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EMIWG/MADKQuickStartUseCasesDiscussion

Objective

The objective of this document is to describe all concepts and use cases that are related to MADK Quick Install feature. Below there is a list of all actors, components and use cases related to it. There are two different perspectives proposed. The first one is the mobile application developer perspective that will use MADK to download SDKs and develop mobile applications. The second perspective is from the SDK provider that will need to setup their environment to enable MADK to find / download their SDKs.

Definitions

  • Pulsar: Eclipse Mobile Application Development Kit. It is an eclipse distribution that enables mobile application development. initially this distribution will include the following eclipse projects: eclipse platform + JDT + MTj + Mylyn + ECF + MADK Extensions;
  • SDK Provider: The SDK provider is the entity that develops and provide a Mobile SDK that is user by mobile application developer to write their applications;
  • SDK Deployment format: The format that the SDK will be deployed to Eclipse Pulsar. Three deployment formats are supported: installer executable, zip file and eclipse plugins. In the executable scenario, the executable is called during the SDK install and it can also informs an uninstaller that will be called if the user chooses to uninstall the SDK fro Pulsar.
  • Pulsar Extensions: Pulsar Extension provide Pulsar specific features that are used by mobile developers. Initially there will be only one main extension: the QuickInstall feature. This feature is broken into two components: QuickInstall view and QuickInstall touchpoint;
  • Pulsar QuickInstall view: this view presents connects to MADK server and SDK Providers server to get s list of all SDKs available. Those SDKs are presented to the mobile developer that can download/install, get more information etc.;
  • Pulsar QuickInstall actions: There are two actions defined. One to install and another to uninstall an SDK. Those actions are necessary when the SDK deployment format is an executable file that needs to be run after it is downloaded. The install action is responsible to run it. The uninstall action does the opposite and calls the SDK uninstaller during the uninstall process.
  • MTJ SDKInstall Extension Point: This extension point is used by the SDK providers register their SDKs and during the install / remove process. The extension point initially will required

   - ID: extension ID
   - SDKInstaller: class that will implements an org.eclipse.mtj.ISDK. The following methods need to be implemented
       - IDevice[] getDevices() -> called by MADK QuickInstall touchpoint after the install process to register all devices provided by this SDK. This method is also called everytime that MADK is started to make sure that all Device are still the same

  • Pulsar Server: This server has a reference to all SDKs provider servers. When Puslar Quickinstall view connects to thsi server it will query all registered SDK Providers URL for new/updated SDKs;
  • SDK Provider Server: Each SDK provider needs to setup it own download server. This server is a usual p2 server that has the following format

   - content.xml -> server metadata
   - artifacts.xml -> server artifacts
   - binary/ -> Executable or zip file of the SDK
   - plugin/ -> SDK Provider plugins
   - feature/ -> SDK Provider features

  • SDK Metadata: describe all SDKs available. It is generated during a P2 metadata generation process (seeGenerating P2 Metadata). Specifically on Pulsar scenario, it is necessary to use a post metadata process that will add some specific information to the content and artifact xml. This is only required if the deployment format is an executable or a zip file.
  • SDK Provider Extensions: Different levels of extensions are possible, but none is mandatory. The most basic one is the MTJ SDJInstall extension. If is it implemented, all SDK devices will be automatically registered once Eclipse Pulsar is started. Otherwise the user will have to manually import the SDK.
  • SDK Server Layout: The packing format describe what needs to be placed on the SDK Provider Server in order that MADK can find and install the SDKs. Below is an example of how 3 SDKs can be packed:

   - content.xml -> server metadata. must be changed to include Pulsar install / uninstall action
   - artifacts.xml -> server artifacts. needs to be changed to include binary artifacts
   - plugin/
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk1_1.0.0.jar
           - META-INF/Manifest.mf -> manifest with the SDK version and provider
           - com/sdkprovider/javame/sdk1/SDK1Installer.class -> MTJ ISDK implementation that is called during Pulsar startup
           - plugin.xml -> describe the MTJ SDKInstall extension implementation
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk2_1.0.0.jar
           - META-INF/Manifest.mf -> manifest with the SDK version and provider
           - com/sdkprovider/javame/sdk1/SDK1Installer.class -> MTJ ISDK implementation that is called during Pulsar startup
           - plugin.xml -> describe the MTJ SDKInstall extension implementation
   - feature/ -> SDK Provider features
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk1_1.0.0.jar
           - META-INF/Manifest.mf -> feature manifest
           - feature.xml -> describe the SDK with its EULA, version, provider and get more info URL
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk2_1.0.0.jar
           - META-INF/Manifest.mf -> feature manifest
           - feature.xml -> describe the SDK with its EULA, version, provider and get more info URL
   - binary/
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk1.exe
       - com.sdkprovider.javame.sdk2.zip

