[eclipse-dev] summary of what's new in Eclipse 2.1 milestone M2 build

["Jim des Rivieres" <Jim_des_Rivieres@xxxxxxx>]

Here's a summary of new and noteworthy features in the recent Eclipse 2.1
milestone M2 build. A link to this summary has also been added to the M2
download page:
http://eclipsedrops.ott.oti.com/downloads/master/downloads/drops/S-M2-200210181211/index.php

Eclipse 2.1 M2 - New and Noteworthy


New and interesting things are starting to show up in builds as Eclipse 2.1
development efforts proceed with a full head of steam. Here are some of the
more noteworthy things available in milestone build M2 (October 18, 2002).
See the M2 build notes for details about bugs fixed and other changes.


Reminders in your code. The Java compiler will now create visible tasks
whenever it finds specially tagged comments in a Java source file.
Configure strings like "FIXME", "BOGUS", or "TODO:" as special task tags in
the Java compiler preference page (Java / Compiler / Extra Markers) to
automatically get tasks showing up in the Tasks view each time any of these
tags gets mentioned in source code.


Now where was I? Workbench editors now keep a navigation history. If  you
open a second editor while you're editing away, you can hit  ALT+LeftArrow
(Navigate > Backward, or the back arrow on the workbench toolbar) to get
back. Working with lots of open editors just got a whole lot easier.


What happened to Eclipse on the Mac OS X? It was there in M1, but
disappeared for M2. Rest assured, the situation is temporary while the
clipping and z-order code in SWT Mac gets completely reworked. Eclipse for
the Mac will reappear before M3.


Oodles of SWT snippets. The SWT team has published a collection of short
example code fragments that shed light on various aspects of SWT
programming. The catalog of snippets, and the recently updated FAQ, can be
found on the SWT Development Resources page.


Restoring deleted files from CVS. Deleted files can now be queried and
restored from the CVS repository using the Team > Restore from
Repository... command, which is available on CVS projects and folders.

CVS Quick Sync. A new "quick sync" action has been added to the CVS action
set. The action lets you select which CVS projects to synchronize. A new
button shows up in the CVS repository view, but you can customize your
workbench toolbar to place it within easy reach.


Easier to alter history. For people who like to shift an existing CVS tag
from one version to another, you can now do Tag with Existing in the CVS
resource history view.


CVS and external SSH tool users. The parameter format for an EXT connection
can now be specified on the EXT Connection Method preference page. The
parameter list can include variables for user, password, host, and port.
This is a welcome change if you need to talk to your CVS server with an
external Telnet/SSH client like PuTTY.


More flexible CVS checkouts. A new Checkout Into action lets you check out
a folder into an existing project. And a checked-out folder in a project
can be disconnected from CVS control so that it can be changed in or
deleted from a workspace without queuing up outgoing CVS changes. And CVS
projects can now be configured to not fetch absent directories on update.


Platform UI clears its backlog of P1 defects. For the first time in a long
time, the Platform UI component has no outstanding high priority (P1)
defects. The UI team says the P2s are next, and plan to have that backlog
cleared by milestone M3.


Stepping into selected subexpressions. While stepping through Java code in
the debugger, you can step into a particular method invocation expression
on the current line by highlighting the method name and executing Step Into
Selection in the editor pop-up (CTRL+F5).


Stepping into selected subexpressions. When stepping through complex Java
statement expressions like f(g(x),h(x)), you can step directly into one of
the method invocations expression by highlighting the method name and
executing Step Into Selection in the editor pop-up (CTRL+F5).


Who's waiting for whom? The Java debugger's new locks and monitors view
shows you which threads are holding which locks or waiting to acquire
others.


Instance breakpoints and watchpoints. The Java debugger now lets you set
breakpoints and watchpoints specific to a particular object.


Code assist for conditional breakpoints. Code assist now works when
entering the condition of a conditional breakpoint.


Forgetting to place new files under CVS version control. Performing a CVS
commit now pops up a dialog when there are new files not yet under to
version control, and asks you whether they should be added (or ignored).


Refactor > Inline Method inlines calls to a particular Java method, either
at a selected call site or everywhere a particular method is called.


Refactor > Change Signature lets you can change the signature of a method
to add or remove parameters, or change parameter or return types. These
changes are applied to the declaration of the method, anywhere the method
is overridden or implemented, and anywhere it is called.


Refactor > Use Supertype Where Possible replaces usages of a type with one
of its supertypes.


Refactor > Extract Constant creates a static final field from the selected
expression and substitutes a field reference, and optionally rewrites other
places where the same expression occurs.


Refactor > Extract Interface creates a new interface with a set of method
and makes the selected class implement the interface, optionally changing
references to the class to the new interface wherever possible.


Refactor > Move Inner Class to Top Level creates a new Java compilation
unit for the selected inner class, updating all references as needed. For
non-static inner classes, a field is added to allow access to the former
enclosing instance.


More Quick Fixes. Click the light bulb in the left margin of the Java
editor to get help with fixing compiler-detected problems, including:
instance variable used in a static context; abstract method in a
non-abstract type; unimplemented abstract methods; missing catch clauses
for uncaught exceptions; non-visible method, field, type, or import.


Scroll to the next method. Use CTRL+SHIFT+DownArrow (Edit > Move to Next
Member) and CTRL+SHIFT+UpArrow (Edit > Move to Previous Member) in the Java
editor to quickly navigate between member methods, fields, initializers,
and types.


Batch those Java model operations. Java model operations can now be batched
using the new API method JavaCore.run. At the end of the batch operation,
all changes are reported in a single Java element change event. Use this
new mechanism to prevent the UI from being immediately updated with each
step of a multi-step wizard or action.


Prefer to see static methods and fields grouped together? There is a new
preference page (Java / Compiler / Members Sort Order) for controlling the
sort order of various different kinds of members in Java views.


Smart typing in Java code. There is a new preference page (Java / Editor /
Behavior) for controlling automatic closing of parentheses, brackets,
strings, and comments, for smart wrapping of strings, and other helpful
Java-specific editor behavior.


Finding unseen constructor invocations. Searching for references to a Java
constructor now finds and reports implicit calls to the constructor as
well.


Do-it-yourself testing of Eclipse builds. Each time we build a new drop of
Eclipse, we run a suite of automated tests to ensure that it is functional.
The complete automated testing framework and test suites are now available
as a separate drop, so that you can run them locally from the command line
(see JUnit Plug-in Tests and Automated Testing Framework on the downloads
page).


Indeterminate progress widget. SWT's indeterminate progress widget is now
implemented natively on all platforms. This is good news for the
non-Windows platforms, which used to display something strikingly
Windows-like. Most Windows users won't notice anything different, although
you can see it on a skinned XP.


Running all unit tests. The JUnit test runner now gives you an easy way to
run all tests in a specified Java project, source folder, or package.


Running applets. The Run can be used to run an applet using the standard
Java applet launcher.


More errors detected on the fly. The Java editor now put the wavy red
underline (known colloquially as the "red sea") under all types of errors,
now including uncaught exceptions and unused variables, which require
detailed flow analysis.


Coming soon: user customizable key bindings. You may not see it yet, but
there has been work on SWT and the Platform UI to pave the way for user
customizable key bindings (one of our high priority items for Eclipse 2.1).
The payoff will start to show in M3.