PDE pain points

• dependency management is difficult

• target horror

  • configuration complex

  • reloading is not fail safe

• launch configurations

  • what the hell has PDE loaded in the runtime

  • where do these runtime settings come from

Why Bndtools

automated import package analysis including versioning
powerful OSGi bundle repository management
instant Jar bundle creation
annotation based Declarative Service implementation

Project Layouts

IDE Bundle Handling

• PDE

  • creates "virtual bundles" for execution Launches

  • PDE build/export required to create concrete jar files

• Bndtools

  • creates physical jar file inside generated folder

  • launches execute this jar file inside runtime

Project Build Path

• PDE

  • projects share a common target

  • high complexity selecting import-packages

• Bndtools

  • configured for each project

  • reduces number of import-package

• bnd projects have a precise import-package scope

PDE depends on BND

• OSGi dev with PDE target

  • BND creates generated/bundle.jar

  • p2 publisher generates p2 repo from bnd jar files

  • include p2 repo in target and reload it

BND depends on PDE

• BND project depending on PDE bundle

  • PDE feature export/build creating p2 repo

  • obr repo indexing

  • reference and refresh cnf

• Luckily we don't required this

Synchronize Compile Settings

PDE compilation on target

<target_prj>/workspace.target
<pde_prj>/.classpath
<pde_prj>/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
<pde_prj>/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF -> Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment
<pde_prj>/build.properties -> jre.compilation.profile
                    

Bndtools

<cnf_prj>/ext/repositories.bnd
<bnd_prj>/.classpath
<bnd_prj>/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
<bnd_prj>/bnd.bnd

Synchronize PDE and bnd compilation via import of JDT settings

Initial Dev Setup

• Eclipse SDK to create/update -> bootstrap IDE

  • install IDEfix (eclipse + Bndtools + ...)

  • mirror required repos locally

• IDEfix with eval workspace

  • adapt Bndtools cnf

• IDEfix product workspace

  • use custom cnf and develop product

Update Dev Setup

• bootstrap IDE

  • mirror new bndversion and install new IDEfix

  • mirror and index new target repositories

• launch IDEfix with an new eval workspace

  • eval bnd updates on cnf

• launch IDEfix with new product workspace

  • compare and configure cnf

  • import your projects

Mixed-Mode Helpers

• p2 repository mirroring with OBR indexing

• IDE bootstrap scripts mirror, install, launch templates

• bnd2pde -> p2 publishing and PDE target creation

• PDE TargetReloader Plug-in

Mixed-Mode

• After modifications on bnd bundles

  1. bnd2pde build

  2. target reload required

  3. validation via view "TargetPlatform State"

• Debugging source code editor is showing read-only bnd target bundles

  • editing impossible (uncommon behaviour)

  • open the appropriate source type with
    Ctrl+Shift+T and CamelCase notation

Coding

with Bndtools can leverage

the Joy of OSGi

Our Migration Progress

Migration Digest

• Mixed-Mode is hard -> try to migrate fast

• Defaults are not ideal for Enterprise Environments

• Bndtools Windows Committers wanted - Windows is special

• Work is more comprehensible

• Benefits for us exceeded the tooling problems

Migration is feasible, but is not for free!

Volvo Trucks - Making of ...

short version (1:16mn) - commercial spot only

BND and Bndtools resources

• BND
• Usergroup
• Source on Github
• Continuous Builds from Cloudbees
• website
• bug reports/source code on GitHub
• continuous build on cloudbees
• usergroup in GoogleGroups

standard references

• OSGi specifications

• LDAP search filter syntax

• Semantic Versioning 2.0.0