plan/gef_plan_3_4.php - www.eclipse.org/gef - Git at Google

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 $pageTitle 		= "GEF Project Plan for Release 3.4 (DRAFT)";
 $pageKeywords	= "Eclipse Graphical Editing Framework (GEF)";
 $pageAuthor		= "Anthony Hunter, IBM Rational Software";

 # Paste your HTML content between the EOHTML markers!
 $html = <<<EOHTML

 <div id="midcolumn">

 <table>
 <tr>
 <td valign="top"><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"
 style="font-size: 20pt;">GEF Project Plan for Release 3.4</font></td>
 <td>&nbsp;</td>
 <td align="top"><img src="../images/gefbanner.jpg" border="0"></td>
 </tr>
 </table>
 <p>Last revised <tt>$Date: 2008/05/05 20:27:16 $</tt> ( <img width="12"
 height="12" src="../images/green-box.gif" border="0" /> marks interesting
 changes over a previous revision of this document)</p>

 <p><em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Please send comments about this draft plan to
 the</em> <a href="news://news.eclipse.org/eclipse.tools.gef">eclipse.tools.gef</a> <em>newsgroup.</em></p>

 <p>This document lays out the feature and API set for the next feature
 release of the Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) project, designated release
 3.4.0.</p>

 <ul type="disc">
 <li><a href="#Deliverables">Release deliverables</a></li>

 <li><a href="#Milestones">Release milestones</a></li>

 <li><a href="#RampDown">Ramp Down Policy</a></li>

 <li><a href="#TargetOperatingEnvironments">Target operating
 environments</a></li>

 <li><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility with previous releases</a></li>

 <li><a href="#Significant Plan Items">Significant Plan Items</a></li>

 <li><a href="#Plan Items Queries">Plan Items Queries</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, plans are posted in an embryonic form and then revised from time to
 time throughout the release cycle.</p>

 <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.&nbsp;</p>

 <p>The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for the GEF project.
 Each plan item covers a feature that is to be added, or some aspect that is to
 be improved. Each plan item will have its own entry in the <a
 href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs">Eclipse Bugzilla</a> 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>

 <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 subsystem; others may involve coordinated changes across several
 projects within the same top-level project; and others may involve coordination
 with other top-level projects. Although some plan items are for work that is
 more pressing that others, the plan items appear in no particular order.</p>

 <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 tuning, 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. The intent of the plan is to account for
 all interesting feature work.</p>

 <h2><a name="Deliverables"></a>Release Deliverables</h2>
 <p>The release deliverables are:</p>
 <ul type="disc">
 <li>Source code release for GEF is available in the eclipse.org <a
 href="http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/?cvsroot=Tools_Project">CVS
 repositories for GEF</a>.</li>

 <li>GEF runtime binaries and SDK distributions (downloadable).</li>

 <li>GEF runtime binaries and SDK features on eclipse.org update site
 (install via Eclipse update manager).</li>
 </ul>

 <h2><a name="Milestones"> </a> Release Milestones</h2>

 <p>GEF builds are available weekly as <em>Integration builds</em>. GEF
 Milestone Releases are approximately one week after the <a
 href="http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/development/eclipse_project_plan_3_4.html#Milestones">
 Eclipse Milestone Releases </a>.</p>

 <p>Following the final milestone, release candidates will begin. GEF Release
 Candidates are planned to be released approximately one week after each Eclipse
 Release Candidate. This convergence is required to meet the goals of the <a
 href="http://www.eclipse.org/projects/ganymede.php">Ganymede Simultaneous
 Release</a>. The
 <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release">Ganymede Wiki</a>
 provides the complete summary of the release.</p>

 <p>Scheduled release candidates should end in 2008Q2, and beyond that point,
 will be produced only as needed, leading up to a release in late 2008Q2.</p>

 <h2><a name="RampDown"> </a><img width="12"
 height="12" src="../images/green-box.gif" border="0" />Ramp Down Policy</h2>

 <p>For reference, see the
 <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release">Ganymede Simultaneous Release</a>, in
 particular the
 <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release#Milestones_and_Release_Candidates">Ganymede Simultaneous Release#Milestones and Release Candidates</a>.</p>

 <p>When talking about API Freeze, we always mean public API only. Provisional, experimental or "internal" API are exempt from API freeze or feature freeze, although we
 will strive for release quality of these components as well.</p>

 <p>Typically the last week of a Milestone is for testing, and fixing only regressions and P1 or blocking defects.</p>

