Commercial Plug-ins for Eclipse: A Field Report on Avoiding Development Pitfalls

By Caroline Buck	Article Rating:
April 5, 2006 04:15 PM EDT	Reads:	32,033

As we enter 2006, there’s nothing stopping the spread of Eclipse, the open source development environment. The steadily growing number of free and commercial plug-ins available attests to its success. It’s now time to report on our experiences in developing the visual rules plug-in for Eclipse. Caroline Buck (pictured) shows you how to steer clear of the pitfalls in development.

The core idea of Innovations rule technology consists of two components: the graphical modeling of business logic and the generation of executable program code from the models. At the end of 2002 we decided to redesign our rule system. It was quickly apparent that the existing Java applications for modeling and for code generation should become an Eclipse plug-in or a whole range of Eclipse plug-ins.

Experiences with the more monolithic architecture components up to that time led us to the following realization: The new product must be based on a foundation that is above all easy to extend. In addition, our customer projects showed that the tool had already found favor on the part of users with little programming know-how. However, the product was seen less as a software development tool, although we ourselves used it as one. At the same time Eclipse had long become established as the Java development environment at Innovations. The implementation of our rule technology as a module for this attractive IDE practically thrust itself upon us.

A new name for the business logic tool was quickly found: visual rules. At the beginning of product development considerations were made on how to best split up the plug-ins from which visual rules was to be composed. Because the Eclipse platform itself makes excessive use of its plug-in concept, it offered a very good orientation guide on segmentation.

CIO, CTO & Developer Resources

Plug-in	Description
de.innovations.visualrules.builder.java_0.9.2.jar	Java code generator UI components, e.g. properties
de.innovations.visualrules.builder_1.0.0.jar	Abstract code generator
de.innovations.visualrules.core_1.0.0.jar	Basic functionalities, EMF models
de.innovations.visualrules.doc_1.0.0.jar	Online help
de.innovations.visualrules.examples_1.0.0.jar	Ready-made rule set examples
de.innovations.visualrules.launcher.java.test_0.9.2.jar	Launcher
de.innovations.visualrules.monitor_0.9.2.jar	Monitoring
de.innovations.visualrules.ui_1.0.0.jar	Interfaces such as Rulet Editor and Rule Tree Editor
de.innovations.visualrules_1.0.0.jar	Product design (branding) such as splash screen, licensing information
de.innovations.visualrules.xalan_1.0.0.jar	Third-party software: XML parser

Table 1: visual rules 1.0 plug-ins

The first release of visual rules for Eclipse 2.1 from January 2004 consisted of ten plug-ins (see Table 1), bundled into one feature. 21 months or approx. six person years later the current product version contains 48 plug-ins split across four features. The base is formed by the graphical modeling client. Extra features are the Java code generator, the COBOL code generator and DB Connectivity for direct database access from rule sets.

Ideally, each feature can be installed separately from the others. However, dependencies with one another cannot always be avoided. Thus, the DB Connectivity extension for the visual rules platform, for example, requires the Java code generator. These dependencies (version and name of required plug-ins and features plus Eclipse platform) are declared in the feature manifest, which is then interpreted by Eclipse to support installation.

Common Code Base?
The Eclipse runtime underwent a paradigm change in the transition from version 2.1 to 3.0. The OSGi framework specification R3.0 was implemented. Parts of the Public API have changed in version 3.0. Version 3.0 contains a compatibility layer to give plug-ins written for the 2.1 API the ability to run. However, for better performance and extra functionality it is strongly recommended that makers of plug-ins wean themselves as soon as possible from dependency on the compatibility layer.

This is why we didn’t even attempt to create a common code base for the visual rules plug-in for Eclipse 2.1 and the current 3.x versions. There were just too many dependencies, especially to the org.eclipse.ui plug-in. This is why a redesign of the central rule data definition editor was carried out during visual rules plug-in migration. We replaced this editor with a special visual rules Navigator. This new view is based on the Resource Navigator and displays – similar to the JDT Package Explorer – all project settings and items as a tree. All rule project settings can also be edited here.

A major release was issued at the end of development and the version number jumped from 1.x to 3.0. Currently the version numbers of our plug-ins and Eclipse in sync.

Figure 1: Segmentation of the Debugger plug-in

Our current code base supports both Eclipse 3.0 and 3.1. Each plug-in now has “internal” packages containing all classes that may only be called within the plug-in (Internal API) (Figure 1). Starting with Eclipse 3.1 internal packages are automatically hidden. This mechanism requires strict conformance to recommended naming conventions.

See next page for What Makes a Good Plug-in?| Tips & Tricks | Future Outlook

2 NEXT PAGE »

Published April 5, 2006 Reads 32,033
Copyright © 2006 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.

More Stories By Caroline Buck

After gaining seven years of application development experience in the industry and service sector, at Innovations Softwaretechnologie GmbH, Caroline Buck is now responsible for technology marketing of the visual rules Eclipse plug-in.
She completed her studies of Information Management at the University of Cooperative Education Ravensburg in 1997. She has spoken at various academic events and at CeBIT on topics concerning information distribution and business rules.

