The release deliverables have the same form as previous releases, namely:
- Source code release for all Equinox Project deliverables, available as versions tagged "R3_7" in the Equinox Project CVS repository.
- Framework:
- An OSGi R4.3 Core Framework implementation
- Native launcher and splash screen support
- Compendium Services:
- Application Container - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Application Container service.
- Config Admin - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Configuration Admin service.
- Coordinator - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Coordinator service.
- Device Access Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Device Access service.
- Declarative Services - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Declarative Services specification.
- Event Admin Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Event Admin Service.
- HTTP Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 HTTP service.
- HTTP Servlet - Generic support for exposing another servlet facility (e.g., an underlying application server) as an OSGi HTTP service.
- IO Connector Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 IO Connector Service.
- Initial Provisioning - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Initial Provisioning.
- Log Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Log service.
- Metatype Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Metatype service.
- Preferences Service - The Eclipse preference service is an extension of the standard OSGi preference service that adds listeners and the notion of preference scopes.
- User Admin Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 User Admin Service.
- Wire Admin Service - An implementation of the OSGi R4.3 Wire Admin Service.
- p2
- Command line application to mirror repositories.
- Command line application to manage (install / uninstall / update) an eclipse install.
- UI to manage an eclipse installation from within eclipse.
- API to programmatically interact with p2.
- Component model
- Eclipse Extension Registry - The Eclipse extension registry allows bundles to communicate and cooperate using declarative markup and lazy instantiation.
- Equinox Transforms - A framework to provide transformations of bundle resources.
- Security
- Equinox Secure Storage
- Certificate Trust Engine - API for to managing trusted certificates
- Server Side
- HTTP Registry - Support for registering servlets, resources and JSPs via the Eclipse extension registry rather than using the code based OSGi registration mechanisms.
- JSP Registry - Provides a JSP Factory that allows JSP usage with the HTTP Registry.
- Servlet Bridge - Low level hook servlet installed in an existing traditional application server. This servlet launches an embedded Equinox and enables it to handle incoming HTTP requests originally sent to the underlying server.
- HTTP Jetty - A thin layer that exposes an embedded Jetty server as a compliant OSGi HTTP service.
- Weaving
- Equinox Weaving - Support for weaving aspects at runtime.
Compatibility of Release 3.7 with 3.6
Equinox 3.7 will be compatible with Equinox 3.6 (and all earlier 3.x versions).
API Contract Compatibility: Equinox 3.7 will be upwards contract-compatible with Equinox 3.6 except in those areas noted in the Eclipse 3.7 Plug-in Migration Guide. Programs that use affected APIs and extension points will need to be ported to Equinox 3.7 APIs. Downward contract compatibility is not supported. There is no guarantee that compliance with Equinox 3.7 APIs would ensure compliance with Equinox 3.6 APIs. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain contract compatibility.
Binary (plug-in) Compatibility: Equinox 3.7 will be upwards binary-compatible with Equinox 3.6 except in those areas noted in the Eclipse 3.7 Plug-in Migration Guide. Downward plug-in compatibility is not supported. Plug-ins for Equinox 3.7 will not be usable in Equinox 3.6. Refer to Evolving Java-based APIs for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that maintain binary compatibility.
Source Compatibility: Equinox 3.7 will be upwards source-compatible with Equinox 3.6 except in the areas noted in the Eclipse 3.7 Plug-in Migration Guide. This means that source files written to use Equinox 3.6 APIs might successfully compile and run against Equinox 3.7 APIs, although this is not guaranteed. Downward source compatibility is not supported. If source files use new Equinox APIs, they will not be usable with an earlier version of Equinox.
Workspace Compatibility: Equinox 3.7 will be upwards workspace-compatible with earlier 3.x versions of the Equinox unless noted. This means that workspaces and projects created with Equinox 3.6 .. 3.0 can be successfully opened by Equinox 3.7 and upgraded to a 3.7 workspace. This includes both hidden metadata, which is localized to a particular workspace, as well as metadata files found within a workspace project (e.g., the .project file), which may propagate between workspaces via file copying or team repositories. Individual plug-ins developed for Eclipse SDK 3.7 should provide similar upwards compatibility for their hidden and visible workspace metadata created by earlier versions; 3.7 plug-in developers are responsible for ensuring that their plug-ins recognize metadata from earlier versions and process it appropriately. User interface session state may be discarded when a workspace is upgraded. Downward workspace compatibility is not supported. A workspace created (or opened) by a product based on Eclipse 3.7 will be unusable with a product based on an earlier version of Eclipse. Visible metadata files created (or overwritten) by Eclipse 3.7 will generally be unusable with earlier versions of Eclipse.
