Update Manager and p2 Compatibility

This page will be used to keep track of initial thoughts on the compatibility between p2 and update manager.

Problems with the platform.xml

• inferrence of bundle name from the file path
• there isn't a way to set the start level for a bundle which isn't on the osgi.bundles list
• ditto for the initial state (started or not)
• p2 explicitly lists all bundles, you don't get auto-matic site discovery, have to install the directory watcher bundle for this
• directory watcher can be run at anytime...no only at startup
• look at the platform.xml and create artifact/metadata repositories for it

Questions

• Are we shipping the Update Manager UI with Eclipse 3.4?
• What is considered API in the update bundles? Yes, almost everything is marked as provisional but its been like that since 2.0 and if we don't offer some level of support then a lot of people may be broken.

Scenerios

• install a feature from an old-style update site that doesn't have p2 metadata
  • don't do it
  • (have 2 UIs) use old code path, spoof up metadata for what we downloaded or hack update to generate md for what we are downloading
  • generate p2 metadata on the fly for what is on the update site
• People who are using the update.core APIs in headless applications.
• Running SDK with UM and p2.
  • Install IU which represents (for instance) RCP via p2.
  • Want to install a feature which depends on RCP via UM.
  • Do we know that the RCP feature is installed and our dependency requirements are met?

Ideas

• Hook the update.ui bundle so it calls new p2 APIs.
• Have the update manger bundles operate as per Eclipse 3.3 and use the directory watcher bundle to notice changes and update the bundles.txt file accordingly.
• Might have to modify the directory watcher so it notices changes in the platform.xml file.

Misc

• update core APIs : install this feature
  • can we say we don't support this?

• have a server with p2 data and 3.3 style and someone installs a feature with the old update UI

• I have the SDK installed by p2 and I want to download a feature which requires the RCP but I don't know about the RCP feature
  • do we keep feature information around?
  • how do features appear in PDE?
  • how much tooling do we have for groups/features?

• do we delete the update.ui bundle from the SDK for 3.4?
  • if so, then we need to be able to handle old update sites, etc from the new ui

• can features and IUs have dependancies on each other?
• what level of integration do we seek?
• do we ever want to reconcilate 2 worlds?
• can update manager just install things and we have a hook/listener in the update core?
• maybe the directory watcher can update the bundles.txt for things which have been installed by the update manager apis
• low bar: we should still be able to reconsume things from an update site
• what if the platform configuration updated the bundles.txt?