 <p><b>For M6, we plan to be API complete</b>, so there will not be any more breaking API changes or unsolicited API changes.
 If needed, making non-breaking API change requires an explicit approval of another committer in the regular peer review,
 while making a breaking API change requires a committer vote on the mailing list with at least two committers voting +1 and no -1s.</p>

 <p><b>For M7, we plan to be functionally complete</b>. We will accept API changes only if regressions are involved, or serious
 issues need to be addressed. Process for making API changes is the same as in M6. After M7, the remaining Release Candidates are
 (only) for fixing bugs, or fixing release required items (such as version numbers, licensing, etc.).</p>

 <p><b>After M7, production of release candidates starts</b>. Additional RCs will be produced every week. After the first
 RC is produced, the time for general functional improvements is long past. The following describes the types of bugs
 that would be appropriate:</p>
 <ul>
 <li>A regression
 <li>A high priority bug, one that is blocking or critical, and some cases of major severities.
 <li>Documentation and PII files are exceptions to the normal PMC required review, since there is little chance of that breaking anything, though it is still expected to be complete by M6, and remaining work to be only documentation fixes (that is, no refactoring of plugins, build changes, etc, without PMC review and approval).
 <li>In addition to a bug meeting the above priority/severity conditions, there should be a simple, safe, well understood fix that is well isolated from effecting other components, that doesn't affect API or adopters, that has been well reviewed and well tested.
 <li>As each Release Candidate passes, the criteria for weighing the benefit-to-risk ratio criteria gets higher and higher, and as such requires a larger number of committers and PMC members to review.
 </ul>

 <h2><a name="TargetOperatingEnvironments"> </a> Target Operating
 Environments</h2>

 <p>GEF 3.4 will support all operating environments supported by the Eclipse
 Platform itself. For a list of supported environments, refer to <a
 href="http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/development/eclipse_project_plan_3_4.html#TargetOperatingEnvironments">
 Eclipse Project 3.4 plan</a> for a list of reference platforms.</p>

 <h2><a name="Compatibility"> </a> Compatibility with Previous Releases</h2>

 <h3>Compatibility of Release 3.4.0 with 3.3.0</h3>

 <p>GEF 3.4 will be upwards compatible with GEF 3.3 to the greatest extent
 possible. Any exceptions will be noted in the 3.4 release notes so that clients
 can assess the impact of these changes on their plug-ins and products.</p>
 <p><b>API Contract Compatibility:</b> GEF 3.4 will be upwards
 contract-compatible with GEF 3.3 unless noted. This means that programs in full
 compliance with contracts specified in 3.3 APIs will automatically be in full
 compliance with 3.4 APIs. Refer to <i> <a
 href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Evolving_Java-based_APIs"> 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> GEF 3.4 will be upwards
 binary-compatible with GEF 3.3 unless noted. This means that plug-ins built for
 GEF 3.4 will continue to work correctly in 3.4 without change. Plug-ins with
 hard-coded references in their plug-in manifest file to the 3.3 version of GEF
 plug-ins will work in 3.4 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://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Evolving_Java-based_APIs"> Evolving
 Java-based APIs</a></i> for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain
 binary compatibility.</p>
 <p><b>Source Compatibility:</b> GEF 3.4 will be upwards source-compatible
 with GEF 3.3 to the greatest extent possible. This means that source files
 written to use 3.3 APIs can often be successfully compiled and run against GEF
 3.4 APIs. Since source incompatibilities are easy to deal with, maintaining
 source compatibility is considered much less important than maintaining contract
 and binary compatibility.&nbsp; The addition of a single method anywhere could
 be an incompatible source change.&nbsp; For this reason,
 source-incompatibilities will not be noted.</p>
 <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 as 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.</p>

 <h2><a name="Significant Plan Items"></a>Significant Plan Items</h2>
 <p>The planned changes under consideration for the next release of Eclipse GEF include a
 few significant plan items:</p>

 <ul>
 <li><b>Modernized GEF Palette</b> - The existing GEF palette UI has been unchanged for quite some time. Meanwhile
 the platform has undergone a number of changes. This enhancement has the goal
 to get a refreshed palette UI into GEF.
 See <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=204631">Bugzilla 204631</a></li>
 <br>
 <li><b>Zest Visualization Toolkit</b> - The Zest Visualization Toolkit will become part of GEF,
 moving from the Mylyn tools component.
 See <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=164387">Bugzilla 164387</a></li>
 <br>
 <li><b>Defect Cleanup</b> - There are well over 250 open Bugzillas, this plan item
 works toward reducing this backlog. There is an expectation that the GEF community
 will assist by contributing patches for bugs they want to see fixed in the 3.4 release.
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&bug_severity=blocker&bug_severity=critical&bug_severity=major&bug_severity=normal&bug_severity=minor&bug_severity=trivial&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">All Open Defects</a></li>
 </ul>

