[news.eclipse.platform.rcp] Re: databinding: jgoodies/swt vs. jface

[Brad Reynolds <bradleyjames@xxxxxxxxx>]

DISCLAIMER: I'm a  commmiter on the JFace Data Binding project.

I'm not going to try to talk you into JFace DB, just add a little more information to some of the previous comments.

The <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/JFace_Data_Binding_FAQ#When_will_version_1.0_be_released.3F";>FAQ</a> has details on when 1.0 will be released.  The idea is to have the API done by 3.3M4 but give ourselves until 3.3M5 in case something pops up.  3.3M4 should be usable.

The core API isn't aware of SWT or JFace.  It's meant to bind 2 attributes regardless of where the attributes live.  You also don't even have to use the bindings, you could just use observables as a common API for changes.  There are SWT and JFace implementations but the idea is that it's not just a GUI binding toolkit.  You can create observables and binding for any type of object.

> "jface db is more versatile"
This is one of the goals of the JFace DB project.  The API is very "Eclipse like" and we're careful when adding convenience to the API.  To see an example of a discussion on this topic see https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=147563.

>"jface db doesn't have a model. An arbitrary class can be made an observable model by implementing IObservable. "
Correct.  Support for java beans exists but you're model doesn't have to be a bean.  There are also implementations of IObservable that can be used as standalone models (e.g. WritableValue, WritableList, WritableSet, etc.).

>"A big downside for me is also that the docs are not great at the moment on the 3.2 release."
Highly agree.  We're going to be working on this for the 1.0 release.  If wanting to track the wiki changes see https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159820.

The current state is that the code is in a half refactored state.  After 3.3M3 is out the door the rest of the refactoring will occur and should be complete by 3.3M4.

One of the other factors I consider when evaluating a toolkit is the community.  I'm not commenting on the community for either toolkits, just stating that for me it would be part of the decision making process.

Good luck on your decision.  If you have any questions on JFace DB feel free to ask here.

-brad