[platform-releng-dev] checking for internal references

[Jim des Rivieres <Jim_des_Rivieres@xxxxxxxxxx>]

We have a tool that reports suspicious inter-plug-in references to classes 
in internal packages.

I'm proposing that we run this tool as a standard step in each build 
(takes < 1 minute to run) and post the results along with the build. Like 
the performance results, this step would be for infomation only; i.e., a 
less than clean check build would not fail the build. The information will 
allow everyone to see where we are breaking (bending ?) our own API rules, 
and motivate us to address them. 

For 3.1, we should make it our goal to come clean and use our APIs as we 
expect everyone else to. I realize that some of the cases that are 
currently being flagged incorrectly, particularly cases where a single 
component is split across multiple plug-ins (e.g, o.e.ui and 
o.e.ui.workbench). In time, we can eliminate these false positves by 
introducing a more sophisticated notion of which plug-ins make up a single 
component.

I'd like to see this new check turned on as soon as possible. Since some 
plug-ins/teams will be put in the spotlight once the checks start running, 
I thought I'd give everyone a chance to tidy up their houses before the TV 
crews arrive<g>, so I'm suggesting we turn it on after 3.1M4.

Let me know if you have concerns.

---jim

p.s. The tool is named "Internal" and can be found on the JDT Core team's 
development resources page.
Here's a sample of the kind of report it generates (the report dates back 
to the days of 2.1):
http://dev.eclipse.org/viewcvs/index.cgi/%7Echeckout%7E/jdt-core-home/tools/internal/examples/index.html