a single file, like an archive. Conversely, in other | |
cases, something that is logically a single object is stored across multiple | |
files. This discrepancy between logical and physical creates problems for | |
common operations such as searching, comparing, and versioning, which need to | |
work in the physical realm. Eclipse should support some way of mapping between | |
a logical view and the physical organization of files on disk. [Platform Core, | |
Platform UI] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37723">37723</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Provide Swing interoperability.</strong> Eclipse plug-in developers | |
often have existing Swing-based UIs that they would like to integrate with | |
Eclipse. Eclipse should provide a wrapper that allows Swing widgets to be | |
embedded within a SWT UI. [SWT] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37724">37724</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Port SWT to 64-bit operating environments. </strong>SWT currently | |
only runs on 32-bit operating environments. SWT should be ported to run on | |
current 64-bit operating environments. [SWT] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37721">37721</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse Platform subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<p>These items are next in line for this release. As committers complete their | |
assigned tasks, or additional help becomes available, some of these items may be | |
committed for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<b>Improve structure of existing documentation </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36964">36964</a>)<br> | |
<b>Improve update manager downloading </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37699">37699</a>)<br> | |
<b>Provide one-click update for Eclipse builds </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37701">37701</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Support GUI test tools </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37704">37704</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve team API </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37705">37705</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Support native skinning in SWT </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37706">37706</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Make SWT work in a browser</strong> (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37707">37707</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Complete Mac OS X port </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37708">37708</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Support OpenGL </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37709">37709</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Support MDI </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37710">37710</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve message bundles </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37712">37712</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Allow infocenter to run on existing app server </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37714">37714</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve plug-in registry </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37715">37715</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Provide common command infrastructure </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37716">37716</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Provide better examples and snippets </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37717">37717</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve support for multi-page editors </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37718">37718</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Unify editors and views </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37719">37719</a>) | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Rejected Items (Eclipse Platform subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<p>(End of items for Eclipse Platform subproject.) | |
<h2><a name="JDT">Java development tools (JDT) subproject</a></h2> | |
<p><a href="http://www.eclipse.org/jdt/index.html">Java development tools</a> (JDT) | |
implements a Java IDE based on the Eclipse Platform. The following work items | |
reflect new features of JDT, or areas where existing features will be | |
significantly reworked. The kinds of changes under consideration for the next | |
release of JDT address two general themes. The committed, proposed, and deferred | |
plan items are grouped in sections by theme:</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#ThemeJavaFamily">Extended Java family theme</a> - Generalizing | |
JDT to handle more than just Java source files.</li> | |
<li><a href="#ThemeJDTUserExperience">User experience theme</a> - Improving | |
JDT from the point of view of the end user writing Java code.</li> | |
</ul> | |
<p>In addition, there are important Eclipse Platform improvements that do not | |
naturally fit into either of the above themes.</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li><a href="#OtherJDT">Other JDT items</a></li> | |
</ul> | |
<h3><a name="ThemeJavaFamily">Theme: Extended Java Family</a></h3> | |
<p>Generalize JDT to handle more members of the Java family than just Java | |
source files. This includes widening to handle Java-like languages (such as JSP | |
and SQLj), and embracing non-Java files containing references to Java language | |
elements (such as plug-in manifest files and J2EE deployment descriptors).</p> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, Extended Java Family theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Improve support for Java-like source files.</b> JSP and SQLj are two | |
instances of languages that use Java syntax. Eclipse should provide better | |
support for Java-like source files. For instance, it should be possible to | |
index these files so that Java search can find the Java declarations and | |
references within; it should be possible to use Java code assist on the Java | |
passages; refactoring should be able to take these files into account; the | |
debugger should be able to step through the Java passages (<a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=045" target="_blank">JSR-045</a>); | |
error highlighting should be supported across sections; etc. [JDT Core, JDT | |
UI, JDT Debug] [Theme: Extended Java family] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36939">36939</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Support Java references outside Java code.</b> References to Java | |
elements in particular classes can show up in specific kinds of non-Java | |
source files, such as plug-in manifest files (plugin.xml), extension point | |
schema files, and Java launch configurations in the workspace. These | |
references should also participate in Java operations like search, move, | |
rename, and other refactoring operations. JDT will surface APIs that enable | |
other plug-ins to contribute to and participate in these operations. [JDT | |
