Release Date
Deliverables
The release deliverables are:
- MPC source code for the release is available in the eclipse.org Git repositories.
- MPC runtime binaries and source bundles (on eclipse.org update sites and as download archive).
MPC 1.4.0 source code will be available as versions tagged "R1_4_0" in the project's Git repository.
Compatibility
- REST API Compatibility: Release 1.4 will be backward compatible with previous versions of the Marketplace REST API
- Compatibility with Previous Releases: All public API will be compatible with previous releases. Additional public API will be provided. A best effort is made to keep internal API, specifically Marketplace data model and REST services compatible, but minor changes are to be expected.
Internationalization
The user interface elements provided by the Marketplace Client components, including dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings are provided as the default resource bundles.
The content of the Marketplace itself is English. No plans for internationalization in this release.
Target Environments
Release 1.4 will be compatible with Eclipse 4.5 on all operating systems supported by the EPP packages.
| Name | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M7 | 2015/05/08 | Feature completion, will be available in Mars M7. |
| RC1 | 2015/05/22 | <p> Response to community feedback and updates to documentation </p><p> <a name="rampdown"></a><strong>Ramp Down:</strong> After RC1 is released, builds will be produced weekly until the final 1.4 release. In the RC phase only bugs marked P1 or higher or severity major or higher will be fixed. APIs will not change except to address critical fixes requiring approval of at least two committers. </p> |
| RC2 | 2015/05/29 | Release Candidate |
| RC3 | 2015/06/05 | Release Candidate |
| RC4 | 2015/06/12 | Release Candidate |
| Final Release | 2015/06/24 | Release 1.4 |
Themes
Present solutions relevant to current Eclipse environment
A major concern for Mars will be to present more relevant solutions and less clutter to the user. This means showing only entries that are compatible with the current Eclipse environment as well as providing ways to target different Eclipse releases with different releases of a solution in a single Marketplace entry, getting rid of the prevailing "Solution for Kepler", "Solution for Luna" and so on. We will also make it easier to find new plug-ins that users might also be interested in with a new "Recommendations" tab and an easier way to browse solutions by company.
- Filtering of incompatible solutions and management of multiple releases per solution entry will be implemented on the Marketplace server, returning an already filtered list to the MPC, with MPC providing automated testing. For details, see the umbrella bug 418865, as well as bug 418864 for the filtering and bug 385883 for multiple releases per entry.
- A new "Recommendations" tab will list related plug-ins based on what's currently installed in the user's Eclipse. For starters, this will include promoted solutions as well as solutions by authors from whom the user already has a plug-in installed. See bug 453243 for details.
- Making the company a navigable link in MPC, as it is on the Marketplace website already, allows for easier browsing by company. See bug 453246 for details.
Better installation management
Another major concern for this release will be to improve the installation of new solutions as well as the management of already installed ones. This includes better support for multi-feature solutions with optional and required parts, as well as the possibility to manage optional parts more easily later on. It also includes support for a more accurate way to determine installed solutions coming from other sources (like plain update sites or standard Eclipse packages) by listing Marketplace entries in P2 metadata.
Performance improvements
Loading and displaying of solution lists in the MPC is often slow in relation to the amount of data retrieved from the marketplace server and other online sources, leading to a bad user experience, especially for users on slow connections. We will try to identify performance issues in the client itself as well as the REST server and improve found bottlenecks.
- MPC performance issues are tracked in bug 413871
Bugfixing
Last but not least, a number of known issues will be addressed and the new bug reporting and UI freeze facilities will be monitored to react to new issues in Mars early on.
This release is part of Mars