NetBeans Architecture Answers for Java SE Platforms and Libraries module

General Information

Question (arch-what): What is this project good for?
Answer:

Defines the Java platform type for J2SE (plain JDKs), and the plain Java library type. UI specifications:

1. J2SE-specific portion of Java Platform Manager.

2. Class-library-specific portion of Library Manager.

Question (arch-overall): Describe the overall architecture.
Answer:

Provides implementations of the Java platform SPI and the project library SPI.

J2SEPlatformCreator - API to register a JDK and these SPI - (service provide interfaces) for JDK sources and JavaDoc .

Defines some formats:

• platformdefinition.dtd -

  Definition of XML format for J2SE platform type (i.e. a JDK).

• library-volume-types -

  The library type provider defines three volume types:

  1. classpath
  2. src
  3. javadoc
  4. maven-pom - Added for 6.0 beta1 to allow maven projects to recognize the library content.

  The actual definition of the XML syntax is controlled by the Project Libraries API.

Question (arch-usecases): Describe the main use cases of the new API. Who will use it under what circumstances? What kind of code would typically need to be written to use the module?
Answer:

The UI specifications describe the module in proper context.

Question (arch-time): What are the time estimates of the work?
Answer:

Essentially done.

Question (arch-quality): How will the quality of your code be tested and how are future regressions going to be prevented?
Answer:

There is some unit test coverage.

Question (arch-where): Where one can find sources for your module?
WARNING: Question with id="arch-where" has not been answered!

Project and platform dependencies

Question (dep-nb): What other NetBeans projects and modules does this one depend on?
Answer:
• JavaSupportAPIs -

  Used to define classpath, etc.

• ProjectLibrariesAPI -

  Implements this SPI.

• JavaPlatformAPI -

  Implements this SPI.

• AntProjectAPI -

  Used to update ${netbeans.user}/build.properties with the current list of libraries and platforms.

• ProjectAPI -

  Just used for ProjectManager.mutex().

• Datasystems -

  Used for settings storage.

• Filesystems -

  Used for various purposes.

• Wizards -

  Implementation of the J2SE platform autodetection wizard.

org.netbeans.modules.java.j2seplatform.api.API_Ask_attachSourcesQuestion -

Controls interaction when sources are about to be attached to a Classpath root, in SourceJavadocAttacherImplementation provided by this module. By setting API_Ask_attachSourcesQuestion key in org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seplatform/api/Bundle.properties one can control the function:

• no will disable the attachers. No source/javadoc will be attached, and no user interaction will be started.
• yes will permit the registered SourceJavadocAttacherImplementation.Definer to attach an appropriate resource(s). User interaction will be skipped
• ask (the default) will ask the user to supply the resources.

The key can be set by a branding file in your application build.

org.netbeans.modules.java.j2seplatform.api.API_Ask_attachJavadocQuestion -

Controls interaction when javadocs are about to be attached to a Classpath root, in SourceJavadocAttacherImplementation provided by this module. By setting API_Ask_attachJavadocQuestion key in org/netbeans/modules/java/j2seplatform/api/Bundle.properties one can control the function:

• no will disable the attachers. No source/javadoc will be attached, and no user interaction will be started.
• yes will permit the registered SourceJavadocAttacherImplementation.Definer to attach an appropriate resource(s). User interaction will be skipped
• ask (the default) will ask the user to supply the resources.

The key can be set by a branding file in your application build.

The default answer to this question is:


These modules are required in project.xml:

• AntLogger - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 3.37 is required.
• CommonAnnotationsAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.10 is required.
• JavaSupportAPIs - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.78 is required.
• ClassPathAPIs - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.0 is required.
• Progress - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.40 is required.
• ProgressSwing - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.40 is required.
• org.netbeans.libs.javacapi - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 8.19 is required.
• org.netbeans.modules.classfile - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime.
• JavaPlatformAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.43 is required.
• JavaPlatformUI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.36 is required.
• JavaProjectAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.62 is required.
• JavaProjectUI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.62 is required.
• AntProjectAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.62 is required.
• AntProjectUI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.62 is required.
• ProjectLibrariesAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.49 is required.
• project_libs_ui - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.49 is required.
• ProjectAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime.
• BaseProjectUIAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.78 is required.
• GeneralQueriesAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 1.44 is required.
• ActionsAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 6.6 is required.
• org.openide.awt - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 6.2 is required.
• DialogsAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 7.8 is required.
• FilesystemsAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 9.10 is required.
• LoadersAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 7.61 is required.
• ModulesAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 6.2 is required.
• NodesAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 6.2 is required.
• WeakListener.setAccessible - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 9.3 is required.
• LookupAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 8.0 is required.
• UtilitiesAPI - The module is needed for compilation. The module is used during runtime. Specification version 9.3 is required.
Question (dep-non-nb): What other projects outside NetBeans does this one depend on?
Answer:

None.

Question (dep-platform): On which platforms does your module run? Does it run in the same way on each?
Answer:

Any. However some heuristics are used to find commands which are part of target VMs, such as the java launcher, or javac; normally they are searched for in the bin subdirectory, appending .exe on Windows, but the search locations are different on Mac OS X. Support for more exotic platforms would require patches to locate specific tools; there is no general specification for where to find JDK/JRE commands on different platforms or using VMs from different vendors.

Question (dep-jre): Which version of JRE do you need (1.2, 1.3, 1.4, etc.)?
Answer:

1.4+. (But the Java platform definitions could be of any JDK version.)

Question (dep-jrejdk): Do you require the JDK or is the JRE enough?
Answer:

JRE. (The Java platform definitions may be of the JDK or JRE.)

Deployment

Question (deploy-jar): Do you deploy just module JAR file(s) or other files as well?
Answer:

Module JAR, plus a “probe JAR” used to retrieve system properties from a target JDK.

Question (deploy-nbm): Can you deploy an NBM via the Update Center?
Answer:

Yes.

Question (deploy-shared): Do you need to be installed in the shared location only, or in the user directory only, or can your module be installed anywhere?
Answer:

Anywhere.

Question (deploy-packages): Are packages of your module made inaccessible by not declaring them public?
Answer:

Only API and SPI packages are exported.

Question (deploy-dependencies): What do other modules need to do to declare a dependency on this one, in addition to or instead of the normal module dependency declaration (e.g. tokens to require)?
Answer:

N/A

Compatibility with environment

Question (compat-i18n): Is your module correctly internationalized?
Answer:

Yes.

Question (compat-standards): Does the module implement or define any standards? Is the implementation exact or does it deviate somehow?
Answer:

No.

Question (compat-version): Can your module coexist with earlier and future versions of itself? Can you correctly read all old settings? Will future versions be able to read your current settings? Can you read or politely ignore settings stored by a future version?
Answer:

The Java platform type uses a versioned XML DTD.

There is no versioning information in the class library definition (beyond what the Project Libraries module provides). However there are only three defined volume types currently, and if more need to be added, they could be, or existing volume types could be ignored. The current code would not be able to ignore volume types added in the future, however.

Question (compat-deprecation): How the introduction of your project influences functionality provided by previous version of the product?
WARNING: Question with id="compat-deprecation" has not been answered!

Access to resources

Question (resources-file): Does your module use java.io.File directly?
Answer:

Yes, necessary in several contexts.

Question (resources-layer): Does your module provide own layer? Does it create any files or folders in it? What it is trying to communicate by that and with which components?
Answer:

Yes, just registration of items required by implemented SPIs.

Question (resources-read): Does your module read any resources from layers? For what purpose?
Answer:

No.

Question (resources-mask): Does your module mask/hide/override any resources provided by other modules in their layers?
Answer:

No.

Question (resources-preferences): Does your module uses preferences via Preferences API? Does your module use NbPreferences or or regular JDK Preferences ? Does it read, write or both ? Does it share preferences with other modules ? If so, then why ?
WARNING: Question with id="resources-preferences" has not been answered!

Lookup of components

Question (lookup-lookup): Does your module use org.openide.util.Lookup or any similar technology to find any components to communicate with? Which ones?
Answer:

The J2SE platform customizer lookups java.beans.Customizer instances registered in the org-netbeans-api-java/platform/j2seplatform/customizers/ folder on the system file system. These instances are added as additional tabs into the J2SE platform customizer.