Non-compliant usage of API's: All non-API methods and classes, and certainly everything in a package with "internal" in its name or exported with the x-internal directive, are considered implementation details which may vary between operating environment and are subject to change without notice. Client plug-ins that directly depend on anything other than what is specified in the Equinox API are inherently unsupportable and receive no guarantees about compatibility within a single release much less with earlier releases. Refer to How to Use the Eclipse API for information about how to write compliant plug-ins.
The Equinox SDK is designed as the basis for internationalized products. The user interface elements provided by the Equinox components, including dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings are provided as the default resource bundles.
Latin-1 and DBCS locales are supported by the Equinox on all reference platforms; BIDI locales are supported by the Equinox everywhere but on Motif.
The Equinox supports GB 18030 (level 1), the Chinese code page standard, on Windows XP and 2000, Linux/GTK and the Macintosh.
German and Japanese locales are tested.
In order to remain current, each Equinox Project release targets reasonably current operating environments.
Most of Equinox is "pure" Java code and has no direct dependence on the underlying operating system. The chief dependence is therefore on the Java Platform itself. Portions are targeted to specific classes of operating environments, requiring their source code to only reference facilities available in particular class libraries (e.g. J2ME Foundation 1.1, J2SE 1.4, Java 5, etc).
In general, the 3.7 release of the Equinox Project is developed on a mix of Java 1.4, SE 5 and Java SE 6 VMs. As such, the Equinox SDK as a whole is targeted at all modern, desktop Java VMs. Most functionality is available for 1.4 level development everywhere, and extended development capabilities are made available on the VMs that support them.
Appendix 1 contains a table that indicates the class library level required for each bundle.
There are many different implementations of the Java Platform running atop a variety of operating systems. We focus our testing on a handful of popular combinations of operating system and Java Platform; these are our reference platforms. Equinox undoubtedly runs fine in many operating environments beyond the reference platforms we test. However, since we do not systematically test them we cannot vouch for them. Problems encountered when running Equinox on a non-reference platform that cannot be recreated on any reference platform will be given lower priority than problems with running Eclipse on a reference platform.
Equinox 3.7 is tested and validated on the following reference platforms (this list is updated over the course of the release cycle):
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IBM Java 6 SR8 Win32x86 64-bitVistax86 32-bitx86 64-bitXPx86 32-bitx86 64-bitRed Hat Enterprise Linux5.0x86 32-bitSun Java 6 Update 17
IBM Java 6 SR8 GTKPower 64-bitIBM Java 6 SR84.0x86 64-bitSun Java 6 Update 17
IBM Java 6 SR8 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server11x86 32-bitSun Java 6 Update 17
IBM Java 6 SR8 GTKx86 64-bitPower 64-bitIBM Java 6 SR8Ubuntu Long Term Support10.04x86 32-bitSun Java 6 Update 17
IBM Java 6 SR8 GTKx86 64-bitSun Solaris10x86 32-bitSun Java 6 Update 17GTKSPARC 32-bitHP-UX11i v2ia64 32-bitHP-UX Java 5 Update 18Motif 2.1IBM AIX5.3 Power 64-bitIBM Java 6 SR8 GTKApple Mac OS X 10.6Universal Apple Java 10.6 Update 2CarbonUniversal 32-bitCocoaUniversal 64-bit
As stated above, we expect that Equinox works fine on other current Java VM and OS versions but we cannot flag these as reference platforms without significant community support for testing them.
Scalability and Performance
New usage scenarios for Equinox require it to be faster, smaller, bigger, ... The technology needs to scale up or down to allow Equinox to scale down to small embedded environments as well as scaling up to large server environments. Monitor overall performance and memory consumption which includes the addition of new performance tests for new features.
Robustness
As the basis for the entire Eclipse eco-system, Equinox must be robust, flexible and secure. This work will address those issues by providing API for missing or currently internal functionality, and focusing on the issues that affect the stability of the platform.
Consumability
This work will make it easier for users to get Equinox, install it on their systems, and configure it for their use. It also covers work related to error handling and reporting mechanisms.
Future
Eclipse is evolving quickly. New features in the next OSGi specification and e4 will drive numerous changes throughout the Equinox project. Considerable effort will be put into updating Equinox to accomodate and exploit these new scenarios.