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<h1> | |
Eclipse Project<br> | |
DRAFT 2.2 Plan</h1> | |
<p>Last revised Friday, December 20, 2002 (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
marks interesting changes over the <a href="http://eclipse.org/eclipse/development/eclipse_project_plan_2_1.html">2.1 | |
plan</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, designated release 2.2. | |
<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 | |
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 | |
details (which can be hashed out elsewhere). | |
<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. | |
<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>Proposed</b> plan item - A proposal for an aspect to work on for the | |
release. After due consideration, a proposal will either be committed, | |
rejected, or deferred.</li> | |
<li><b>Committed</b> plan item - A committed plan item is one that we have decided | |
to address for the release.</li> | |
<li><b>Deferred</b> plan item - A reasonable proposal that did not make it in | |
to this release for some reason is marked as deferred with a brief note as | |
to why they were deferred. Deferred plan items may resurface as proposed 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>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 "R2_2" | |
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> | |
</ul> | |
<h2><a name="Milestones"></a>Release milestones</h2> | |
<p>Release milestone occurring at roughly | |
5 week intervals exist to facilitate | |
coarse-grained planning and staging. Assuming 2.2 development commences on April 1, | |
2003, the milestones for 2003 are:</p> | |
<ul> | |
<li>Friday May 2, 2003 - Milestone 1 - (2.2 M1) - stable build reflecting progress</li> | |
<li>Friday June 6, 2003 - Milestone 2 - (2.2 M2) - stable build reflecting progress</li> | |
<li>Friday August 1, 2003 - Milestone 3 - (2.2 M3) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday September 12, 2003 - Milestone 4 - (2.2 M4) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday October 17, 2003 - Milestone 5 - (2.2 M5) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
<li>Friday November 21, 2003 - Milestone 6 - (2.2 M6) - stable build reflecting | |
progress</li> | |
</ul> | |
<p> (Note that the two mid-summer milestones are extended by two weeks each to | |
allow for roughly half the development team to be away on vacation.)</p> | |
<p> Our target | |
is to complete 2.2 early 1Q2004. 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. <img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
The 2.2 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>Eclipse SDK 2.2 will be tested and validated on the following Java 2 | |
Platform implementations:</p> | |
<table width="91%" border="1"> | |
<tbody> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%"><b>Operating system</b></td> | |
<td width="18%"><b>Processor architecture</b></td> | |
<td width="73%"><b>Java 2 Platforms</b></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%" rowSpan="2">Microsoft® Windows®</td> | |
<td width="18%" rowSpan="2">Intel x86</td> | |
<td width="73%">Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, version 1.4 for | |
Microsoft Windows <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="73%">IBM 32-bit SDK for Windows, Java 2 Technology Edition, | |
version 1.4 <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%" rowSpan="2">Linux</td> | |
<td width="18%" rowSpan="2">Intel x86</td> | |
<td width="73%">Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, version 1.4 for Linux | |
x86 <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="73%">IBM Developer Kit for Linux, Java 2 Technology Edition, | |
version 1.4 <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%">Sun Solaris</td> | |
<td width="18%">SPARC</td> | |
<td width="73%">Sun Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, version 1.4 for Solaris | |
SPARC <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%">HP HP-UX</td> | |
<td width="18%">hp9000 PA-RISC</td> | |
<td width="73%"><span class="header">HP-UX SDK for the Java 2 platform, | |
version 1.4 for hp9000 PA-RISC</span> <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%">IBM® AIX</td> | |
<td width="18%">PowerPC</td> | |
<td width="73%">IBM Developer Kit for AIX, Java 2 Technology Edition, | |
version 1.4 <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%">Apple® Mac® OS</td> | |
<td width="18%">PowerPC</td> | |
<td width="73%">Java 2 Standard Edition 1.4 for Mac OS X <i>[exact version | |
TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="21%"><span class="title">QNX</span>®<span class="title"> | |
Neutrino</span>®<span class="title"> RTOS</span></td> | |
<td width="18%">Intel x86</td> | |
<td width="73%">IBM J9 VM for QNX <i>[exact version TBD]</i></td> | |
</tr> | |
</tbody> | |
</table> | |
<p><span class="header">The following table describes the combinations of operating | |
system and Java 2 Platform used when testing the Eclipse SDK configurations. | |
The status column indicates the level of testing: "Primary" means | |
a full tested configuration; "</span>Secondary" means a configuration | |
which is only lightly tested; "Untested" means a configuration that | |
has received no testing, but which should work; "As-is" means a configuration | |
that has received no testing, and which may or may not work. The "As-is" | |
designation is used for operating environments nearing the end of their supported | |
life; bugs that show up only in "As-is" configurations of Eclipse | |
are unlikely to get fixed.</p> | |
<table height="415" width="91%" border="1"> | |
<tbody> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="32"><b>Window system</b></td> | |
<td width="28%" height="32"><b>Java 2 Platform<br> | |
(see above table)</b></td> | |
<td width="42%" height="32"><b>Operating Environment</b></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="32"><b>Testing Status</b></td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="104" rowSpan="5">Win32</td> | |
