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Eclipse Power In IBM Workplace/Domino
Introduction

Eclipse is a true Open Source development framework or workbench, along with set of widgets (SWT), designed for tools developers to leverage code reuse, a consistent user interface, and a plug-in architecture for developing new packages. However, while Eclipse was originally targeted and designed for tools developers, it has now evolved to become a more robust general-purpose application platform with its powerful Rich Client Platform (RCP).

IBM Workplace Designer 2.5 is a true Eclipse-based tool that brings the concepts of Domino Designer to the J2EE and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) space. With the power of Eclipse, IBM Workplace Designer is able to provide the Domino developer community with rich functionality such as code complete, color-coding of classes and objects within classes, and an advanced IDE experience.

IBM Workplace Designer constitutes a core part of the IBM Workplace product umbrella, which includes the Notes/Domino family, the Web Sphere Portal family and WorkSpace Collaborative Services

Eclipse In IBM Workplace

The core platform of IBM Workplace is based on Eclipse technology, which provides the Java run-time environment for general desktop applications, an application user interface, and a flexible architecture that is easily extended and supports multiple operating systems.

Workplace Client Technology is a collaboration of:
  • A secure data store (a Java relational database). This data store is a zero-administration, pure Java relational database.
  • The Eclipse rich client framework.
  • A personal EJB container for running local applications. The lightweight EJB container, Extension Services for Web Sphere Everyplace (ESWE) was built from the ground up by the Web Sphere team for resource constrained devices such as PDAs and takes up less than 1 MB of disk space.
  • The ability to download layouts and application components from Web Sphere Portal.
  • A synchronization framework. Synchronization of the data between the local data store and remote applications is achieved via an implementation of SynchML. Synchronization allows new features to be pushed to desktops.
  • Auto-provisioning capabilities. Provisioning features allow for the creation of accounts based on policies defined for users.



The Eclipse platform provides building blocks and frameworks to facilitate the development of new tools via plug-ins. These plug-ins consist of structured bundles of code and data that allow for the extensibility of this framework to read the plugin.xml for each plug-in. The extension services layer also includes new non-Eclipse plug-ins created specifically for Workplace Client Technology.

Eclipse Framework in IBM Workplace

Additionally, the Eclipse framework has incorporated SMF into its underpinnings, so ultimately, all of the plug-ins that run in Eclipse run as bundles, and can be dynamically loaded, unloaded, started and stopped. This adds an additional element of flexibility and choice to the application developer, as well as a more robust platform underneath.

IBM Workplace Client technology is a major and important component of the IBM Workplace family. With Workplace Client Technology, we can develop, deploy, and centrally manage rich end-user client applications. This allows you to extend management and security features found in server-based platforms to user desktops and to other devices. These rich client applications give you the flexibility and portability of client-side applications combined with server-side control and cost-savings. Workplace Client Technology comes in two editions: Micro Edition for mobile devices and Rich Edition for desktops.

IBM Workplace Client Technology incorporates standards-based components and technologies, including Java and the Eclipse 3.0 open standard. It includes central policy-based administration features such as provisioning and synchronization. Applications can run locally on the end user's machine. By leveraging the embedded EJB (Enterprise JavaBean) container and encrypted relational database, users can work offline and online. Workplace Client Technology also features a synchronized, policy-based secure data store that allows data to be stored locally until the user is ready to synchronize the data with the server (this is similar to DB2's synchronization services of Web Sphere Everyplace Connection Manager).

Open Standards in IBM Workplace

The Eclipse platform was created as open-source software originally intended for use as a GUI interface to support custom-created development tools. IBM has built the Workplace Client Technology on its open architecture to take advantage of its ability to provide UI and execution environment for plug-in modules. An Eclipse plug-in operates on files in the workspace and provides a tool-specific UI. When the platform is launched, the user is presented with an integrated set of available plug-ins ƒ{ the desktop analogy to a server-based portal.



The plug-ins in the extension services layer includes Eclipse plug-ins as well as plug-ins created especially for Workplace Client Technology that are not part of core Eclipse. Eclipse plug-ins include the update manager, help system, preferences, and work-bench components. The update manager centrally manages deployed applications. Help integration provides the client with methods to define context so that the online help will automatically launch with the appropriate context. Alerts notify the user that an action has happened, and preferences customize the desktop to present to the end user.

Eclipse UI Frameworks in IBM Workplace
  • Workbench Parts
  • EditorsParts ¡V For Edit or Browse a resource
  • ViewParts ¡V Navigate Content From defined input
  • JFace Text Framework ¡V Support, display and editing of source text



JFace UI Framework
  • Viewers ¡V Support for building model-based visual parts with standard viewers
  • Actions and Contributions ¡V Support for creating and managing shared resources (menu bar, tool bar, status area)
  • Dialogs and Wizards ¡V Single or multi page dialogs that provide task guidance or value management
  • Images and Fonts ¡V Support for management and construction of resources such as SWT fonts and images
  • Standard Widget Toolkit ¡V Portable API to platform Native widgets

IBM Workplace Messaging

Workplace Messaging provides users with integrated mail, personal calendar, and personal address book. Within Workplace Messaging, Workplace Client Technology uses Eclipse views to provide navigation, management, and display of mail folders such as the Inbox and user-defined folders. Editors to create, edit, and view emails are provided with both Eclipse controls and a pluggable rich-text editor.

Summary

Eclipse is a robust functional platform that IBM Workplace/Domino developers can harness for their current and future projects. Developers benefit through a better way of organizing projects, sharing code, and taking the full potential advantage of Java design techniques like interfaces and code separation. As Lotus Workplace and Lotus Notes/Domino continue to become more integrated, Java and Eclipse will play an important role. Notes developers can build on their collaboration and groupware skills today while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.
 


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