Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Buckminster 3.6 New & Noteworthy

The Helios release of Buckminster has the following new and noteworthy features available in 3.6M7

  • Support for Git - uses, updates, or clones git repository as needed
  • Headless JUnit and EclEmma (code coverage) support
  • Comprehensive documentation available - introduction, examples, and reference. Download PDF, 250 pages, includes descriptions of the new features described here.
  • Graphical dependency visualizer - resolutions can be viewed and navigated/filtered with a Zest based viewer
  • Much improved target platform support - using new features in PDE to automatically manage/materialize target platform config
  • Provisioning and management of API baseline
  • New EMF based editors for MSPEC and RMAP - much easier to use than editing XML
  • Reader type for Project Set (.psf) files - makes it easy to integrate or migrate projects that are using .psf files to describe where the source is
  • p2 repository size reduction to 1/3 using improved pack200 support
  • OmniVersion support - the support for non OSGi version has been changed to use the p2 OmniVersion implementation for increased flexibility - backwards compatible with Buckminster version-type, version scheme used in earlier versions.
  • Qualifier generator using Build Identifier - use a property to control the content of a version qualifier
  • LDAP style filters on RMAP providers, CQUERY advisors, and MSPEC nodes - makes it possible to parameterize more things, reduces the need for multiple slightly different copies of these files.
  • Smart version range generation for feature 'includes' - heuristics result in natural choices
  • Support for category.xml files - the new PDE mechanism for categorizing result in p2 repository is supported
  • Headless 'install JRE' support
  • Better defaults often renders the MSEPC unnecessary - automatic materialization to Target Platform for binaries often removes the need to use a MSPEC.
  • Using new p2 API, p2 'pure' reader, and using separate p2 agent - reduces risk of contamination of the running instance's p2 data.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello,

can you provide a link to the new Version of Buckminster, especially to the comprehensive dokumentation you mentioned in your blog.

Many thanks in advance and for your work on Buckminster! :-)

best regards

Henrik Lindberg said...

Buckminster's page on Eclipse is http://www.eclipse.org/buckminster/

Clicking on Documentation takes you to http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/tools/buckminster/doc/BuckyBook.pdf which is always the latest version.

Clicking on Download takes you to the download page http://www.eclipse.org/buckminster/downloads.html which always has the latest download instructions (update sites etc.)

Lars Vogel said...

Many thanks for these enhancements. I personally like the git and "install jre" option