Table or Booth?

Eclipse Con 2005: GEF in Depth

This is live-blog of my experience in the Eclipse Con 2005 GEF Tutorial.

Introductions

Randy Hudson, GEF subproject lead, introduces himself and his partner, Pratik.  I really love "@hudsonr" and "@pratiks" since much of my current work uses their GEF libraries.  Randy speaks knowledgeably and succintly (unlike my blogs).  He's shorter and younger than I anticipated and looks like your stereotypical programmer with glasses.  He might very well be Beavis's better, validictorian twin.

Pratik looks younger, tall, Indian or Arabic, and is also extremely knowledgeable.  These guys are good.  It makes sense that we liked their stuff and made the decision awhile ago to build on top of it.

GEF team consists only of Randy and Pratik!  I can't believe they're all there is to the GEF project and, suddenly, I feel much more compelled to help them fix bugs and improve GEF.  I'll have to introduce myself and offer help.

Right away, I see this tutorial going more smoothly than the last.  Randy and Pratik both present well and have excellent slides.  Only bummer is that actual slides are newer than the handouts.

A loud GEF attendee wiseguy calls GEF "Jeff" and SWT "Swit".  I think he's serious.

Hands-on Begins

We all plow into the first 'hands-on' session.  Louie, my co-worker and friend, is sitting to my right and is nearly done.  He's good.  I'm not as good but I'm making good progress.

Louie is done now and playing around.  I'm basically done and working on customizing borders on my GEF IFigure objects.  The only figures attendees behind us are working on is head scratching.  "Do we have to create an Eclipse project?," I hear one ask.  They're lost.  I should help but that would be the end of my anonymity.

Randy and Pratik walk to the front.  I guess this 'hands-on' period has ended.  The next part of presentation begins...

The second presention is ending.  Heading Into the final stretch, now.  Pratick suggests a 10 minute break to get ready for the final exercise, the most complex and difficult in this tutorial.

The Subatomic Particle Accelerator

We're back.  Pratick says something.  Then Randy says "Ok, go for it."  Already?

For a minute or two, I try to collect my bearings.  Ok, what's the goal here?  Thinking hard... 

A few attendess are click-clacking furiously on their keyboards.  They seem to know exactly what to do.  They must be geniuses.  But, a sneak peak around reveals more than a dozen others in my same search for meaning and traction.

One of them finally raises his hand.  "Go for what?," he asks.

"The Shapes example," Randy replies.  He seems baffled by the question.  Of course, the Shapes example.  That's right; he did mention it in passing roughly 22 and a half minutes ago.  I should have known.  I actually do remember the reference vaguely, but what did the Shapes Example look like?  It was a yellow square and a red oval... I'm trying to remember.  Directions == hazy.

Someone pleads, "I've never written a GEF app and I'm completely lost.  What am I supposed to be doing?"  Poor soul.  Randy repeats more clearly and with more info this time, "The Shapes Example.  You know, the one with the colors?".  Ahhh... yes, the colors, but... no; that didn't help.  The poor soul stares blankly at his screen.

But I think I know enough to dig in.  Programming is like that sometimes; you can't always know what the target is when you start the mission.  It would seem we're to fill out methods in the skeleton class being projected up front.  That much seems clear, so getting to it.  I'm guessing this will somehow culminate in something like the infamous Shapes Example. 

I implement "activate()," trying to recall what Randy said about it earlier.  Click, tick... tack, tick, click... I'm coding and happy again.  "...must call super.activate()," I say quietly, under my breath. 

Three minutes and 13 seconds pass...  "How are we doing?  Is everyone almost done with this part?," Pratik asks, expectantly.  The keyboard chatter nearly disappears... dead silence.  Pratik, senses slowness and decides he'll "code it up," live, so folks can "cheat". 

Pratik types like an subatomic particle accelerator.  I usually can as well, but my brain turned off when I started following Pratik's projection on the up-front screen.  I'm just reacting now - all defense and no offense.  My Marine Corps and highschool football training tells me this loses the war in the end.

