Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD
DRAFT 2.1.0 Plan
Including XML Schema Definition (XSD) and Service Data Objects (SDO) frameworks
Last revised $Date: 2008/05/21 20:09:05 $ (
marks interesting changes over a previous revision of this
document)
Please send comments about this draft plan to the eclipse.tools.emf or eclipse.technology.xsd newsgroup, as applicable.
This document lays out the feature and API set for the next feature release of the Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD projects after 2.0.1, designated release 2.1.
- Release deliverables
- Release milestones
- Target operating environments
- Compatibility with previous releases
- EMF, XSD and SDO feature plans
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.
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.
The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for the projects under the Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD projects. Each plan item covers a feature or API that is to be added, or some aspect 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.
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.
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.
Release deliverables
The release deliverables are:
- Source code release for Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD, available as versions tagged "HEAD" in the eclipse.org CVS repositories for EMF , SDO , and XSD .
- EMF/SDO and XSD runtime binaries and SDK distributions (downloadable).
- EMF/SDO and XSD runtime binaries and SDK features on eclipse.org update site (install via Eclipse update manager).
Release milestones
EMF/SDO and XSD builds are available weekly as Integration builds. Occasionally, these builds may be renamed as Milestone builds, aligned with Eclipse's Milestones. Eclipse's Release Milestones occur at roughly 6 week intervals to facilitate coarse-grained planning and staging. Their milestones are:
- Friday Feb. 18, 2005 - Milestone 5 (3.1 M5) - stable build
- Friday Apr. 1, 2005 - Milestone 6 (3.1 M6) - stable build - API complete - API freeze
- Friday May 13, 2005 - Milestone 7 (3.1 M7) - stable build - feature complete - development freeze - lock down and testing begins
- Late June 2005 - 3.1 Release
Target Operating Environments
In order to remain current, each release of an Eclipse project targets reasonably current versions of underlying operating environments and other Eclipse projects on which it depends.
Most of Eclipse is "pure" Java TM code and has no direct dependence on the underlying operating system. The chief dependence is on the Eclipse Platform, and on the Java 2 Platform that runs it.
The EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 releases depend on the following:
- Java 2 Platform 1.4
- Eclipse Platform 3.1
Additionally, if loading or importing models from XML Schema, the following is required. Click here for an explanation of this additional requirement.
- Xerces2-J 2.6.2, or
- XML4J
The 2.1.0 releases of EMF/SDO and XSD are designed to run on any configuration supporting the above components.
The Eclipse Platform runs in a variety of operating environments. Testing is focused on a handful of popular combinations of operating system and Java 2 Platform; these are our reference platforms . 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.
See the Eclipse Project 3.1 plan for a list of reference platforms.
Internationalization
Eclipse is designed as the basis for internationalized products. The user interface elements provided by the various Eclipse projects, including dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings for EMF/SDO and XSD are provided as the default resource bundles. Translations are not provided with this release. However, the plug-in fragment mechanism provides the means by which translations into any number of other languages can be incorporated.
Compatibility with Previous Releases
Compatibility of Release 2.1.0 with 2.0.1
Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 will be compatible with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1.
API Contract Compatibility: EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 will be upwards contract-compatible with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1 except in those areas noted in the EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 Migration Guide. Programs that use affected APIs and extension points will need to be ported to EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 APIs. Downward contract compatibility is not supported. There is no guarantee that compliance with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 APIs would ensure compliance with EMF/SDO and XSD 1.x APIs. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain contract compatibility.
Binary (plug-in) Compatibility: EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 will be upwards binary-compatible with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1 except in those areas noted in the EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 Migration Guide. Downward plug-in compatibility is not supported: plug-ins compiled against EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 will likely be unusable with EMF/SDO and XSD 1.x. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain binary compatibility.
Source Compatibility: Source files written to use EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1 APIs will usually compile and run successfully against EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 APIs, although this cannot be guaranteed. In some cases, it may be necessary to make minor changes to the source code to disambiguate things like imports or overloaded method invocations. Downward source compatibility is not supported. If source files use new APIs, they will not be usable with earlier versions.
Workspace Compatibility: Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 will be upwards workspace-compatible with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1 unless noted. This means that workspaces and projects created by an Eclipse with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.0.1 installed can be successfully opened by an Eclipse with EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 installed. This includes both hidden metadata, which is localized to a particular workspace, as well as metadata files found within a workspace project, which may propagate between workspaces via file copying or team repositories. User interface session state may be discarded when a workspace is upgraded. Downward workspace compatibility is not supported. Metadata files created (or overwritten) by the newer version will generally be unusable with older versions.
Non-compliant usage of API's: 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 API are inherently unsupportable and receive no guarantees about compatibility within a single release much less with an earlier releases. Refer to How to Use the Eclipse API for information about how to write compliant plug-ins.
EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0 Migration Guide
At this time, there are no known issues migrating from 2.0.1 to 2.1.0. Should this change, this document will be revised, or a secondary document will be added documenting any known issues.
Themes
The changes under consideration for the next release of Eclipse EMF/SDO and XSD address a few major themes:
- Built To Last - EMF/SDO and XSD has always been a framework for delivering integrated modeling tools. With a growing base of both free and commercial offerings based on EMF/SDO and XSD, it's critical for continued success to maintain API stability and ensure that the framework scales well. This theme includes work to measure and improve the performance and scalability of EMF/SDO and XSD resources. This theme also includes consolidation activities where groundwork was laid in 2.0 but needs to be completed and brought into full use.
- Simple To Use - The EMF/SDO and XSD framework needs to not only provide the features that advanced developers demand, but also be something that most developers find simple to use. This theme includes ease-of-use reviews of existing features, and work that helps make EMF/SDO and XSD-based products simple to use for developers with widely-varying backgrounds and skill sets.
- Release Currency - Tools projects will maintain release currency concurrent with 3.x releases. For EMF/SDO and XSD 2.1.0, this means currency with Eclipse 3.1.
- Generator Reusability - Plans are underway to make the generator even more generic and reusable so as to be enven more useful to developers.
- Java 2 Standard Edition 5 Support - While unclear at time of writing what this will entail, it is hoped that the next release of EMF/SDO can exploit the new J2SE version 5 to some extent.
- SDO 1.1 Support - While unclear at time of writing what this will entail, it is expected that the next release of EMF/SDO will support the new SDO 1.1 standard to some extent.
Each theme has a number of items; the relevant theme is identified for each committed, proposed, and deferred plan items.
The items listed reflect new features or areas where existing features will be significantly reworked. Numbers in parentheses link to bugzilla problem reports for that plan item.
The current status of each plan item is noted:
- Committed plan item - A committed plan item is one that we have decided to address for the release.
- Proposed 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 or deferred.
- Deferred 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.
EMF, XSD and SDO feature plans
Plan items reflect new features of the EMF/SDO and XSD project, or areas where existing features will be significantly reworked.
Here you can also find EMF 2.1 development prioritized plan.
Note that for the links below, you may need to reset your browser's bugs.eclipse.org cookie(s) in order to see all the appropriate columns.
Committed Items (EMF/SDO and XSD project)
Bugzillas with a target release or milestone of 2.1 are committed to that release. For the most current list of these items, see the following links:
Proposed Items (EMF/SDO and XSD project)
Bugzillas without a specific target release or milestone are proposed, but not scheduled for a particular release. For the most current list of these items, see the following links:
Deferred Items (EMF/SDO and XSD projects)
Bugzillas assigned to the non-specific target of 'Future' are deferred, and not scheduled for a particular release. For the most current list of these items, see the following links: