platform ui R3.0 platform user interface

Overall 3.0 Plan
The 3.0 plan below is a proto plan and input from the community is very welcome. Last revised: Monday June 23, 2003.
	Overall Platform UI themes Improve the User Experience: Evolve the Eclipse user experience Improve UI scalability Improve initial user experience Aid ongoing learning Improve UI affordances (visual cues) Improve UI Responsiveness Rich Client Platform
	Evolve the Eclipse user experience New look / graphic design. Better integration with platform look and feel on non-Windows platforms. Lighter-weight dialogs and wizards. Floating toolbars and views. Transparency in floating toolbars and views. Invoking commands via mouse gestures.
	Improve UI scalability Investigate scalability problems in Eclipse and Eclipse-based products. Support scaling down the UI for specific user roles. Minimize the number of similar views and actions.
	Improve initial user experience Improved welcome page, tailored to user's role(s). Enable progressive exposure to features.
	Aid ongoing learning Apply welcome page, Tips & Tricks, and Help more effectively. Improve affordances (visual cues) indicating when help is available.
	Improve UI affordances Indicate when help is available, with action to access it. Indicate when editor is maximized, with action to toggle maximized state.
	Improve file encoding support Encodings contributed via extension point. Same encodings used in preferences and text editor.
	Improve keyboard support in secondary windows Key bindings currently work only in the main Eclipse window. They should also apply in secondary windows like dialogs, wizards, and floating views.
	Improve editor management The current mechanism for switching between editors using tabs does not scale to having many open editors. Implement an alternative mechanism for switching between editors that is scalable and stable, yet efficient. Perform user testing and iterate to improve the UI for editor switching. Allow the same file to be opened simultaneously in different editors.
	Allow editors to open files outside workspace Allow files outside the workspace to be opened in Eclipse. Allow this to be triggered by opening a file in the OS shell.
	Display HTML in a widget Allow the embedded HTML widget provided by SWT to be used in Workbench editors and views. Provide a preference page for configuring the HTML widget (proxies, etc.) Adapt the Welcome page to use the HTML widget.
	Improve workspace synchronization with file system Ensure that the Workbench updates properly when automatically synchronizing the workspace with the file system, without interrupting the user. Provide any preferences needed for configuring automatic synchronization.
	Content-type-based editor lookup Support a notion of content type for files and resources, and use this to drive decisions like which editor to use. Consolidate the several existing file-type registries in Eclipse. Allow different actions on a file for different content types.
	Improve support for opening workspaces Use a user-specific default workspace location more suitable for shared multi-user Eclipse installs. Facilitate switching between workspaces.
	Provide a general purpose navigator provide a more flexible, general purpose, extensible navigator infrastructure not specifically tied to Workspace allow content providers and related actions to be plugged in subsume the current Navigator, Package Explorer and various Navigator-like views in WSAD
	Improve UI Responsiveness Support concurrent activities such as background builds and searches. Establish quantitative UI responsiveness targets, verified by benchmarks.
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a rich client platform Rearchitect the Platform UI into "Workbench Proper" and "IDE Tooling" layers: The "Workbench Proper" layer defines all the general-purpose mechanisms in the current Workbench, but no concrete actions, views, preference pages, or other contributions built-in, and no dependencies on org.eclipse.core.resources. The "IDE Tooling" layer defines the concrete contributions that make up the current IDE Tooling aspect of the Platform UI, but contributed using only APIs from the Workbench Proper layer. The two layers will be implemented in separate plug-ins and will have separate install-time features. Applications can build directly on the Workbench Proper layer, and can ship without the IDE Tooling layer if they don't use it.
	Provide user settings Allow preferences and other settings to be associated with the user rather than the workspace. The same user preferences will apply across all workspaces opened by the user. Investigate shared/team preferences.
	Support adding and removing plug-ins dynamically Update the Workbench appropriately when contributions are added and removed due to plug-ins being dynamically added and removed. Ensure that the Workbench drops all references to plug-ins being removed.
	Allow plug-in deactivation Ensure that the Workbench drops all references to plug-ins being deactivated.
	Support product branding Allow products to customize the look and feel of Eclipse to convey a particular product or corporate brand. Allow plug-ins to be developed independently of a particular brand, enabling them to be used and integrated across different products.
	Accessibility (support for people with disabilities) Evaluate overall Eclipse SDK accessibility on GTK 2.2. Continue to interact with the community to determine the needs of people with disabilities. Fix problems as needed to make Eclipse accessible and to comply with Section 508 legislation.
	Improve action contributions Simplify the action contribution and command APIs and extension points.
	Improve UI guidelines Bring guidelines up to R2.1 level. Continue to evolve them concurrently for R3.0.
	Support logical resources Allow the Workbench to present and manipulate items in terms of logical resources. These may be represented by multiple underlying files (e.g. an Enterprise Bean) or by a portion of a file (e.g. a resource in an archive).

 

Next Milestone Plan (3.0 M7 : February 13, 2004)
	Tod M7 pre Eclipse Con (Due last week of Jan) Responsive UI (2 weeks) Feedback on background work (i.e. remove need for progress view) Respond to the following: Something changed in a background view Some error occurred in a background Job View is not valid, i.e. working View information; used be on the title bar Clippy behaviour? Do we need to consider some external single place for notification and information? M7 post eclipse con JFace Decorator performance improvements Bug fixing Enabling workbench (open resource dialog) for appropriate jobs Progress view (Stefan) Bug fixing UI usability tooling for generating/validating holes and stale activity references categories etc...
	Kim M7 pre Eclipse Con (Due last week of Jan) Scalability Work on the WSADIE concrete use case for this fix bugs resulting from this OOBE/Welcome experience do what is necessary for Dejans team in TO to be able to keep working on this, be involved in the design and direction need a startup hook instead of default perspective on open OSGI related needs Show all
	Deb M7 pre Eclipse Con (Due last week of Jan) OSGI Support Import and update Woodys code based on M6 Provide something for students on Jan 12 Establish scenarios we want to support Add a plug-in Update a plug-in Etc o Work with KH on common support across scalability and OSGI
	Chris New Look Work with New Look team providing weekly updates to new look based on feedback from usability and design teams
	Doug Performance and leak checking Minor key related bug fixes Preferences (in terms of Scalability) Expanded API for user preferences separate User and System preferences for export Improved import/export
	Nick Make the Workbench be dynamic-aware. Minimum support: allow plug-ins to be dynamically added. Investigate Lotus RCP M11, in particular: their changes to toolbars their changes to L&F (no view titlebars, limited layout customization) their support for themes (i.e. branding) Work with students on new RCP demo app, illustrating generic workbench and dynamic plug-ins.
	Stefan Test suite for new RCP APIs. Fill in holes in RCP API definition and implementation. Improve existing browser example, and release it as regular CVS project
	Other Items Commands [would like] Explicit Menus and toolbars extension defining them in terms of commands Action.setAccelerator() will not have meaning any more what about the type of actions + radio + checkbox etc… API for key bindings so that no more hardcoded key listeners Ctrl+shift problems on GTK (42009) Mac accelerators not drawn properly Parameterized handlers Styles for commands so menus can do the right thing with them
Next Milestone Plan (3.0 M5 : November 21, 2003)
	Overall goals for M5 Merge RCP stream into HEAD. Complete roles support (in terms of activities). Improve the user experience in the area of editor management. Prototype ideas for new look. Bring UI Guidelines up to 2.1 level.
	Key Dates R3.0 Milestone 5: November 21, 2003 Last day of development: November 17, 2003 Build/test/fix pass: November 18-21, 2003
	General Items inbox tracking testing bug fixing
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a Rich Client Platform Fine tuning split between Generic Workbench and IDE Workbench Expose CoolBarManager as API in JFace and use it in workbench configurer APIs Validate porting guide against downstream plug-ins in Eclipse SDK Fix up test harnesses (PDE JUnit and automated test harness) Fix up org.eclipse.ui.win32 plug-in Catch up to latest changes in HEAD, then merge into HEAD stream
	Improve UI Scalability Polish UI for roles Role management and activity management API design Content-based object contributions (e.g. actions targeting XML files)
	Improve Action Contributions Review existing bug reports against action contributions Investigate new API (both programmatic and XML) for improving contributions and contributing in terms of commands Investigate key bindings in dialogs
	Improve UI responsiveness Progress service API design and UI presentation API review Investigate how New Look affects the progress feedback
	Improve editor management Implement a drop-down control for switching between editors, as an alternative to the editor tabs
	Improve UI guidelines Circulate R2.1 level UI guidelines for review by product teams
	Instrumentation Instrument Eclipse to gather usability data about preferences, and use and customization of perspectives

Previous Milestone Plan (3.0 M4 : October 10, 2003)
	Overall goals for M4 Absorb team restructuring Complete the RCP refactoring. Demonstrate roles concept and start fleshing it out. Improve the user experience in the area of editor management. Bring UI Guidelines up to 2.1 level.
	Key Dates R3.0 Milestone 3: October 10, 2003 Last day of development: October 3, 2003 Build/test/fix pass: October 6-10, 2003
	General Items inbox tracking testing bug fixing
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a Rich Client Platform Complete refactoring into RCP and IDE layers Catch up to changes in HEAD stream Fix up test suites and examples Coordinate changes with Text team
	Improve UI Scalability Spike-through and demo of roles concept Investigate product-level configuration of visibility of actions and other contributions Role management API design Resolve notions of context vs. activity
	Improve Action Contributions API design and implementation of new commands infrastructure API design and implementation of new contexts mechanism Test suite for commands infrastructure (TBD) Test suite for contexts mechanism (TBD) Complete move to new key filter mechanism Resolve platform differences in key filter mechanism with SWT team Shortcuts on menus Key bindings in dialogs Programmatically executing commands (i.e. by id)
	Improve UI responsiveness Stability improvements to background job manager Moving slow features (e.g. Open Resource dialog) onto Job API
	Improve UI guidelines Bring guidelines up to R2.1 level
	Instrumentation Instrument Eclipse to gather usability data about preferences, and use and customization of perspectives
	General Purpose Navigator On hold - no activity

Previous Milestone Plan (3.0 M3 : August 29, 2003)
	Overall goals for M3 Make good progress on implementation of high risk, high impact plan items. Improve the user experience in the area of editor management. Bring UI Guidelines up to 2.1 level.
	Key Dates R3.0 Milestone 3: August 29, 2003 Last day of development: August 25, 2003 Build/test/fix pass: August 26-28, 2003
	General Items inbox tracking (6 days) testing (21 days) bug fixing (14 days)
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a rich client platform Complete initial cut of new application API, generic workbench implementation, and re-implementation of IDE in terms of them (10 days; target Aug. 1) Move all IDE-specific UI API and implementation into IDE-specific UI plug-ins (8 days; target Aug. 8) Post-operative restructuring workbench and IDE workbench internals (10 days) Write description of how to write applications (10 days) Complete proposal to make breaking changes (3 days) Complete porting guide chapters (2 days) Coordinate with restructuring of Help component (3 days) Coordinate with restructuring of Update component (1 day) Coordinate with restructuring of Text component (1 day) Catching up to changes in HEAD stream (3 days)
	Improve UI scalability API design and implementation of new commands infrastructure (TBD) Test suite for commands infrastructure (TBD) API design and implementation of new contexts mechanism (TBD) Test suite for commands infrastructure (TBD) Test suite for contexts mechanism (TBD) Investigate backwards compatibility (TBD) Proposal to make any breaking changes (TBD) Porting guide (TBD)
	General Purpose Navigator Complete design of Navigator (TBD) Make good progress on implementation of Navigator (TBD) Proposal to make (minor) breaking changes (TBD)
	Improve UI responsiveness Feature improvements to background job manager (5 days) Stability improvements to background job manager (5 days) Moving slow features (e.g. Tasks/Problems view update) onto Job API (10+ days)
	Improve editor management Implement a drop-down control for switching between editors, as an alternative to the editor tabs (7 days)
	Improve UI guidelines Bring guidelines up to R2.1 level (3 days)
	Absences vacation: 32 days

Previous Milestone Plan (3.0 M2 : July 18, 2003)
	Overall goals for M2 Reduce uncertainty through design work and prototyping on high risk, high impact plan items. Improve the user experience in the areas of editor management and perspective customization.
	General Items inbox tracking (14 days) testing (7 days) bug fixing (14 days)
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a rich client platform Detailed design of the Rich Client Platform (17 days)
	Improve UI scalability Prototype mechanisms for managing the progressive exposure of views and commands, independent of the perspective mechanism (8 days) Improvements to action architecture (7 days)
	General Purpose Navigator Detailed design of the general purpose Navigator view (19 days) Prototype incorporating the following (15 days): support for workspace structure (projects) old Navigator-like presentation of simple projects Package Explorer-like presentation of Java projects
	Improve UI responsiveness UI framework for background job manager and progress reporting (13 days) Preliminary UI for job progress indicator and details view (5 days)
	Improve editor management Implement a drop-down control for switching between editors, as an alternative to the editor tabs (7 days)
	Provide user settings Gathering requirements for user settings (3 days) Proposal for user settings (4 days)
	Improve perspective customization dialog Show menubar and toolbar location for items Show descriptions for items Improve organization of dialog (separate tabs for shortcuts and command sets) (5 days)
	Improve UI guidelines Bring guidelines up to R2.1 level (3 days)
	Absences vacation: 26 days

Previous Milestone Plan (3.0 M1 : June 6, 2003)
	General Items Working on PR backlog.
	Improve UI scalability Investigate opportunities for reducing the number of Navigator-like views in Eclipse-based products. Investigate opportunities to better exploit the Properties view. Prototype mechanisms for managing the progressive exposure of views and commands, independent of the perspective mechanism. Improvements to perspective customization dialog: show location, description, and categories for items.
	Improve UI responsiveness Investigate and prototype a background job manager. Support progress monitoring and status reporting of multiple background operations.
	Improve editor management Implement a drop-down control for switching between editors, as an alternative to the editor tabs.
	Enable Eclipse to be used as a rich client platform Proposal for splitting Platform UI into the "Workbench Proper" and "IDE Tooling" layers.

Legend
	item is under development.		item is under investigation.
	item is finished.	( )	item is time permitted.
[>3.0]	item is deferred.