<td width="28%" height="104" rowSpan="5">Windows on Intel x86</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Windows XP</td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Windows 2000</td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16"><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
Secondary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Windows ME</td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16"><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
Untested</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Windows 98SE</td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16"><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
As-is</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Windows NT</td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16"><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
As-is</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="152" rowSpan="6">Motif</td> | |
<td width="28%" height="86" rowSpan="3"> | |
<p>Linux on Intel x86</p> | |
<p> </p> | |
</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="25">RedHat Linux x86 <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="25">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="25">SuSE Linux x86 <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="25">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="24">Other Linux <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="24">Untested</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="28%" height="16">Solaris on SPARC </td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Sun Solaris SPARC <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="28%" height="16">HP-UX on hp9000 PA-RISC</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">HP-UX hp9000 <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="28%" height="16">AIX on PowerPC</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">IBM AIX on PowerPC <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="81" rowSpan="4">GTK</td> | |
<td width="28%" height="81" rowSpan="4">Linux on Intel x86</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td height="15">RedHat Linux x86 <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td height="15">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">SuSE Linux x86 <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Other Linux <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Untested</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="16">Carbon</td> | |
<td width="28%" height="16">Mac OS X on PowerPC</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">Mac OS X <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16"><img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
<tr> | |
<td width="11%" height="16"> | |
Photon®</td> | |
<td width="28%" height="16">IBM J9 VM for QNX</td> | |
<td width="42%" height="16">QNX Neutrino RTOS <i>[version TBD]</i></td> | |
<td width="19%" height="16">Primary</td> | |
</tr> | |
</tbody> | |
</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 2000 and XP only. Note that GB 18030 also requires locale and character | |
encoding support from the Java 2 Runtime Environment version 1.4. | |
<p>German and Japanese locales have been 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 2.2 will be upwards compatible with Eclipse 2.0 and 2.1.</p> | |
<h3> | |
Compatibility of Release 2.2 with 2.0 and 2.1</h3> | |
Eclipse SDK 2.2 will be upwards compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 and 2.1 to the | |
greatest extent possible. We anticipate a small number of areas where slavishly | |
maintaining compatibility would not be in the best interests of the Platform or | |
its clients. All such exceptions will be noted in the 2.2 release notes so that | |
clients can assess the impact of these changes on their plug-ins and products.<p><b>API Contract Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 2.2 will be upwards contract-compatible | |
with Eclipse SDK 2.0 and 2.1 unless noted. This means that programs in full compliance | |
with contracts specified in Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 APIs will automatically be in | |
full compliance with Eclipse SDK 2.2 APIs. (API is construed broadly to | |
include such things as plug-in extension points.) Downward contract compatibility | |
is not supported. There is no guarantee that compliance with Eclipse SDK 2.2 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><b>Binary (plug-in) Compatibility:</b> Eclipse SDK 2.2 will be upwards | |
binary-compatible with Eclipse SDK 2.0 and 2.1 unless noted. This means that plug-ins | |
built for Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 will continue to work correctly in Eclipse | |
SDK 2.2 without change. Downward plug-in compatibility is not supported. Plug-ins | |
for Eclipse SDK 2.2 are unlikely to be usable in Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1. Plug-ins | |
with hard-coded references in their plug-in manifest file to 2.0 or 2.1 versions of | |
prerequisite Eclipse Project plug-ins will work in 2.2 provided the version match | |
rule is "greaterOrEqual" | |
or "compatible" (the default); references | |
using "perfect" or "equivalent" match rules will be broken. 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 2.2 will be upwards source-compatible | |
with Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 unless noted. This means that source files written | |
to use Eclipse SDK 2.0 or 2.1 APIs can be successfully compiled and run against Eclipse SDK | |
2.2 APIs. Since source incompatibilities are easy to deal with, | |
maintaining source compatibility is considered much less important than maintaining | |
contract and binary compatibility. 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 2.2 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 | |
