[eclipse-pmc] Request for approval to deprecate org.eclipse.ui.cocoa.ful

[Brian de Alwis <briandealwis@xxxxxxxxx>]

In 4.2 we introduced a OS X-specific command to toggle full-screen called “org.eclipse.ui.cocoa.fullscreenWindow” (bug 376394), bound to Ctrl-Command-F.  In 4.6 we introduced a cross-platform command to toggle full-screen called “ org.eclipse.ui.window.fullscreenmode” (bugs 489087, 491572).  As a result, we have two “Toggle Full Screen” commands on OS X, and both appear in the Quick Access.  Both are functional, but it would be nice to consolidate to one command.

I would like to propose that we deprecate the OS X-specific command for 4.6 (bug  493930) and remove it in 4.7 (bug 493932).  Our documentation for deprecating and removing API doesn’t talk about commands, and the commands infrastructure doesn’t have any ability to mark a command as being deprecated.  One approach is:

• Add a note to the porting guide
• Post to cross-project-issues-dev and eclipse-dev

As the OS X specific command had a keybinding, it’s unlikely that it has been referenced by other applications.

Removing the command is a bit trickier as it was defined as an E4-level command and will be present in saved workbench.xmi files.  To remove the command:

• Make “org.eclipse.ui.window.fullscreenmode” an E4-level command
• Cause the CocoaUIProcessor, which runs on startup and previously ensured that “org.eclipse.ui.cocoa.fullscreenWindow” was created, to find and change all references to the “org.eclipse.ui.cocoa.fullscreenWindow” command to the “org.eclipse.ui.window.fullscreenmode” command.

An alternative might be to defer the deprecation to 4.7 and removal to 4.8, and add the ability to mark and report a command as being deprecated for 4.7.

Brian.