February 2008 Archives

Currently I’m working on a feature that allows the definition of framework instances. A framework instance is very similar to a target platform in Eclipse. I chose to call it a framework instance because it not only defines the collection of bundles that are part of the used framework and on which the application being developed depends. It also defines which framework integrator is to be used. Those framework integrators know how to handle specific tasks — like collecting the needed bundles — for a specific kind of framework. Some tasks will be handled quite differently whether they are executed for Equinox or Knopflerfish for example.

Currently there is a framework integrator for Equinox, but once I get the bundles from an Equinox installation integrated into a project depending on it, I will implement framework integrators for Knopflerfish and Apache Felix.

The next version — 0.4.0 — will allow you to define framework instances for any of those OSGI frameworks. Dependencies on framework bundles will then be fully resolved and applications should be compilable without any dirty tricks like defining a global ECLIPSE library and making each module of the project depend on it.

There are already plans for the version after 0.4.0. For version 0.5.0 I plan to add the possibility to run and debug OSGI applications from IDEA.

I cannot give any specific release dates, but I hope to get 0.4.0 out in the first half of March.