IoT & Smart Cities Stories

Moroccanoil Introduces New Mask Collection

By Zakia Bouachraoui

Moroccanoil®, the global leader in oil-infused beauty, is thrilled to announce the NEW Moroccanoil Color Depositing Masks, a collection of dual-benefit hair masks that deposit pure pigments while providing the treatment benefits of a deep conditioning mask. The collection consists of seven curated shades for commitment-free, beautifully-colored hair that looks and feels healthy.

Sep. 6, 2019 09:00 AM EDT

ZMcare Miami Argan Oil Revolutionizes Beauty Marketplace

By Zakia Bouachraoui

The textured-hair category is inarguably the hottest in the haircare space today. This has been driven by the proliferation of founder brands started by curly and coily consumers and savvy consumers who increasingly want products specifically for their texture type. This trend is underscored by the latest insights from NaturallyCurly's 2018 TextureTrends report, released today. According to the 2018 TextureTrends Report, more than 80 percent of women with curly and coily hair say they purcha...

Sep. 5, 2019 07:00 PM EDT

Argan Oil and Shea Butter Are the Most Sought-after ingredients

By Zakia Bouachraoui

Sep. 4, 2019 11:15 PM EDT

Rare Prickly Pear Seed Oil by Stealth Startup ZMcare Miami

By Zakia Bouachraoui

We all love the many benefits of natural plant oils, used as a deap treatment before shampooing, at home or at the beach, but is there an all-in-one solution for everyday intensive nutrition and modern styling?I am passionate about the benefits of natural extracts with tried-and-tested results, which I have used to develop my own brand (lemon for its acid ph, wheat germ for its fortifying action…). I wanted a product which combined caring and styling effects, and which could be used after shampo...

Sep. 4, 2019 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 311

Singtel to Exhibit at CloudEXPO Silicon Valley

By Elizabeth White

The platform combines the strengths of Singtel's extensive, intelligent network capabilities with Microsoft's cloud expertise to create a unique solution that sets new standards for IoT applications," said Mr Diomedes Kastanis, Head of IoT at Singtel. "Our solution provides speed, transparency and flexibility, paving the way for a more pervasive use of IoT to accelerate enterprises' digitalisation efforts. AI-powered intelligent connectivity over Microsoft Azure will be the fastest connected pat...

Jul. 1, 2019 07:30 AM EDT

Announcing AISERA to Exhibit at CloudEXPO Silicon Valley

By Zakia Bouachraoui

There are many examples of disruption in consumer space – Uber disrupting the cab industry, Airbnb disrupting the hospitality industry and so on; but have you wondered who is disrupting support and operations? AISERA helps make businesses and customers successful by offering consumer-like user experience for support and operations. We have built the world’s first AI-driven IT / HR / Cloud / Customer Support and Operations solution.

Jun. 27, 2019 08:00 AM EDT

Codete to Exhibit at CloudEXPO Silicon Valley

By Pat Romanski

Codete accelerates their clients growth through technological expertise and experience. Codite team works with organizations to meet the challenges that digitalization presents. Their clients include digital start-ups as well as established enterprises in the IT industry. To stay competitive in a highly innovative IT industry, strong R&D; departments and bold spin-off initiatives is a must. Codete Data Science and Software Architects teams help corporate clients to stay up to date with the mod...

Jun. 24, 2019 06:00 AM EDT

Sponsorship and Speaking Opportunities at CloudEXPO Silicon Valley

By Zakia Bouachraoui

At CloudEXPO Silicon Valley, June 24-26, 2019, Digital Transformation (DX) is a major focus with expanded DevOpsSUMMIT and FinTechEXPO programs within the DXWorldEXPO agenda. Successful transformation requires a laser focus on being data-driven and on using all the tools available that enable transformation if they plan to survive over the long term. A total of 88% of Fortune 500 companies from a generation ago are now out of business. Only 12% still survive. Similar percentages are found throug...

Jun. 17, 2019 01:00 PM EDT

Druva Named Technology Sponsor of CloudEXPO Silicon Valley

By Pat Romanski

Druva is the global leader in Cloud Data Protection and Management, delivering the industry's first data management-as-a-service solution that aggregates data from endpoints, servers and cloud applications and leverages the public cloud to offer a single pane of glass to enable data protection, governance and intelligence-dramatically increasing the availability and visibility of business critical information, while reducing the risk, cost and complexity of managing and protecting it. Druva's...

Jun. 15, 2019 08:15 PM EDT

BMC Named "Gold Sponsor" of CloudEXPO

By Pat Romanski

BMC has unmatched experience in IT management, supporting 92 of the Forbes Global 100, and earning recognition as an ITSM Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for five years running. Our solutions offer speed, agility, and efficiency to tackle business challenges in the areas of service management, automation, operations, and the mainframe.

Jun. 15, 2019 01:00 PM EDT