Actors

  • Mobile Application Developer: Pulsar final user that downloads MADK distribution, download and install new SDKs and develop mobile applications;
  • SDK Provider Developer: SDK provider develper that needs to implement the extensions and pack the SDK

Components

  • Pulsar:QuickInstall View: main MADK view that is used to find / install SDKs
  • Pulsar:QuickInstall Action: p2 action that installs the SDKs. each SDK (that is deployed as an executable file) must refer this action on its metadata
  • Pulsar:MADK Server: ths server is hosted inside Eclipse foundation infra-structure and it has a reference to all SDK Providers URL.
  • SDK:SDK Provider Server: Each SDK provider needs to setup its own download server with its SDKs. This is necessary since Eclipse servers can only host EPL content and each SDK will probably have non-EPL content.
  • SDK:SDK Extensions: SDK extension are called by MADK:QuickInstall Touchpoint during the install process to install the SDK.
  • Eclipse:Eclipse P2: P2 is the basic eclipse component that is used as a base during the download / install process.

Use Cases

Use cases are broken into two groups according to the use case perspective. The first group list all use cases that are related to the mobile application developer actor. On the other hand, the second group focus on the SDK Provider Developer perspective.

Pulsar Use Cases

Figure below presents the main use cases diagram in the perspective of the Mobile Application Developer. Usecases madk.png

  • [UC001]: List SDKs:

This is the first use case tht the mobile application developer can execute. It presents a list of all SDKs that available grouped by provider. Each SDK can be in 3 different states:

    • New: SDK is not installed in this current Pulsar distribution. This might be a new SDK or an SDK that was installed but removed on the past;
    • Installed: SDK is installed on current Pulsar distribution;
    • Updates: SDK is installed and there are updates to this SDK.
   Main Flow:
   1. User opens the quickinstall view
   2. Quickinstall view connects to Pulsar server to list all available SDK Providers repositories
   3. Quickinstall view connects to each SDK Provider Servers to list all availables SDKs (may execute secondary flow 1)
   4. Quickinstall view presents a list of all available SDK grouped by provider
   5. Execute UC002 (may execute secondary flow 2)
   Secondary Flow:
   1. SDK Provider Server requies an authentication. User should enter the User Name / URL
   2. If the SDK is already installed, execute UC003

Below image presents a sequence diagram that of the List use case. This is just a high level diagram that does not intent to have the actual classes/methods that might be used on a real implementation. Usecases madk list.png

Below image give a idea of how the List SDKs UI might be. This is just an initial proposal that can be changed in the future. Madk listsdks.jpg

  • [UC002]: Find new SDKs:

This use case is included on UC001. It handles the scenario of a SDK that is not yet installed or that was installed and removed in the past. The SDKs in this scenario will be listed as NEW and the user will be able to download and install each of them. ([gep] should we support multiple simultaneous SDK downloads? if we use p2 UI flow we can)

   Main Flow:
   1. New SDKs are presented on the highlights on the SDKs list
   2. New SDKs are listed with a "NEW" indication. The following information are presented on each New SDK
   - Name
   - Version
   - Brief Description
   - URL to get more information
  • [UC003]: Find updates of a SDK:

This use case is similar to UC002. The main difference is that the SDKs in this scenario are already installed and there is an updated version of it. This SDK only make sense if there is some kinbd of internal solution on the SDK itself to update it. For example, if the SDK is provided just as a zip file, an updated version of it, might just unzip the updated on top of the previous installation.

   Main Flow:
   1. Based on the currently installed Features, Pulsar checks which SDKs are already installed
   2. After, it checks if there is an update for this SDK.
   3. If there is not, the SDK is highlighted with a "INSTALLED" indication
   4. If there is, the SDK is highlighted with a "UPDATEAvailable" indication
   5. New SDKs are listed with a "NEW" indication. The following information are presented on each New SDK
   - Name
   - Version
   - Brief Description
   - URL to get more information
  • [UC004]: Authenticate User:

This might be necessary if the SDK is not directly available on the internet. In this situation, the user needs to enter a user name / password that will be validated at the SDK Provider Server. Based on the, the user might get access or not to the server content.

   Main Flow:
   1. Quickinstall view will present a dilog box with:
   - title of the repository that it is trying to access
   -  a login / password field
   - ok / cancel button
   2. The user presses OK (may execute secondary flow 1)
   Secondary Flow:
   1. If the user presses CANCEL, that repository will not be accessible and its SDKs will not be listed
  • [UC005]: Download SDK

The download process will reuse all P2 download protocol.

