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We consider it mis-use to have a class implement an interface for the sole purpose of bringing constants from that interface into the namespace of the class: public class Foo implements IFooConstants { public int bar() { return BAR_CONST; } } instead, the constants should always be referenced directly: public class Foo { public int bar() { return IFooConstants.BAR_CONST; } } bringing constants into the namespace of a class blows up Javadoc unnecessarily, and may bring constants which are meant to be "internal" into public API space when this is not desired. Current examples of "constant" interfaces being implemented in RSE include: IClientServerConstants IDataStoreConstants IHostSearchConstants IRSEDOMConstants IRSEUserIdConstants IServiceConstants ISystemContextMenuConstants ISystemFilterSavePolicies ISystemFilterConstants ISystemIconConstants ISystemPreferencesConstants ISystemProcessPropertyConstants ISystemProcessRemoteConstants ISystemPropertyConstants ISystemRemoteEditConstants ISystemSearchConstants ISystemTextEditorConstants ISystemThemeConstants ITarConstants IUniversalDataStoreConstants IUniversalProcessDataStoreConstants And from import/export and user actions, there are: IRemoteImportExportConstants ISystemCompileXMLConstants ISystemUDAConstants
There might be few exceptions to the general rule of NOT implementing "constant" interfaces: * when the number of constants is small, AND * the class which implements them uses most (all) of the constants in API e.g. in order to get/set certain properties. Classes MUST NOT implement constant interfaces which contain types that are implementation details - see bug 180568 for examples. In order to get rid of the constant access, the "implements" clause must be removed from deriving classes; this will bring up JDT Errors. Then, all of these errors need to be navigated (works by keyboard shortcut) and the original interface name must be added as qualifier in front of the constant. I have, unfortunately, not found a way of doing this with less manual work. Since it is considerable work, I propose separating it: - DaveD to do IRSEDOMConstants, IRSEUserIdConstants, ISystemFilter* - DaveM to do *DataStore*, *Property* - Kushal to do IHostSearch*, ISystemSearch*, ITar*, *Process*
> - DaveD to do IRSEDOMConstants, IRSEUserIdConstants, ISystemFilter* Done.
> - Kushal to do IHostSearch*, ISystemSearch*, ITar*, *Process* Done.
-DaveM to do *DataStore*, *Property* Done. Is there anything left?
The following seem to be still open, if I'm not mistaken: IClientServerConstants, IServiceConstants - DaveM ISystemContextMenuConstants, ISystemIconConstants - DaveM ISystemPreferencesConstants, ISystemThemeConstants - DaveD ISystemRemoteEditConstants, ISystemTextEditorConstants - Kushal
> ISystemRemoteEditConstants, ISystemTextEditorConstants - Kushal Done.
-IClientServerConstants, IServiceConstants, ISystemContextMenuConstants, ISystemIconConstants, ISystemMessages done.
Also found ISystemOutputRemoteTypes, checking in this and DaveD's ones: [180562][api] dont implement ISystemOutputRemoteTypes [180562][api] dont implement ISystemPreferencesConstants [180562][api] dont implement ISystemThemeConstants [180562][api] dont implement IRemoteImportExportConstants [180562][api] dont implement ISystemCompileXMLConstants [180562][api] dont implement ISystemUDAConstants bringing the full list to: IClientServerConstants IDataStoreConstants IHostSearchConstants IRemoteImportExportConstants IRSEDOMConstants IRSEUserIdConstants IServiceConstants ISystemCompileXMLConstants ISystemContextMenuConstants ISystemFilterSavePolicies ISystemFilterConstants ISystemIconConstants ISystemOutputRemoteTypes ISystemPreferencesConstants ISystemProcessPropertyConstants ISystemProcessRemoteConstants ISystemPropertyConstants ISystemRemoteEditConstants ISystemSearchConstants ISystemTextEditorConstants ISystemThemeConstants ISystemUDAConstants ITarConstants IUniversalDataStoreConstants IUniversalProcessDataStoreConstants Marking this fixed now. Migration docs for users: If you migrate code to RSE 2.0, - and error markers indicate that UPPERCASE constants can not be found, - and your class is extending an RSE base class, it is likely that you need to prefix the UPPERCASE constant with one of the constant holding interfaces mentioned above. Best use a text search to find where the constant is declared (search workspace for UPPERCASE constant), and prefix the usage with the corresponding interface found.
[target cleanup] 2.0 M6 was the original target milestone for this bug
