Thursday, January 29, 2009

Some Success, Some Roadblocks

Well firstly I believe I've located some relevant code. The page for the bug I'm working on shows that the component is wst.wsdl. Using this information I happened upon 2 packages: org.eclipse.wst.wsdl and org.eclipse.wst.wsdl.ui. I hoped that these packages would contain some code that could point me in the right direction, and fortunately I found one file that could prove interesting. Under the UI package I found another package called org.eclipse.wst.wsdl.ui.internal.properties.sections. Within this package I found a java file called W11ExtensionsSection. Success? I hope so. I feel like this could be a big break since within this file I found references to two buttons called addButton and removeButton. As my previous post explained, the section of the UI I'm focusing on has Add and Delete buttons, so these references could possibly have something to do with those 2 particular buttons.

I've been unable to check as to whether or not the code is relevant. In my previous post I showed a screenshot of the WSDL editor in my main Eclipse window. When I try to debug in a new Eclipse Application, for some reason the WSDL editor isn't there. I've decided to look to the Eclipse Webtools Newsgroup for help, so hopefully in time I'll have the answer to my problem.

I've thought about what I can submit for a 0.4 Release. I definitely won't be able to make a patch for this fix until a later release, so I'm not sure what I can create in-between. Perhaps a simple patch making a slight change to the UI? I'll have to discuss this with Dave.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Switching Bugs

Well, after some difficulty (mostly due to the slightly vague instructions) trying to re-create Bug 142301, I managed to get it done. However, it seems like the bug has already been fixed.

It's hard to tell since the bug is from 2006 and I imagine the UI has changed since then, so some of the page names in the wizard (ie. "Web Service Java Bean Identity Page") seem out of date. I originally stumbled on this page which is a guide on how to use the Web Service wizard, from the screenshots it didn't seem like there was a "Web Service Java Bean Identity" page, thus I figured I wasn't in the right wizard.

I tried the WSDL wizard since the bug page mentions attempting to improperly name a .WSDL file. In this wizard I found what I was looking for: a text box for naming the WSDL file. However, I found that my bug had already been addressed. As the top of the image shows, the necessary error message and disabled buttons appear when I try to add an * to the filename.



It's frustrating that I wasted my time on this bug, but I decided to trek on and luckily I stumbled upon another bug that caught my fancy. This description was even less informative then the last one, but looking at the Component and noticing that it was in wst.wsdl meant that it had something to do with a WSDL file.

I had already created an EJB Session bean when trying to re-create the first bug with this tutorial, and using that I created a Web Service with a WSDL file. I opened this file, checked the extensions tab in the properties window and was distraught to find that this bug also seemed to be addressed as the Delete button was disabled when according to the bug it shouldn't have been. However, when I switched to another tab and then back to the extensions tab I found that the button was in fact enabled when no extensions were present. Somehow changing focus between tabs re-enabled the button.



Well, I'm glad I at least got the re-creation of the bug out of the way. Now, my next problem is to find out where in the code this is occurring. I feel like if I can do that the actual change in code wouldn't be anything crazy, but then again with a big, unknown system like Eclipse you never know.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

0.4 Goals

For my 0.4 Release, I've been trying to find a bug to work on that could provide me with a good introduction to the Eclipse system. I came across Bug 142301, which states that there is a fix required for one of the wizards. The fix must not allow the user to enter an invalid filename (ie. something with *&^%$ characters). If the user attempts to enter an invalid filename, the Next and Finish buttons are to be disabled and a message needs to appear to notify the user.

I feel like this is a good bug to start off with, and thus I will be working on it for my 0.4 (and perhaps in future releases as well depending on how successful I am).

One thing I find disheartening is that there seems to be no IRC channel for Eclipse developers. I'm worried that I won't be able to receive the same kind of support from experienced developers that I enjoyed with Mozilla. However, Jordan has pointed me towards the Eclipse newsgroups, which apparently have plenty information. I hope so because I have no clue how to re-create this bug or where I can find the relevant code.

Where do I Begin?

I don't know where. I guess I'll start with my last semester results. My patch for the source server project was accepted into Mozilla's tree, which I'm very proud of.

My results with the source server project make it all the more confusing as to why I'd be so hesistant to work on my new project. I won't spend this entire post psychoanalyzing myself, but sometimes I think it goes beyond simply being lazy. I wonder if it has something to do with my self-confidence. This was a problem last semester with the source server project. It took me so long to finally take a look at the system and get started, and this semester with my new project it's the same.

Oh yes, my new project. I will be working with Eclipse WTP this semester. Dave recommended it since I was looking to try something a little different, and Eclipse is all Java.

Like I said, this happened last semester. At the time I believed it was just me being lazy, but now that it's happening again I'm starting to wonder if it has something to do with my confidence as a programmer. It's wierd that I would feel that way still, I mean I felt the exact same way last semester but I overcame it and once I got into the project it was easy for me to keep going. But now here I am and the cycle continues. Like I said I attributed it to laziness originally, but now I believe that perhaps by understanding why I do it a little more, I can overcome it.

I don't want to make baseless excuses for myself but I seriously believe that in this case it might be true. I've never really thought of that before but now that I'm aware, I hope that I can fix it starting with this project, because I know I'm a capable programmer and I know that I have the ability to learn a new system and contribute to it.

I will be updating my blog with my 0.4 release info shortly, I figure it's a better idea to keep this stuff a seperate post.

I'm still not too warm to this whole blogging thing, however it's actually felt nice to get that off my chest.