[aperi-dev] V0.3 SWT Browser Widget on Linux Client Go/NoGo Decision

[Dave Wolfe <dwolfe@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

At the Monday project meeting we discussed
the issues with the SWT browser widget  in general and on Linux as
a client platform in particular.
I asserted we needed to make a Go/NoGo
decision as to whether to support SWT Browser Widget by Wednesday 4/24.
I also promised an email to clarify
the issues since we went through it pretty fast at the meeting and it is
a bit complex.

In V0.3 we want to 'encapsulate' the
web based functionality using the SWT browser widget so that it can be
integrated into the RCP framework as a 'perspective' at the top level.
Thus, from the GUI you can switch back
and forth between the Classic View (Legacy Swing) and the Reporting View
(Web App) and it gives an impression of being an integrated application
(which, in fact,  it is on the server side).
Early testing was promising, the SWT
browser widget has been through several releases and has stabilized quite
a bit by 3.2, etc.
As we got to the integration phase of
the project problems began to surface...

1) The recipe for getting the SWT browser
widget to work in a stand alone application on any given Linux distro is
complex (see http://www.eclipse.org/swt/faq.php#browserlinux).
2) Even though we think we are testing
with a supported recipes we are having problems:
        a)
Symptoms similar to bugzilla 108331 (which was supposed to have been fixed
in 3.2 and 3.1.1). Basically, it crashes when authentication is turned
on, runs OK when it is turned off.
        b)
The PDF viewer (acroread) crashes when using XULRunner (a component of
the recipe on most platforms).
3) Even on Windows we see that certain
problems are made worse by the SWT Browser Widget. The SWT Browser widget
does not gracefully handle exceptions propagated from _javascript_ (IE in
particular throws the 'unknown error' now and then just to see if you are
on your toes) throwing up a 'debug now?' dialog when it hits problems.

I think none of these are technically
insurmountable problems. Rodica is still working on getting a Linux recipe
to work reliably, and the others are probably setup/configuration issues
that can be worked out or around (For instance, I don't support the 'tooltips'
popups on IE since that was the source of the occasional 'unknown error'
exception).

The web application works just fine
in standalone browsers (With the usual caveats. We are only testing IE,
Mozilla, and Firefox. We will release a detailed list of what we tested
with.).

The question then is tactical:
        Go:
Do we hold the (already late) V0.3 release for another week or so while
we tinker with this stuff? Risk: uncertain outcome, we would have to have
weekly Go/NoGo calls, etc
        NoGo:
 Remove support for the SWT Browser Widget from V0.3 and just use
the web app standalone and move into IDVT testing ASAP? Risk: GUI integration
was a major theme for V0.3 so it's something of a defeat.

We can discuss this further at the Wednesday
Aperi Development Architecture/Design Meeting 8AM PDT:
Toll Free:        877-421-0040
Toll:        
       770-615-1256
Passcode:        800415
       

Dave Wolfe/Portland/IBM
(dwolfe@xxxxxxxxxx)
TL: 775-3376 Office: 503-578-3376 Personal: 503-329-3960

UI Technical Lead, Aperi Open Source Storage Management http://www.eclipse.org/aperi

"A good composer does not imitate; he steals." - Igor Stravinsky