S4 Mode

Pratik is way ahead of me.  Randy, stops to explain something Pratik is doing.  I want to hear it but it means I have to stop coding and pay attention, putting me further behind.  I do it and suffer the consequences.

Got the first part of the example done.  Now, implement the LayoutPolicy...  Good, there is an example in the org.eclipse.gef.examples project.  Hey, I'll just use that one!  I notice nearly all the code for this tutorial is in the examples project.  Maybe I should just copy the relevant parts to catch up.  But what's the point in that?  I can already cntrl-c, cntrl-v like no one's business.

Stopping now.  My little GEF app will have to run in S4 mode (silent, serene, snow-scene). 

Getting hungry again.  Zack, a buddy of mine comes over and asks if I'm going to the WTP '"sprint."  I'm thinking I might but not feeling like staying for the whole five hours.  I'd like to meet the WTP contributors and get a feel for things.  "I'll go and play it by ear," I say. 

Winding down now.  I'd like to walk over and meet Randy.  I'd like to get a picture of all of us.  Perhaps he'll read this blog someday and remember the encounter.

Eclipse Con 2005: Intro to the Web Tools Project

This is a live-blog of my experience in the "Intro to Web Tools Platform" tutorial during Eclipse Con 2005.

They say the introduction will be very brief.  "Chuck" is doing most of the talking but he doesn't look at ease.  Settling in for the lesson...  Chuck says to "have at it".  Huh?

Have at it?  I was expecting more of a presentation.  Never done things this way at a conference.  Now, I'm not even sure why the intro was necessary.  Well, allright then; here we go.

Prerequisites.  Hmm... I need Tomcat.  No problem; I have it.  But wait.  It's the wrong version.  Chagrin; I should've installed Tomcat.  A nice guy had it on a removable USB drive - thanks, Ron.  Ron being abused now.  Everyone wants to borrow his removable USB drive. 

Tomcat installing...  Done.  That was easy.

The Fun Begins

Decision: Install new Eclipse SDK for this conf or use my existing one?  Let's install a clean version...
Darn - this is taking too long.  I cancel and delete the partial unzip.  I'll just use my existing one.

Extracted 'overlay' zip into M4 to get all necessary jars.  So far so good.

Starting Eclipse... Damn!  the Perforce plugin can't find the server and it's in an endless dialog loop.  Killing the process and removing the P4 plugins.  Eclipse starting ok now.

Installing the Tomcat Runtime in Eclipse... had to point M4 to jre 1.4.2 (I had it running with 1.5).
Realize now that I should create a new workspace for Eclipse Con 2005.  So, wwitching to a new workspace...

Drat - Java runtime settings are workspace-specific.  Point to jre 1.4.2, again.  Trying to find Tomcat in "Servers."  Servers not there.  ?  Restarting Eclipse to see if that triggers their appearance.  Nope.  I admit it now; I need help.

Chuck says, no question about it; I should use the version of the SDK that the tutorial zip provides.  I guess I should have followed my first instinct and remained patient for the SDK to unzip.

Starting all over over.  Starting Eclipse SDK unzip... CPU is maxed.

I look over at Loren.  He's way ahead of me.  Perhaps I can learn by proxy now - I probably won't be getting through this in the remaining 30 minutes.

Still extracting the Eclipse SDK... CPU at 100%, which makes it difficult to type.  So far now, my only satisfaction has been writing this blog and that is being thwarted.

First Lessons Learned

Loren is done with the tutorial.  My CPU still at 100% while it unzips the Eclipse SDK.  The contrast is painful and inescapeable.  Perhaps I can still leave this tutorial with my ego intact by writing some lessons learned:

• Don't assume that setup time is built into Eclipse Con tutorial schedules.
• From Loren - don't have Tomcat running when you configure Eclipse's Server runtimes.  Eclipse should start it up.

Ok, unzipping the SDK is done.  Starting up the 'conference' Eclipse version now...  CPU at 100% yet again.  Recommitting to flying through this as soon as my processor recovers.  Maybe I can still get through it.  I feel like I'm at the end of a timed test with half of it left to go.  Bad memories.

Again; unzipping "WebToolsOverlay", pointing Eclipse to 1.4.2, etc...

Help Needed

Trying to configure "Servers" to find and run Tomcat.  "Servers" not found.  What the he**?  Getting increasingly frustrated.  No idea why "Servers" not showing up in my prefs.  Waiting.  No help to be had.  The help-guy is talking about some advanced concept to a guy who doesn't need help.

I try to exit the newly installed Tomcat in application tray and restart Eclipse...  Still no "Servers" config option.  This sucks.  Lot's of time has passed now.  Help-man is now chatting jockingly about recent breakthroughs in astrophysics.

I sit waiting for help, finally realizing that, in haste, I didn't install all the necessary plugins in my 'Conference' Eclipse version.  No "Servers" - duh!

Extracting all the .zip libs into my Conference Eclipse version... CPU maxed; I wait, I blog.

Finally on Track

Restarting Conference Eclipse for the last time, I hope.  Ok; on my way, finally!  Making good progress...

Chuck is talking about "Annotations" and closing out Part 1 of this tutorial now.  I guess I'll have to finish this it in my hotel, later. 

He's talking about Annotations.  Seems cool - is tightly integrated with and uses XDoclet.  You can plug in your own XDoclet generators.  This could be good for my project at work but not quite sure how right now.  Chuck says "Have at it".  Huh? 

Ah... we're supposed to start Part 2 of the tutorial.  I'll try to finish Part 1, first.

Not blogging much (that means I haven't been waiting for help or my CPU to finish).

A Small Victory

Done with Part 1 of the tutorial!  With minimal assistance debugging my project name (had a space in it), my web app adds a class to a class schedule, just like it's supposed to.  It is nice to create, edit, and deploy this web app.  Very nice integration with Tomcat, very nice .jsp editor, and very nice Run as... > Run on Server feature. 

I'll digest this all later.  Let's quickly get to Part II now.  I'm still way behind and I'm sure to slam into the Derby database issues Loren is currently having...

Made it about half-way through before Lawrence stopped us to present Part 3.  Was a great overview of the WTP ecosystem.  Looks like there's some great WSDL and XSD support but he breezed through it so I missed some of the details.  Note to self - play with the XSD and WSDL tools.

I guess I'll work through Part II and III some other time.  Everyone is bolting for lunch now and I'm hungry.

Simply Complex

Bruce Tate, Graham Glass, Kent Beck and Steve Jobs all seem to agree that the simplest approach is often the best one.  Graham argues that it is a key factor in improving the entire user-experience.  They're dead on.  It would behoove all engineers and designers to get on board.  But even the pursuit of simplicity can go too far, making some unintended thing more complicated.

On Short Posts

Are my posts too long?  What say you, squirrel?

The Motorcyclist

accelerating till suspended,
a quicktime ghost-flight
through one-light towns,
a presence only intended
to slip in and out of scenes,
brushed here and there
with worn out leather,
old boots, torn jeans,
and wind blown hair

his hoss runs hotter
and screams at whip-quick
flicks of his wrist
fueling even faster
the rocket-ride infusion
of speed that finally resides,
burning in his veins until
exploding into seclusion
he rides

shifted, now transcended
into silent surroundings
where peaceful vibrations
have easily commanded
the last worried second
into a timeless trance
floating on a highway blur...
even past this instant
this heavenly glance

Eating the Eclipse 3.1M5a RCP Donut

Download 3.1M5a and check out the new RCP support.  M5a is cool for many reasons but the best is, while Eclipse RCP support has been quietly rolled out since Fall of 2004, it's never been as straightforward to take advantage of until now. 

I heard good rumblings, so I gave the new .product Overview page (shown below) a spin.  It makes the process of configuring and branding your standalone RCP application pure joy.

Having only heard about the RCP in the abstract, I was amazed to be able to adapt my little, experimental  "Language Translator" plug-in for packaging into a complete-with-menu/about/etc., uniquely branded, standalone application in less than two hours.  Apparently, deploying RCP apps with Java WebStart is easy also.  It's remarkable how quickly we advance when a lot of us are all working with the same codebase.

You may consider reading the entire Eclipse Con 2005 RCP Tutorial.  I've skimmed it and it looks delicious.  Yet, tasting this pastry doesn't require starting your own donut shop; it's more like...  going to a donut drive-in.  Ordering is easy, the donuts are good, and you drive away with your partially sipped cup of coffee, happy.  Here are the steps in my little experiment:

1. Build an SWT plugin that can run from it's own main().  I recommend creating a top-most Composite component, that is not the Shell, to house your creation.
2. Create a RCP Product.  Do this in 3.1M5a by going to File > New       > Other...> Product Configuration.  I picked the most complicated "RCP Mail Template" (also demonstrated in the Java WebStart link above).
3. Replace the generated "View" class's appropriate guts with the instantiation of your own plugin's top-most SWT Composite component (not the Shell).
4. Pair down the unnecessary, generated Mail Template code until you end up with merely what your plugin provides.
5. Modify the branding icons and graphics to suit your taste.  It took me no more than 20 minutes to tweak the provided branding-artifact examples to achieve uniqueness.

Admittedly, this isn't the ideal approach to solving your professional RCP needs.  Check out Eclipse Con 2005 or one of its tutorials to learn the hardcore details.  As for quickly getting your own RCP application up and running, try it - I think you'll like this donut.

Forget Amway

Be warned, The Pampered Chef takes your dough.  But don't worry, he'll bake it like no one's business.  Over the years, MLMs have left a bitter taste in my mouth.  I can't count the friends and family members to have pushed one thing or another, with the best of intentions, only to leave me questioning the very fabric of our relationship.  Not so with The Pampered Chef. 

If you live in or near suburbia a new wave of multi-level marketing has probably swept your area.  If not, it's coming to a 'neighbor near you.'  Nearly everyone I know has either been to or has hosted a Pampered Chef party.  My wife loves this stuff.  From what I know, I love it too.

By now, at least one quarter of our cookware is from The Pampered Chef.  Their stone-wear cooking pans are famous and bake like no metal pan can (except their so **mn heavy).  No lie, I've never fried another strip of bacon after baking it in one of these dandy pans.

I've been approached and heard probably every shpiel under the sun.  My wife and I agree (married folks know the weight of that statement); The Pampered Chef is the one multi-level marketing (MLM) company that doesn't make our stomach turn.  Why is this?  Here's a quick-and-dirty on their model:

• Make only high-quality products  - For example, their rubber spatula/scrapers will not melt.  Anyone who's ever owned a rubber spatula/scraper eventually leaves it near something a little too hot and melts it, losing the ability to scrape cleanly.  Not any longer with these bad-ass spoons.
• Have parties - 'Events' are hosted by someone who volunteers their home (and kitchen) for the evening.  For hosting, they get generous discounts on products.
• Cook really good food - Good cooking is a requirement for product demonstrations!  Think about it, if the food was bad, people wouldn't buy stuff.  Whether by design or coincidence, Pampered Chef consultants usually can cook some savory nibblits. 

So, forget Amway (renamed "Quixtar").  While Amway and others like them hook people on the idea that it's a secret path to early retirement, The Pampered Chef promises only good food, great stuff to cook it with, and satisfied customers.  My wife may never sell their stuff but we'll keep on buying it.  And as long as she needs a thing or two in the kitchen, I'm sure she'll keep hosting these events.

