[wtp-dev] ModuleAssembler functional change advice

[Steven Curtis <sjcurt01@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've done a bit of reading regarding exploded EAR deployment and how
it relates to Eclipse publishing capabilities.  By exploded
deployment, I mean publishing an EAR by making a directory containing
all required resources available to the application server instead of
packaging the resources into an EAR file and then copying it to the
deployment directory of the application server.  Oracle's OC4J J2EE
container supports this type of deployment.

After examining the source of the
org.eclipse.jst.server.generic.core.internal.publishers package, I
propose adding a configuration option to the AntPublisher to allow for
the instantiation of a new type of ModuleAssembler that gathers all
the required resources into a directory structure, including any
participating WAR and EJB modules, and leaving all modules including
the root EAR application as directories instead of jaring them into
archive files.  Subsequent publishing would then require synchronizing
modified resources with existing files in the target deployment
directory.  Configuring deployment of the directory to the application
server would be left to the user, though this functionality could be
incorporated into the org.eclipse.jst.server.generic.oc4j package at a
later time.

I've never done any serious Eclipse plugin development and I hope this
proposal doesn't sound too sophomoric, but I would appreciate any
comments or suggestions related to this proposal.  e.g. whether or not
one person would be capable of its implementation, if it duplicates
efforts already underway, if the proposed functionality is too
specific to be included in the WTP project, etc.

Thanks,
Steven Curtis