The J2SE platform consults instances of the J2SEPlatformDefaultJavadoc registered in the org-netbeans-api-java/platform/j2seplatform/defaultJavadocProviders/ folder to suggest Javadoc roots when there are no Javadoc roots explicitly attached by an user.

Question (lookup-register): Do you register anything into lookup for other code to find?
Answer:

Platform and library type definitions are registered, as are a number of queries relating to platforms and libraries. A default classpath provider is registered for Java sources which otherwise lack any specific classpath information.

Question (lookup-remove): Do you remove entries of other modules from lookup?
Answer:

No.

Execution Environment

Question (exec-property): Is execution of your code influenced by any environment or Java system (System.getProperty) property? On a similar note, is there something interesting that you pass to java.util.logging.Logger? Or do you observe what others log?
Answer:

No, although system properties of a target J2SE VM are recorded.

Question (exec-component): Is execution of your code influenced by any (string) property of any of your components?
Answer:

The java.util.Map returned by the J2SEPlatformImpl.getProperties() contains property platform.ant.name holding the name of the platform used by build scripts.

Question (exec-ant-tasks): Do you define or register any ant tasks that other can use?
WARNING: Question with id="exec-ant-tasks" has not been answered!
Question (exec-classloader): Does your code create its own class loader(s)?
Answer:

No.

Question (exec-reflection): Does your code use Java Reflection to execute other code?
Answer:

No.

Question (exec-privateaccess): Are you aware of any other parts of the system calling some of your methods by reflection?
Answer:

No.

Question (exec-process): Do you execute an external process from your module? How do you ensure that the result is the same on different platforms? Do you parse output? Do you depend on result code?
Answer:

The J2SE platform wizard runs an autodetect probe to find the version number, system properties, and other information about a target VM. This is a simple prebuilt Java program run against the java launcher of the target VM. No I/O streams are used; the probe writes all information to a named properties file and exits. (The exit code is checked.)

Question (exec-introspection): Does your module use any kind of runtime type information (instanceof, work with java.lang.Class, etc.)?
Answer:

No.

Question (exec-threading): What threading models, if any, does your module adhere to? How the project behaves with respect to threading?
Answer:

TBD

Question (security-policy): Does your functionality require modifications to the standard policy file?
Answer:

No.

Question (security-grant): Does your code grant additional rights to some other code?
Answer:

No.

Format of files and protocols

Question (format-types): Which protocols and file formats (if any) does your module read or write on disk, or transmit or receive over the network? Do you generate an ant build script? Can it be edited and modified?
Answer:

Platform and library definitions, as mentioned in Overall Architecture.

Question (format-dnd): Which protocols (if any) does your code understand during Drag & Drop?
Answer:

None.

Question (format-clipboard): Which data flavors (if any) does your code read from or insert to the clipboard (by access to clipboard on means calling methods on java.awt.datatransfer.Transferable?
Answer:

None.

Performance and Scalability

Question (perf-startup): Does your module run any code on startup?
Answer:

Yes, some information about registered platforms and libraries is mirrored to ${netbeans.user}/build.properties for use from Ant.

Question (perf-exit): Does your module run any code on exit?
Answer:

No.

Question (perf-scale): Which external criteria influence the performance of your program (size of file in editor, number of files in menu, in source directory, etc.) and how well your code scales?
Answer:

Unknown.

Question (perf-limit): Are there any hard-coded or practical limits in the number or size of elements your code can handle?
Answer:

None known.

Question (perf-mem): How much memory does your component consume? Estimate with a relation to the number of windows, etc.
Answer:

Never measured; probably small.

Question (perf-wakeup): Does any piece of your code wake up periodically and do something even when the system is otherwise idle (no user interaction)?
Answer:

No.

Question (perf-progress): Does your module execute any long-running tasks?
Answer:

The platform probe can take a couple of seconds; invoked between wizard steps.

Question (perf-huge_dialogs): Does your module contain any dialogs or wizards with a large number of GUI controls such as combo boxes, lists, trees, or text areas?
Answer:

Nothing particularly big.

Question (perf-menus): Does your module use dynamically updated context menus, or context-sensitive actions with complicated and slow enablement logic?
Answer:

No.

Question (perf-spi): How the performance of the plugged in code will be enforced?
Answer:

N/A