[platform-ui-dev] GEF transition to use editorActions extension point

[Randy Hudson <hudsonr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

GEF currently provides a way for clients
to programmatically populate the toolbar and context menu.  But, we
don't do anything like merge contributions, etc., we just say "here,
you build it".

We would like to switch over to the
"platform" way of populating the menus and toolbars via plugin.xml.
 However, after talking to others who work with "real world"
Editors (as opposed to our Logic example), most Editors do not use the
platform method for contributing to actionbars. If GEF changed to use plugin.xml
as the way to add actions, many clients would not be able to maintain their
current functionality.

There is a variety of reasons for not
using the current platform mechanism, including:
- Action proxies are not resolved until
the user clicks on the Action.  This is unacceptable for toggle actions,
or actions which change their text/image dynamically.
- There is no way to add a Combobox
(or non-standard widget) to the Toolbar via plugin.xml (this has been discussed
peviously, I have a DCR to allow ActionContributionItem extension point
instead of Action)
- Developers didn't know about or understand
the filter mechanism, and thought that context menus could not be dynamic

Will any of these issues be resolved
for 2.1?

Thanks,
Randy Hudson
GEF Team