[dtp-dev] Common Navigator Debate

[brian.fitzpatrick@xxxxxxxxxx]

Hi all...

Over the last few weeks, an effort has
come up to create a new, shared view based on the Common Navigator Framework
that would consolidate information from the WTP Servers View and the DTP
Data Source Explorer in one place. 

The discussion has taken place for the
most part in the following two bugzilla entries:

        http://bugs.eclipse.org/245013
        http://bugs.eclipse.org/252239

The general consensus for the Eclipse
Galileo release seems to be that this would be an additional view that
might eventually be a view for all Eclipse projects to contribute server-related
operations/data to. For example, not only are WTP and DTP looking at this
shared view, but the RSE project is looking as well and there's been some
discussion of ECF or CVS-related contributions beyond that.

Not to get too bogged down in the technical
details, the goal is to present another option that would reduce the screen
real estate needed by similar and somewhat redundant views (i.e. isn't
a database server just a server?). As a goal, I'm behind this and DTP will
contribute resources to make sure we fit into this effort.

However, for the time being at least,
I'd like to see this shared view as an alternative, not a replacement,
for the Data Source Explorer -- at least through the Galileo release in
DTP-provided perspectives. 

There are some definite challenges,
such as usability (how do we enforce standards for root-level tree items,
menus, toolbars, etc.), CNF limitations, and so on. But I think this is
a worthwhile effort. 

I'm interested to hear from everyone
in the community to see what you think should happen here. Please let us
know on the mailing list or newsgroup.

Thanks!
--Fitz

Brian Fitzpatrick
Eclipse Data Tools Platform PMC Chair
Eclipse Data Tools Platform Connectivity Team Lead
Staff Software Engineer, Sybase, Inc.