Rudderless

in escaping you
i thought,
but coming to mind
was just that anything
but you could not

in escaping you
i could finally fly
but will only float,
adrift and rudderless,
into to your memory

in escaping you

The Wedding Pictures

Tom and Kara, newly wed twenty-somethings, had just come back from their honeymoon that day.  Bronson and Jan, neighbors and close friends drifted into reflection on their own marriage.  Life had changed so much since they tied the knot in the summer of 2000.
    "I never could've seen us like we are right now, you know?" Bronson asked rhetorically.   
    "What do you mean?
    "Nothin bad, it just seems we've come a long way.  I think I'm better about being open about things; communication, in general - don't you think?" 
    "Um hum," Jan nodded slightly, conceding just enough to be fair.  'Never give in completely' was another operational principle they both were trying to use less of lately.
    Bronson continued, "I wish we could give them some kind of magic pill to keep them from going through everything we've had to learn... the hard way."
     "I know what you mean," Jan replied, nodding with more acknowledgement this time.   "Like parenthood for instance.  It is such a joy but it's exhausting sometimes."
    "True."
    Jan had developed into a remarkably dedicated and loving mother since their 15-month-old son Matthew was born.  It took no time for her to get involved with other Moms.  It would be good for Matt's 'socialization'.  As a stay-at-home Mom, it was also for her own sanity. 
    Bronson had never met any of her Mom's Club friends but "Susan" and "Georgia" may as well have been old friends.  Their names had become standard household items.
    Jan changed the subject slightly.
    "You know, Georgia told me a freaky story at Matt's playgroup the other day.  She was saying how she would wake up with this nightmare where she would hear whispers in her baby monitor."
    "What were they about?"
    "She said that she heard whispers repeat ‘Georgia, we are going to take your baby...’ It would wake her up in a cold sweat.  Can you imagine that?"
    "Seems odd that they'd announce it, don't you think?"  Bronson replied with gentle sarcasm.  He couldn’t help being the logical analytic.  And it was a nightmare, afterall.  Nightmares weren’t real life, right?
    "Well she was sure freaked out.  It gives me the heeby-jeebies just thinking about it."
    "Yeah, not a fun thing to think about.  Does she still get them?"
    "The nightmares?  She says they happened only right after John was born. Probably hormones."
    “They sure make some noise don't they?"  Jan was back into her TV show now and missed the joke.  "Well, I’m exhausted.  I’m going to hit the sack.  You staying up for awhile?”  Branson asked.
    “Yeah," she started, a little distracted, "...this show is only another 15 minutes or so.”
    “Love you, babe.”  Bronson leaned over the couch, kissed her cheek and then embarked on his tired slog upstairs for the night.
    The recording of this conversation was playing in his mind as he rolled into the driveway late the next evening.  His arrival was methodical.  It never changed and, to him, felt like one nearly mindless act.  He got out of the car, taking roughly twenty three steps to front door.  Then, sliding his thumb over the two largest keys until it caught the one with the square edge, he separated it by sliding his thumb and forefinger apart, grasping only the key to the lower lock.  This was done without breaking the momentum gained in extracting the keys from his pocket.  It concluded when he slid the key, upside down, into the lock, turned the knob to the right, and pushed the door open.
    It was right then that it hit him.  A certain October coldness seemed to be saying quietly, "No one is home…” His casual consciousness was instantly swept with a chill.  In moment he stood motionless, speechless, and searching for a reasonable response.
    Matt is in bed, isn't he? He has to be, it's 8:36, he quizzed then answered hopefully.
    He stopped to listen for proof-of-life somewhere in the house. Not even a rustle. He scanned the main floor - no notes on the counter or the dining room table. Jan's cell phone was still sitting in the charger. For a second the word “abduction” creeped into his consciousness. Nah, that's ridiculous!  He chastised himself under his breath.  However, Jan would always leave notes. This wasn’t like her.  Still, nothing to be alarmed about quite yet, he thought.
    But emotions don't give up so easily.  His pulse quickened a bit.  The front door had been closed and locked when he'd arrived. Let's not think the worst here, he tried again to reassure himself.  Yet, each new breath came a little harder and more quickly than the one before.
