[wtp-dev] Missing third party files

[Peter Moogk <pmoogk@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Everyone,
     The latest wtp driver
20050223 contains code that checks for missing third party files.  If
any files are missing an error dialog is popped up at eclipse startup time
to notify them that the files are missing.  Right now this dialog
checks for the third party files that Web services requires, but other
components that have third party file dependencies can use this facility
as well.  Two extension points have been created to do this.  This
first extension point defines the files that should be checked and the
second defines the components that are affected by the missing files.  For
example, Web services requires many third party files to be located in
five different plugins.(  org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.axis,  org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.soap,
org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.wsil, org.eclipse.wst.ws.uddi4j, and org.eclipse.wst.wsdl
)  Each of these plugins have extensions for  the org.eclipse.wst.common.dependencychecker.requiredFiles
extension point.  Here is an example of what the org.eclipse.wst.wsdl
plugin extension looks like.

   <extension point="org.eclipse.wst.common.dependencychecker.requiredFiles">
      <requiredFile
         
  pluginRelativePath="lib/qname.jar"
         
  locationURL="ftp://www-126.ibm.com/pub/wsdl4j/WSDL4J/1.4/wsdl4j-bin-1.4.zip"/>
      <requiredFile
         
  pluginRelativePath="lib/wsdl4j.jar"
         
  locationURL="ftp://www-126.ibm.com/pub/wsdl4j/WSDL4J/1.4/wsdl4j-bin-1.4.zip"/>
   </extension>

This extension states that the wsdl
plugin requires two JAR files qname.jar and wsdl4j.jar and where on the
internet these files can be located.  The locationURL attribute is
displayed in the error dialog that pops up.

The second extension point defines the
components that are affected by the missing files.  A list of the
components affected will be displayed in the dialog that pops up at startup.
 This extension should be placed in a plugin that is affected by the
missing files.   Here is an example of the extension that Web services
has in the org.eclipse.jst.ws.consumption.ui plugin.

   <extension point="org.eclipse.wst.common.dependencychecker.dependencies">
     <dependency
description="%FEATURE_DESCRIPTION">
       <requiredPlugin
id="org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.axis"/>
       <requiredPlugin
id="org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.soap"/>
       <requiredPlugin
id="org.eclipse.wst.ws.apache.wsil"/>
       <requiredPlugin
id="org.eclipse.wst.ws.uddi4j"/>
       <requiredPlugin
id="org.eclipse.wst.wsdl"/>
     </dependency>
   </extension>

This extension lists the five plugins
that Web services depends on that have third party JAR files.  The
description attribute contains a string that will be displayed to the user
in the dialog box.  This string should contain a description of the
component that requires the missing files.

The code that does this missing file
check remembers the components that had missing files.  If you want
your plugin code to query for missing files you can use the following static
method call.

CheckMissingFiles.hasMissingFiles(
pluginId )  

where pluginId is the plugin id where
your org.eclipse.wst.common.dependencychecker.dependencies extension is
defined.

The CheckMissingFiles class is located
in the org.eclipse.wst.common.dependencychecker plugin.

Let me know if you have any questions.
 Thanks.


Peter Moogk
Rational Developer
Web Services Development
IBM Canada Ltd.
pmoogk@xxxxxxxxxx
D3-353/ENX/8200/MKM
(905) 413-3458