[ajdt-dev] Outline / Cross references views (#80094)

[Rafal Krzewski <Rafal.Krzewski@xxxxxxxxx>]

I like to bring up the subject of Outline / Cross references views that 
are mentioned in https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=80094 and
http://dev.eclipse.org/mhonarc/lists/ajdt-dev/msg00365.html

I have a few comments / suggestions:

Second Mik's opinion on "Cross references view" being too generic, and I 
like "Crosscutting view" name much better.

From my experience in working with Eclipse, using normal Outline view 
with crosscutting decorators + a Crosscutting view an interesting 
option. I often use "Open in Call Hierarchy" context menu option on 
methods in Outline view. I'd probably use Crosscutting view in the same way.

Combining crosscutting information with the JDT Outline view for Java 
files may be preferred over Outline + Crosscutting views combination for 
many developers. If/when it is implemented I hope it can be implemented 
using strategy #1 as outlined by Mik: by using defined extension 
mechanisms. If the required hooks are missing (and I know they are, you 
wouldn't be using strategy #3 otherwise, right?), I think it would be 
worthwhile to work a bit on the JDT UI side and create these extension 
points. This requires a bit of extra work, and inter-team coordination, 
but there are considerable benefits: AJDT Outline will provide all 
present and future functionality of JDT Outline, and will be less likely 
to break due to implementation or even API changes than one implemented 
using strategy #2 (subclassing). Moreover other Eclipse plugins could 
benefit from the added extension points in the future.

Is crosscutting information taken into consideration in the JDT 
Hierarchy view? I don't have much AJDT experience and I don't have 
Eclipse handy ATM. If it's not - the comment above applies to that view 
as well.

Lastly I'd like to address the UI solutions used in the Crossreferences 
/ crosscutting view:

In my opinion the "red arrow" entries in the tree, both while viewing a 
class and an aspect are redundant - they don't give useful information 
but force the user to do additional mouse gestures.

The icons used in the Crosscutting view for an aspect should correspond 
to those used in the Outline - see 
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/attachment.cgi?id=16418&action=view

For an class, I would expect the Crosscutting view contents to include 
the matched pointcuts, like in the Outline view on this screenshot - 
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/attachment.cgi?id=16418&action=view
of course using pointcut icon (lighting bolt).

Please excuse this rather lengthy post - I thought I'd better share all 
my comments now rather than later.

Rafal