[eclipse-dev] Extension point schema transition

[dejan@xxxxxxxxxx]

We are slowly closing on the transition to extension point schemas. Most of
the teams assumed ownership of their files or are almost done. Any of you
that didn't do it yes, please do so soon.

PDE team has written an Ant task that generates reference documentation
from schemas. I checked the last nightly build (20030125N) and the docs
look good i.e. normal. Therefore, you can now safely delete your doc/
directory from your plug-ins. The code that generates the docs is the same
that generates the preview in schema editor. If the doc looks good in the
preview, it will be good in the build. If you set you schemas for automatic
doc generation, you can turn the generation off now, but leave the PDE
nature because we will turn the validation on in the next integration
build.

If you use an old workspace, you will need to enable validation yourself.
Just go to PDE Preferences->Compilers and switch all 'Ignore' levels to
'Warning'. For each warning you get, check with the declaring extension
point document. If you are using wrong or obsolete elements or attributes,
fix your code. If you are using the correct attribute or element but the
schema/doc appears to be wrong, open a defect against the team that owns
the extension point. These warnings are benign - they are just a result of
validation, and you will still be able to work as usual. However, you may
catch some stale code that way.

In paralel to validation, we will remove the 'safety net' in PDE i.e. there
will be no schemas in PDE to fill in the missing ones in your plugins. We
will test all the extension points and open defects for those that are
missing schemas.

Regards,

Dejan Glozic, Ph.D.
Manager, Eclipse Platform Components
D2/MY7/8200/MKM
IBM Canada Ltd.
Tel. 905 413-2745  T/L 969-2745
Fax. 905 413-4854