 <h2><a name="Plan Items Queries"> </a>Plan Item Queries</h2>
 <h2>Plan Items</h2>
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M1&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M1</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M2&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M2</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M3&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M3</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M4&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M4</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M5&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M5</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 3.4 M6</a> </p>

 <h3>Committed Items</h3>
 <p>Bugzillas with a target milestone and developer assigned are considered committed items for the release.
 <p>For the most current list of these committed items for the 3.4 release, see the following link:</p>
 <p><a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&target_milestone=3.4+M3&target_milestone=3.4+M4&target_milestone=3.4+M5&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=notregexp&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=assigned_to&type0-0-0=notequals&value0-0-0=gef-inbox@eclipse.org">
 All Open Committed Items</a> |
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&target_milestone=3.4+M3&target_milestone=3.4+M4&target_milestone=3.4+M5&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=VERIFIED&bug_status=CLOSED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=notregexp&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
 All Resolved Committed Items</a></p>

 <h3>Proposed Items</h3>
 <p>Bugzillas with a target milestone and no developer assigned are considered proposed items for the release.
 For the most current list of these proposed items for the 3.4 release, see the following links:</p>
 <p><a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=assigned_to&type0-0-0=equals&value0-0-0=gef-inbox@eclipse.org&field0-1-0=noop&type0-1-0=noop&value0-1-0=">
 All Open Proposed Items</a>

 <h3>Deferred Items</h3>
 <p>Bugzillas with an unspecified target milestone are deferred, and not scheduled for the current release.

 <h3>Help Wanted Items</h3>
 <p>Bugzillas with a 'helpwanted' keyword are in need of contribution from the community.</p>

 </div>

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	$pageTitle = "GEF Project Plan for Release 3.4 (DRAFT)";
	$pageKeywords = "Eclipse Graphical Editing Framework (GEF)";
	$pageAuthor = "Anthony Hunter, IBM Rational Software";

	# Paste your HTML content between the EOHTML markers!
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	<div id="midcolumn">

	<table>
	<tr>
	<td valign="top"><b><font face="Arial,Helvetica"
	style="font-size: 20pt;">GEF Project Plan for Release 3.4</font></td>
	<td> </td>
	<td align="top"><img src="../images/gefbanner.jpg" border="0"></td>
	</tr>
	</table>
	<p>Last revised <tt>$Date: 2008/05/05 20:27:16 $</tt> ( <img width="12"
	height="12" src="../images/green-box.gif" border="0" /> marks interesting
	changes over a previous revision of this document)</p>

	<p><em>    Please send comments about this draft plan to
	the</em> <a href="news://news.eclipse.org/eclipse.tools.gef">eclipse.tools.gef</a> <em>newsgroup.</em></p>

	<p>This document lays out the feature and API set for the next feature
	release of the Graphical Editing Framework (GEF) project, designated release
	3.4.0.</p>

	<ul type="disc">
	<li><a href="#Deliverables">Release deliverables</a></li>

	<li><a href="#Milestones">Release milestones</a></li>

	<li><a href="#RampDown">Ramp Down Policy</a></li>

	<li><a href="#TargetOperatingEnvironments">Target operating
	environments</a></li>

	<li><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility with previous releases</a></li>

	<li><a href="#Significant Plan Items">Significant Plan Items</a></li>

	<li><a href="#Plan Items Queries">Plan Items Queries</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, plans are posted in an embryonic form and then revised from time to
	time throughout the release cycle.</p>

	<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>

	<p>The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for the GEF project.
	Each plan item covers a feature that is to be added, or some aspect that is to
	be improved. Each plan item will have its own entry in the <a
	href="http://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs">Eclipse Bugzilla</a> 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>

	<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 subsystem; others may involve coordinated changes across several
	projects within the same top-level project; and others may involve coordination
	with other top-level projects. Although some plan items are for work that is
	more pressing that others, the plan items appear in no particular order.</p>

	<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 tuning, 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. The intent of the plan is to account for
	all interesting feature work.</p>