2.2 and upgraded to a 2.2 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 2.2 should provide similar upwards compatibility for their hidden and visible | |
workspace metadata created by earlier versions; 2.2 plug-in developers are responsible | |
for ensuring that their plug-ins recognize 2.2, 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 Eclipse SDK 2.2 will be unusable with an earlier version | |
of Eclipse SDK. Visible metadata files created (or overwritten) by Eclipse | |
SDK 2.2 will generally be unusable with earlier versions of Eclipse SDK. | |
<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 <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/">Eclipse Project</a> consists of | |
3 subprojects. Each subproject is covered in its own section: | |
<blockquote><a href="#Platform">Eclipse Platform</a><br> | |
<a href="#JDT">JDT - Java development tools</a><br> | |
<a href="#PDE">PDE - Plug-in development environment</a></blockquote> | |
<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 affected by that work item (many items involve coordinated changes | |
to several components). | |
<h3> | |
<a name="Platform">Eclipse Platform subproject</a></h3> | |
The <a href="http://www.eclipse.org/platform/index.html">Eclipse | |
Platform</a> provides the most fundamental building blocks. The following items | |
reflect new features of the Eclipse Platform, or areas where existing features | |
will be significantly reworked. | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse Platform subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p> (2.1 deferred item) <b>Add cheat sheets</b>. A cheat sheet is an instance | |
of a simple kind of workflow support used to help the user carry out a sequence | |
of steps. For example, "create and deploy a plug-in" is a multi-step | |
process that could be made easier to follow if there was a guide, similar | |
to a recipe that would track the user's progress and provide both descriptive | |
text that explains the steps involved and integration with Eclipse to automate | |
the process. The Welcome Page editor is a simple example of a cheat sheet. | |
Provide a standard API for creating cheat sheets. [Platform UI]</p> | |
<p> (2.1 deferred item) <b>Add </b><b>table of contents support to </b><b>wi</b><b>zards.</b> | |
Extend the workbench wizard framework to allow Eclipse wizard developers to | |
provide much more substantial and significant user feedback. [Platform UI]</p> | |
<p> (2.1 deferred item) <b>Support floating toolbars and views.</b> Allow the | |
user to customize the workbench by creating floating toolbars and views. [Platform | |
UI]</p> | |
<p> (2.1 deferred item) <b>Allow editors to open files outside workspace.</b> | |
A common request is to be able to open a file that is not part of the workspace | |
using Eclipse. 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]</p> | |
<p> (2.1 deferred item) <b>Improve serviceability. </b>Progress was made at | |
improving serviceability in 2.0; however, additional improvements are needed, | |
particularly in dealing with error conditions and reporting them in an appropriate | |
manner. [Platform Core, SWT, Platform UI]<br> | |
<br> | |
(2.1 deferred item) <b>Improve file encoding support.</b> Eclipse 2.0 and | |
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. | |
(Ref: <a href="http://dev.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=5399">bug 5399</a>) | |
[Platform Core, Platform UI, Text, Search, Compare, JDT UI, JDT Core]</p> | |
<p>(2.1 deferred item) <b>Improve SWT support for right-to-left languages</b>. Allow | |
the appropriate widget orientation for right-to-left languages. [SWT]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Support automation of common tasks.</b> To make it easier for users to automate | |
common and repetitive tasks, the user should have a simple way of recording the sequence of | |
actions as they perform them. The recording can be edited, saved persistently, and | |
played back under similar circumstances in the same or later session, or | |
possibly another workspace. [Platform UI, Platform Core, Platform Text, JDT | |
Core, JDT UI, PDE]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Reduce workbench clutter.</b> Despite efforts to ensure UI scalability | |
with a large bases of available tools, the Eclipse workbench still intimidates | |
many users with overly long menus and wide toolbars. This problem is acute in | |
large Eclipse-based products (e.g., IBM WebSphere Application Developer). 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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Allow plug-in deactivation.</b> 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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Support background 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. | |
[Platform UI, Platform Core, Platform Text, JDT Core, JDT UI, PDE]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Support workspace checkpoint and rollback.</b> Sometimes a set of | |
resource changes must be explored to see if they are possible or worthwhile. | |
When the changes do not pan out, there needs to be a way to roll back the | |
workspace to the prior state. Eclipse should support long workspace transactions | |
with the ability to checkpoint and rollback. The facility should be available to | |
users and programmatically (e.g., JDT refactoring). [Platform UI, Platform Core, | |
JDT Core, JDT UI]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Add capabilities.</b> In Eclipse 2.0 we did some early work on a | |
mechanism called "capabilities" to allow users to dynamically | |
configure project natures. The Eclipse Platform should expose this mechanism to | |
users. [Platform UI, JDT UI, PDE]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> expanded 2.1 PDE | |
deferred item) <b>Add project templates.</b> Eclipse should provide a streamlined | |
way to create projects using templates contributed by plug-ins. These project | |