    Then, without another thought, he launched himself up the stairs.  He skipped two steps at a time on his way up to Matt's room.  In one controlled rush of motion, he smoothly turned the knob and opened the door. "He's here!" almost burst out of his mouth.  There was Matt, safe and fast asleep.  Thank you, God! Mystery, part one, solved.  But where is Jan and why would she leave the house without calling or leaving even a note?  Questions were still coming faster than the answers.
    The flight up the stairs had his heart pumping even faster.  All senses and mental faculties had become fully engaged.  "Just doesn't make sense," he muttered softly, aloud, as he headed back downstairs.  After stopping for a second, he noticed the kitchen baby monitor, usually on the counter, was gone.  She took it and deliberately left the house! Now we’re getting somewhere, he thought for an instant.  "But she left the house with a sleeping baby?!" he asked, a little louder now, but still not enough to stir Matt.
    At first, this made him a little mad.  Then he remembered that he had actually been the one to suggest he and Jan take the monitor to Will and Becca's, their other neighbors, while Matt slept alone at their house.  It would be locked, the dog would be there,  and it was a townhouse.  In terms of distance, it would be closer than being in their own garage, he had reasoned then.  And, they would have the monitor.  They could respond instantly if anything should happen.  Jan abruptly shot the idea down.  Bronson conceded; always having someone present definitely seemed to be the right thing to do.
    Nevertheless, Jan was gone.  She must have taken the monitor with her; that much seemed obvious.  "How do I get ahold…?" he started to ask aloud before a flash of brilliance overtook him; “I’ve got it!”  He would go back to Matt's room and talk into the baby monitor microphone! If Jan had the monitor and was listening, then she'd realize he had come home from work and she would hurry back.
    More slowly this time, he stepped quietly upstairs, into Matt's room, leaned close to the monitor, and spoke just loud enough to be heard and not wake up Matt.  It came out in a whisper, "Jan, where are you?  I'm home."  Then he wondered, did she hear that?  He repeated it, whispering as loud as he dared being barely one foot away from Matt's crib, “Jan, were are you? I'm home, baby."
    Less than minute or two later the front door swung open.  It was Jan.  But the look in her eyes said all was not well.  It was as if she had just crossed paths with death itself.  She was still breathing heavily.
    "You scared the crap out of me!!"  She exclaimed with a combination of accusation and confession.  "You really scared Tom and Kara too!"
    At that moment, the full realization of what had just transpired hit him.  Jan had jumped half out of her mind when Georgia's ghost had come over the monitor speaker.  It was all too familiar; “Jan, where are you baby?” had sounded a little too much like “Georgia, we are taking your baby.”
    "What, the monitor thing?"  Bronson asked a little sheepishly.  He didn't want to scare her, just get her home and be sure everything was ok.  It had been such a good idea and, it got her home in a flash, didn't it?  Then, he wondered why he was justifying himself.
    "I didn't mean to scare you - it was best way I could think of to get your attention without leaving the house.  You didn't have your cell phone, you know?"
    "I was over at Tom and Kara's.  I had that thing two feet away from my ear, just in case.  We were just looking at the wedding pictures.  I wasn't over there for more than two minutes!" Jan explained, almost pleading.
    He thought this sounded odd coming from her but didn't bother to announce his analysis.  She seemed to be calming down a bit.  Her defense for leaving the house seemed to have the tone of an apology.
    "Yeah, I saw that," Bronson said, as an unconstrained grin broke across his face.
    "Don’t ever do that again!" she said, in a combination of subsiding fear and softening indignation. 
    He watched Jan slowly walk over to kitchen counter and plug in the monitor.  As he looked back at the TV, she flipped off the kitchen light and then made her way to stairs.
    “I’m going upstairs to take a bath.  You staying up for awhile?"
    “Yeah,” he said, his concentration already almost completely shifted, “...but I’ll be up soon; this show is only another 15 minutes or so.”

Getting your Eclipse SWT Shell

Eclipse dialogs (MessageDialog, MessageDialogWithToggle, ...) require the SWT org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell class to show themselves.  Occasionally I forget how to get the default Shell.  Maybe Google will start returning this tip.  Here's how to do it:

PlatformUI.getWorkbench().
                getActiveWorkbenchWindow().getShell();

Don't forget to add a dependency on org.eclipse.ui to your plugin.

An improvement over this is to subclass your favorite Eclipse dialog and provide a new static "open...()" method that doesn't ask for the Shell param and uses the default.