Core, JDT UI, JDT Debug, PDE] [Theme: Extended Java family] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37937">37937</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, Extended Java Family theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, Extended Java Family theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h3><a name="ThemeJDTUserExperience">Theme: User Experience</a></h3> | |
<p>Improve JDT from the point of view of the end user reading, writing, and | |
navigating in Java code.</p> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Present logical view of Java objects in debugger.</b> The current | |
debugger always presents the internal structure of Java objects. For instances | |
of standard data structures like java.util.HashMap, the Java debugger should | |
be able to present a higher level logical view of the object (i.e., to show it | |
as a table of key-to-value mappings). [JDT Debug] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36942">36942</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Improve refactoring.</b> JDT should add new refactorings, such as add | |
parameter, convert constructor to factory method, and extract superclass. JDT | |
should also allow other plug-ins to contribute specialized refactoring | |
operations, and provide refactoring APIs and infrastructure to make it | |
possible for them to do so. [JDT Core, JDT UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36943">36943</a>)</p> | |
<p><strong>Improve code formatter.</strong> JDT should provide a new code | |
formatter implementation that is more flexible and supports many more styles. | |
[JDT Core] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37657">37657</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Improve editor code navigation.</strong> The Java editor should | |
allow the user to navigate in the type hierarchy from a selected element. For | |
instance, the editor should show override indicators (currently shown only in | |
the outliner view), and allow direct navigation to the declaration of the | |
overridden method. The editor should also provide more information about the | |
currently selected element such as all referenced types, call sites, | |
overriders, implementers, declaration. [JDT UI] [Theme: User experience] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37658">37658</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, User Experience theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h3><a name="OtherJDT">Other JDT Items</a></h3> | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Improve shared working copies.</strong> There is mechanism that | |
allows working copies of source files to be analyzed in the context of the | |
rest of the Java model. Currently, shared working copies are hard to manage. | |
Eclipse should simplify the management of working copies so that they can be | |
used more transparently. [JDT Core] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37659">37659</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<p>The following work items are being actively investigated, but we are not yet | |
able to promise any solution for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Add early support for J2SE 1.5 features.</b> The next feature release of | |
J2SE is version 1.5 ("Tiger"), targeted to ship in the first half of | |
2004. While the contents of this release are still under discussion (<a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=176" target="_blank">JSR-176</a>), | |
this release is expected to contain extensions to the Java language, including | |
generic types (<a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=014" target="_blank">JSR-014</a>), | |
enumerations, autoboxing, enhanced for loops, static imports (all <a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=201" target="_blank">JSR-201</a>), | |
metadata facility (<a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=175">JSR-175</a>), | |
and compiler APIs (<a href="http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=199" target="_blank">JSR-199</a>). | |
Supporting these new language and compiler features will require major changes | |
to the Eclipse Java compiler, JDT Core APIs, and JDT UI, and may suggest new | |
Java 1.5-specific refactorings. Although Eclipse 3.0 might ship before J2SE | |
1.5 does, Eclipse should contain early support for J2SE 1.5 features wherever | |
possible [JDT Core, JDT UI, JDT Debug] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36938">36938</a>)</p> | |
<p><b>Harmonize Java source manipulation.</b> The Java model is currently | |
implemented in terms of JDOM, an early precursor of the AST facility added in | |
2.0. JDT will move to an AST-based implementation of the Java model, and | |
deprecate JDOM. [JDT Core] (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36941">36941</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse JDT subproject, no theme)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Rejected Items (Eclipse JDT subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<p>(End of items for Eclipse JDT subproject.) | |
<h2><a name="PDE">Plug-in development environment (PDE) subproject</a></h2> | |
The <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/pde/index.html">plug-in development | |
environment</a> (PDE) consists of tools for developing plug-ins for the | |
Eclipse Platform. The following work items reflect new features of PDE, or areas | |
where existing features will be significantly reworked. | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><strong>Add JUnit support for testing plug-ins.</strong> PDE should include | |
JUnit-based support for testing plug-ins (an early version of this support is | |
found in the optional <a href="http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/~checkout~/jdt-ui-home/plugins/org.eclipse.jdt.junit/index.html">org.eclipse.pde.junit</a> | |
plug-in). (<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37663">37663</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<p>These items are next in line for this release. As committers complete their | |
assigned tasks, or additional help becomes available, some of these items may be | |
committed for this release:</p> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><b>Help developers tune plug-in performance </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36944">36944</a>)<br> | |
<b>Support context-sensitive help for plug-ins </b>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36945">36945</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve PDE model implementation </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37660">37660</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve PDE editors </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37661">37661</a>)<br> | |
<strong>Improve plug-in debugging </strong>(<a href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=37662">37662</a>)</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Rejected Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<p>(End of items for Eclipse PDE subproject.) | |
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