templates would be able to populate the projects with stock content so that | |
projects don't start off completely empty. PDE's current mechanism should | |
be generalized, pushed down into the Platform, and put to good use by JDT. | |
[Platform UI, JDT UI, PDE UI]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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. The Eclipse Platform team will | |
work with the community to define a new custom table and table tree widgets that will meet | |
their needs. [SWT, Platform UI]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Improve structure of existing documentation.</b> The Eclipse help | |
books are currently black boxes. There is no easy way to insert additional | |
material into an existing Eclipse book, such as adding a section describing a | |
new tool. And there is no way to incorporate portions of the Eclipse books into | |
some other book. The Eclipse Platform help books should be restructured in a | |
more modular manner by making better use of existing help system capabilities. | |
[Platform, JDT, PDE, Platform Help]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Provide user preferences.</b> It should be possible to store user | |
preferences that are not specific to a workspace separate from the workspace, so | |
that they can be used in any workspace. [Platform Core, Platform UI]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Evolve the Eclipse user experience.</b> The current Eclipse GUI is | |
solidly grounded in traditional opaque, rectangular windows. Recent advances in | |
UI design improve the user experience with such things as transparent overlays | |
and associating sounds with significant events. Eclipse 2.2 should have a new | |
look that makes more effective use of the capabilities of current desktop | |
computers. [Platform UI, JDT UI, Debug UI]</p> | |
<p>(<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b></b> <b>Enable Eclipse to be used as a general purpose application | |
framework.</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 general purpose | |
application framework. [Platform Core, Platform UI]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Add a "tips & tricks" facility.</b> Eclipse should | |
provide an open, flexible mechanism for offering suggestions and tips to the | |
user for the various tools available and active in the IDE. [Platform UI]</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse Platform subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</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.) | |
<h3> <a name="JDT">Java development tools | |
(JDT) subproject</a></h3> | |
<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. | |
<h4>Committed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse JDT subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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. Although Eclipse 2.2 will | |
likely ship before J2SE 1.5 does, Eclipse should contain early support for | |
J2SE 1.5 features wherever possible [JDT Core, JDT UI, JDT Debug]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Improve support for Java-like source files.</b> JSP and JSQL are two | |
instances of languages that embed passages of Java language code. Eclipse | |
should provide better support for Java-like source files. For instance, | |
outline views should be able to show the hierarchy of Java elements; 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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Support Java references from non-Java files.</b> References to Java elements in particular classes | |
can show up in specific kinds of non-Java files, such as plug-in manifest | |
files (plugin.xml). 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]<br> | |
<br> | |
(<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <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]</p> | |
<p> | |
(<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Present </b><b>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]</p> | |
<p> (<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>Provide API for refactoring</b><b>.</b> JDT should allow other plug-ins to | |
contribute specialized refactoring operations, and provide the infrastructure | |
to make it possible for them to do so. [JDT Core, JDT UI]</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse JDT subproject)</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.) | |
<h3> | |
<a name="PDE">Plug-in development environment (PDE) subproject</a></h3> | |
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><i>None at this time.</i></p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Proposed Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p>(<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> new) <b>Help developers | |
tune plug-in performance.</b> Observing and measuring the dynamic behavior | |
of a plug-in is key to developing plug-ins that perform well. PDE visualizations | |
should help the developer understand the dynamic behavior of their running | |
plug-in; e.g., reason for plug-in activation, elapse time to start up, dependent | |
plug-ins activated, etc.</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p>(<img border="0" src="new.gif" width="12" height="12"> | |
new) <b>S</b><b>upport context-sensitive help for plug-ins.</b> All plug-in | |
should provide context-sensitive (F1) help for their UI components. However, | |
implementing F1 support is somewhat cumbersome and error prone. PDE should | |
provide additional support in this area, such as assigning help contexts to UI | |
elements, updating corresponding XML files, and checking consistency of context | |
ids.</p> | |
</blockquote> | |
<h4>Deferred Items (Eclipse PDE subproject)</h4> | |
<blockquote> | |
<p><i>None at this time.</i></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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