| [wtp-dev] Java EE 5 projects support contribution by SAP |
Hello,
As you may remember, about two months ago, we suggested to implement support for Java EE 5 projects in WTP. Bug 149007 [1] was created to track the request.
Since that time we have gained better in-depth knowledge of the WTP codebase. We saw that the changes needed are much bigger than we have expected at the beginning. Because the changes are quite significant for maintenance release, this led us to the decision to give up the contribution for the R1.5.x maintenance codeline, but work only for the R2.0 development codeline.
What we have now is modifications of the WTP plugin that add support for Java EE 5 project. The support is not still full, but it is on a stage already working and useful. Features added by the patch follow:
* New version constants for Java EE 5. Version conversion tools are also updated.
* New facet version for Java EE 5 projects: web 2.5, ejb 3.0, ear 5, etc.
* New Project wizards are updated to allow creation of Java EE 5 projects.
* Java EE 5 projects are created with deployment descriptors xml files that refer to the new Java EE 5 xml schemas for validation.
* New icons (showing the newer version) for the deployment descriptors node in the j2ee navigator view.
* The Xdoclet is disabled for EJB 3.0 projects. This is because Java 5 annotations are used.
* Import and Export for Java EE 5 projects.
Known limitation:
* Appclient 5 projects are not yet supported.
* Web and Ejb projects still create web.xml and ejb-jar.xml although this is not required. However this does not conflict with the Java EE 5 specification.
* The model is not updated to recognize metadata annotations in the source code. As in J2EE 1.4 project the model only recognizes the project elements in the deployment descriptor. However, this does not affect the correct deployment of projects that use metadata annotations.
* The children of deployment descriptor node for EJB 3.0 are removed. This is to avoid frustration for the user who annotates a bean and does not see it appearing under the deployment descriptor node in the j2ee navigator view.
* The Java EE 5 has basic metadata annotations support provided by JDT tools (without additional WTP features as wizards, code-completion, etc.).
We have tested the implementation against our SAP-specific runtime target - the j2ee application server in the SAP NetWeaver platform. We have not the opportunity to test against other Java EE 5 runtime targets, because there are not any implemented yet.
We have also run j2ee automatic tests against our implementation. We also updated the tests where appropriate to test Java EE 5 functionality. Patch will be provided as well.
We think that our changes are good base for adding support for Java EE 5 projects in WTP 2.0. Moreover, they touch some important aspects of the WTP 2.0 Plan [2]:
* investigate: import a JEE5 project (help wanted)
* investigate: export/publish a JEE5 project (help wanted)
* validate a JEE5 project (help wanted)
I am going to close the feature requests for the R1.5.x contribution and create a new one for R2.0 with the patch attached there. But first we want to have discussion with WTP J2EE developers about the topic via telecon meeting. Is it possible to use the status telecon [3] tomorrow? I see that it has not been held for the last 2-3 weeks. If not possible, then may be the pmc call on Tuesday?
[1] https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=149007
[2] http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php?title=Web_Tools_Requirements_2.0#J2EE_Standard_Tools
[3] http://www.eclipse.org/webtools/development/status-telecons/
Greetings,
Kaloyan Raev
Senior Developer
NW AS JS TOOLS JEE (BG)
SAP Labs Bulgaria
T +359/2/9157-416
mailto:kaloyan.raev@xxxxxxx
www.sap.com