   Main Flow:
   1. User selects one specific SDK to download
   2. Quickview will check if all components required by this SDK are available (may execute secondary flow 1)
   3. All components are available, UC007 (Review License Agreement) is executed
   4. The SDK and SDK extensions are downloaded (may execute secondary flow 2)
   5. EclipsePlatform Request Quickinstall touchpoint to install the SDK 
   6. Execute UC006 (Install SDK)
   Secondary flows:
   1. All required components are not available: quickinstall view will show the user the list of componnts that also need to be downloaded. The user will need to download them to continue
   2. Network error: if there is any network error the install process is aborted
  • [UC006]: Install SDK

The main aspect to highlight on this use case is that, the Quickinstall touchpoint shall be used to install the SDK. This touchpoint will call the SDKInstaller implementation that should be responsible to install the SDK itself. This will give more flexibility to each SDK provider to define their SDK package format.

   Main flow:
   1. Quickinstall touchpoint calls the SDK installer (may execute secondary flow 1)
   2. Quickinstall touchpoint installs all SDK extensions (may execute secondary flow 2)
   3. SDK state is changed to "INSTALLED"
   Secondary flow:
   1. Installer error: if there is an error during the installer execution, the install process is aborted
   2. quickinstall touchpoint not found: if quickinstall touchpoint is not available on MADK, the install process is be aborted
  • [UC007]: Review license agreement

This is part of the usual P2 download process and the idea of this use case is to keep the same behavior.

   Main flow:
   1. Feature EULA is presented to the user
   2. The user accepts the EULA (may execute secondary flow 1)
   Secondary flow:
   1. User does not accept EULA: the install process is aborted 

SDK Provider Use Cases

Figure below presents the main use cases diagram in the perspective of the Mobile Application Developer. Those use case are more high level tasks that need to be performed by the SDK Provider team in order to be integrated into MADK distribution. Since that, the use cases are related to how to implement the extensions and setup the server. This is still a high level description that need to be later detailed.

Usecases sdk.png

  • [UC001]: Implements SDK Extensions:

The extension is necessary, since is describes to install the SDK.

   Main flow:
   1. SDK Provider should implement the extension point that describe how to install / uninstall / configure the SDK
   2. The SDK extension must be packed with the SDK it self
  • [UC002]: Pack SDK:

The SDK will be packed in a way that the extension can install it.

   Main flow:
   1. SDK Provider shall pack the SDK in a single feature and a single plugin. The plugin must include
   - SDK Extensions
   - SDK Installer
   2. The SDK must be build using standard PDE build system
  • [UC003]: Setup Server:

The SDK Provider Server is a usual P2 server.

   Main flow:
   1. SDK provider setup its p2 server according to p2 design
   2. SDK provider might setup different permissions level to the repository
   3. SDK provider ask MADK Server to add its repository URL to the list of available SDKs

Open Questions

  • Is the Quickinstal view really necessary?

[gustavo]: Maybe it is possible just to reuse existing P2 UI flow. In this case, each SDK provider wll have its own repository that is available to the mobile developer. The SDK Provider repository can define a category that will group its SDKs. The mobile user will be able to see all of of them at the same time or filter by SDK provider (repository). Several SDKs could be installed / updated at the same time (need to evaluate the impact of that)

  • If Pulsar just use standard p2 UI flow, is there any issue for the mobile developer?

[gustavo]: P2 UI flow is what is available on all eclipse distribution, but that might limit some requirements, for instance. There is no way to add a SDK provider URL that would be presented to mobile developer to get more information.

  • It seems that there is still some issue to have an eclipse server with a link to external non-EPL repositories

[gustavo]: Currently there is an open discussion on the architecture council about this topis. This is not closed yet, but there is an agreement that it is a high priority issue. Best Practices for interfacing with libs that are not EPL compatible. If this is not solved on galileo timeframe, there is definitely an issue to setup MADK server

  • Is it a requirement that a fresh Eclipse SDK can be used to download SDK?

[gustavo]: In the solution described here, this is not possible. MADK distribution need to be used to access the SDKs providers URLs. the reason for that is that the distribution includes the MADK extensions that are necessary to install the SDK. If this is a requirements, the solution described here need to changed. the other option is that the SDK provider can use the standard eclipse touchpoints that are available on standard p2 distribution. for example, if the SDK install process is only to unzip it in one specific folder, that can be handle by standard p2 touchpoints.

  • Should Pulsar handle multiple platforms (win, linux, mac)?

[gustavo]: Probably this can already be handled by the usual eclipse mechanisms that can filter the available plugins based on the host. but it is still necessary to do some tests to validate the end user experience.

  • Is it necessary that Pulsar runs on both ganymede and galileo?

[gustavo]: if Pulsar is part of galileo train, the final distribution package will be based only on galileo. If it is a requirements to also work on top of ganymede, it is necessary to identify a solution for that.

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