	<h2><a name="Deliverables"></a>Release Deliverables</h2>
	<p>The release deliverables are:</p>
	<ul type="disc">
	<li>Source code release for GEF is available in the eclipse.org <a
	href="http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/?cvsroot=Tools_Project">CVS
	repositories for GEF</a>.</li>

	<li>GEF runtime binaries and SDK distributions (downloadable).</li>

	<li>GEF runtime binaries and SDK features on eclipse.org update site
	(install via Eclipse update manager).</li>
	</ul>

	<h2><a name="Milestones"> </a> Release Milestones</h2>

	<p>GEF builds are available weekly as <em>Integration builds</em>. GEF
	Milestone Releases are approximately one week after the <a
	href="http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/development/eclipse_project_plan_3_4.html#Milestones">
	Eclipse Milestone Releases </a>.</p>

	<p>Following the final milestone, release candidates will begin. GEF Release
	Candidates are planned to be released approximately one week after each Eclipse
	Release Candidate. This convergence is required to meet the goals of the <a
	href="http://www.eclipse.org/projects/ganymede.php">Ganymede Simultaneous
	Release</a>. The
	<a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release">Ganymede Wiki</a>
	provides the complete summary of the release.</p>

	<p>Scheduled release candidates should end in 2008Q2, and beyond that point,
	will be produced only as needed, leading up to a release in late 2008Q2.</p>

	<h2><a name="RampDown"> </a><img width="12"
	height="12" src="../images/green-box.gif" border="0" />Ramp Down Policy</h2>

	<p>For reference, see the
	<a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release">Ganymede Simultaneous Release</a>, in
	particular the
	<a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/Ganymede_Simultaneous_Release#Milestones_and_Release_Candidates">Ganymede Simultaneous Release#Milestones and Release Candidates</a>.</p>

	<p>When talking about API Freeze, we always mean public API only. Provisional, experimental or "internal" API are exempt from API freeze or feature freeze, although we
	will strive for release quality of these components as well.</p>

	<p>Typically the last week of a Milestone is for testing, and fixing only regressions and P1 or blocking defects.</p>

	<p><b>For M6, we plan to be API complete</b>, so there will not be any more breaking API changes or unsolicited API changes.
	If needed, making non-breaking API change requires an explicit approval of another committer in the regular peer review,
	while making a breaking API change requires a committer vote on the mailing list with at least two committers voting +1 and no -1s.</p>

	<p><b>For M7, we plan to be functionally complete</b>. We will accept API changes only if regressions are involved, or serious
	issues need to be addressed. Process for making API changes is the same as in M6. After M7, the remaining Release Candidates are
	(only) for fixing bugs, or fixing release required items (such as version numbers, licensing, etc.).</p>

	<p><b>After M7, production of release candidates starts</b>. Additional RCs will be produced every week. After the first
	RC is produced, the time for general functional improvements is long past. The following describes the types of bugs
	that would be appropriate:</p>
	<ul>
	<li>A regression
	<li>A high priority bug, one that is blocking or critical, and some cases of major severities.
	<li>Documentation and PII files are exceptions to the normal PMC required review, since there is little chance of that breaking anything, though it is still expected to be complete by M6, and remaining work to be only documentation fixes (that is, no refactoring of plugins, build changes, etc, without PMC review and approval).
	<li>In addition to a bug meeting the above priority/severity conditions, there should be a simple, safe, well understood fix that is well isolated from effecting other components, that doesn't affect API or adopters, that has been well reviewed and well tested.
	<li>As each Release Candidate passes, the criteria for weighing the benefit-to-risk ratio criteria gets higher and higher, and as such requires a larger number of committers and PMC members to review.
	</ul>

	<h2><a name="TargetOperatingEnvironments"> </a> Target Operating
	Environments</h2>

	<p>GEF 3.4 will support all operating environments supported by the Eclipse
	Platform itself. For a list of supported environments, refer to <a
	href="http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/development/eclipse_project_plan_3_4.html#TargetOperatingEnvironments">
	Eclipse Project 3.4 plan</a> for a list of reference platforms.</p>

	<h2><a name="Compatibility"> </a> Compatibility with Previous Releases</h2>

	<h3>Compatibility of Release 3.4.0 with 3.3.0</h3>

	<p>GEF 3.4 will be upwards compatible with GEF 3.3 to the greatest extent
	possible. Any exceptions will be noted in the 3.4 release notes so that clients
	can assess the impact of these changes on their plug-ins and products.</p>
	<p><b>API Contract Compatibility:</b> GEF 3.4 will be upwards
	contract-compatible with GEF 3.3 unless noted. This means that programs in full
	compliance with contracts specified in 3.3 APIs will automatically be in full
	compliance with 3.4 APIs. Refer to <i> <a
	href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Evolving_Java-based_APIs"> 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> GEF 3.4 will be upwards
	binary-compatible with GEF 3.3 unless noted. This means that plug-ins built for
	GEF 3.4 will continue to work correctly in 3.4 without change. Plug-ins with
	hard-coded references in their plug-in manifest file to the 3.3 version of GEF
	plug-ins will work in 3.4 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://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Evolving_Java-based_APIs"> Evolving
	Java-based APIs</a></i> for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain
	binary compatibility.</p>
	<p><b>Source Compatibility:</b> GEF 3.4 will be upwards source-compatible
	with GEF 3.3 to the greatest extent possible. This means that source files
	written to use 3.3 APIs can often be successfully compiled and run against GEF
	3.4 APIs. Since source incompatibilities are easy to deal with, maintaining
	source compatibility is considered much less important than maintaining contract
	and binary compatibility.  The addition of a single method anywhere could
	be an incompatible source change.  For this reason,
	source-incompatibilities will not be noted.</p>
	<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 as 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.</p>

	<h2><a name="Significant Plan Items"></a>Significant Plan Items</h2>
	<p>The planned changes under consideration for the next release of Eclipse GEF include a
	few significant plan items:</p>

	<ul>
	<li><b>Modernized GEF Palette</b> - The existing GEF palette UI has been unchanged for quite some time. Meanwhile
	the platform has undergone a number of changes. This enhancement has the goal
	to get a refreshed palette UI into GEF.
	See <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=204631">Bugzilla 204631</a></li>
	<br>
	<li><b>Zest Visualization Toolkit</b> - The Zest Visualization Toolkit will become part of GEF,
	moving from the Mylyn tools component.
	See <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=164387">Bugzilla 164387</a></li>
	<br>
	<li><b>Defect Cleanup</b> - There are well over 250 open Bugzillas, this plan item
	works toward reducing this backlog. There is an expectation that the GEF community
	will assist by contributing patches for bugs they want to see fixed in the 3.4 release.
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&bug_severity=blocker&bug_severity=critical&bug_severity=major&bug_severity=normal&bug_severity=minor&bug_severity=trivial&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">All Open Defects</a></li>
	</ul>

	<h2><a name="Plan Items Queries"> </a>Plan Item Queries</h2>
	<h2>Plan Items</h2>
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M1&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M1</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M2&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M2</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M3&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M3</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M4&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M4</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M5&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M5</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	3.4 M6</a> </p>

	<h3>Committed Items</h3>
	<p>Bugzillas with a target milestone and developer assigned are considered committed items for the release.
	<p>For the most current list of these committed items for the 3.4 release, see the following link:</p>
	<p><a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&target_milestone=3.4+M3&target_milestone=3.4+M4&target_milestone=3.4+M5&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=notregexp&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=assigned_to&type0-0-0=notequals&value0-0-0=gef-inbox@eclipse.org">
	All Open Committed Items</a> \|
	<a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&target_milestone=3.4+M3&target_milestone=3.4+M4&target_milestone=3.4+M5&target_milestone=3.4+M6&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=RESOLVED&bug_status=VERIFIED&bug_status=CLOSED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=notregexp&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=">
	All Resolved Committed Items</a></p>

	<h3>Proposed Items</h3>
	<p>Bugzillas with a target milestone and no developer assigned are considered proposed items for the release.
	For the most current list of these proposed items for the 3.4 release, see the following links:</p>
	<p><a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&classification=Tools&product=GEF&target_milestone=3.4&target_milestone=3.4+M1&target_milestone=3.4+M2&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailtype1=substring&email1=&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=assigned_to&type0-0-0=equals&value0-0-0=gef-inbox@eclipse.org&field0-1-0=noop&type0-1-0=noop&value0-1-0=">
	All Open Proposed Items</a>

	<h3>Deferred Items</h3>
	<p>Bugzillas with an unspecified target milestone are deferred, and not scheduled for the current release.

	<h3>Help Wanted Items</h3>
	<p>Bugzillas with a 'helpwanted' keyword are in need of contribution from the community.</p>

	</div>

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