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Difference between revisions of "Orion/FAQ"

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''If you have a question that is not covered by this FAQ but should, please let us know (on IRC, on the mailing list, or by filing a bug). Thanks!''
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''If you have a question that is not covered by this FAQ but think it should be, please let us know (on IRC, on the mailing list, or by filing a bug). Thanks!''
  
==== What is the Orion project? ====
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Orion is a Mature open source project under the [[Eclipse]] top-level project.
Orion's goal is to become an open tool integration platform for web-based software development. The vision is to move software development to the web as a web experience, as opposed to just cloning the desktop IDE experience in a browser. For now, Orion is a code contribution to the Eclipse e4 incubator by IBMWith other interested participants, we are planning to start a proper eclipse.org project within the next few months.
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Orion's objective is to create a browser-based open tool integration platform which is entirely focused on developing for the web, in the web. Tools are written in JavaScript and run in the browser. Unlike other attempts at creating browser-based development tools, this is not an IDE running in a single tab. Links work and can be shared. You can open a file in a new tab. Great care has been taken to provide a web experience for developmentOrion components are individually consumable and all the components of Orion together can be viewed at the public facing [http://orionhub.org OrionHub] site where anyone can create an account and try Orion out.  This FAQ describes what you can expect from OrionHub.
  
 
==== What are the benefits of bringing the development infrastructure to the web? ====  
 
==== What are the benefits of bringing the development infrastructure to the web? ====  
 
More and more software and infrastructure is moving to the web and adopting web technologies. The same reasons apply to software development tooling:
 
More and more software and infrastructure is moving to the web and adopting web technologies. The same reasons apply to software development tooling:
* zero install on the client
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* Zero install on the client
* lower TCO
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* Lower total cost of ownership
* scalable computing power
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* Scalable computing power
* simple connectivity -- links
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* Simple connectivity -- links
* trivial update mechanism (i.e. refresh the page)
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* Trivial update mechanism (i.e. refresh the page)
* powerful rendering engine -- browsers
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* Powerful rendering engine -- browsers
* very large and active community
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* Very large and active community
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==== What Browser versions are supported? ====
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Supported browser versions are captured in each release plan found in the [https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/ecd.orion Orion Project Overview].
  
 
==== What is the current status of the project? ====  
 
==== What is the current status of the project? ====  
The current code base has been developed by a handful of developers over a few months. Orion has a fast and scalable code editor that runs on all major desktop browsers. There is a way to navigate files and folders and to search, and work has begun to integrate with Git. For the debugger part, the plan is to integrate well with Firebug and/or WebKit inspector.
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Orion has now been under development for over a year and graduated to a Mature project in October of 2012. Orion has an excellent base platform for the purposes of developing HTML, JavaScript and CSS applications. There is source code management through Git, built in search capabilities, an excellent editor with JavaScript content assist, Sites and self hosting your code as you develop it, a few deployment scenarios and a growing list of plugins to extend the base functionality. The components that make up the core infrastructure of Orion such as the plug-in mechanism, micro service framework are mature and have many example of reuse. We're not done by any means, but the 3.0 release gives a foundation on which to build.
  
==== Can Orion be used for real work? ====
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==== What is Orion Hub? ====
Not in its current form - there are still a number of gaping holes in terms of functionality. As of M5, Orion has the following limitations:
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* Orion does not have a UI for working with a version control repository.
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* Users cannot copy or move files. {{Bug|334718}}
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* When using Orion to develop web content, the resulting web site cannot be "launched" for testing. {{Bug|335789}}
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==== A web-based IDE was originally announced as part of the e4 effort. How do these early announcements relate to what is currently available in the Orion codebase? ====
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http://orionhub.org is a public TEST server of Orion. It is available to the general public for the purpose of evaluating a stable Orion build. Everyone can request an account directly on the site. Note that this is a site meant to test Orion features and there is no guarantee that data stored on this server will be persisted. The Eclipse Foundation reserves the right to delete any and all data from the server. If you are trying it out, you should regularly push your changes to a remote Git repository such as [http://github.org GitHub], copy your files to another server via SFTP, or export a Zip file with your changes.
At EclipseCon 2008, almost three years ago, we demoed a prototype of a web-based Eclipse. We decided back then that we were too early and did not continue working on the prototype. The Orion code base is a completely new implementation, focused on web technologies and principles. The idea is to make the web itself the development environment, instead of trying to bring existing desktop IDE concepts to the browser.
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==== Can OrionHub be used for real work? ====
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Yes, however note that your data is on a public test server, and is not backed up. From time to time, the user accounts on OrionHub may be reset or removed due to lack of use or misuse.
  
 
==== Which technologies are running behind the scenes of the Orion project? ====  
 
==== Which technologies are running behind the scenes of the Orion project? ====  
To realize our vision of embracing the web, the important technologies will be RESTful HTTP, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, Atom, OpenID, OAuth, etc. Our goal is to enable linking between Orion and other web-based tools such as bug tracking systems like Bugzilla, build monitoring tools like Hudson, code review tools like Gerrit, versioning repositories like GitHub, and so on. By comparison, the concrete technologies used for our current implementation are not as important to us, but since you asked, we used pure HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Dojo on the client, and Java with Equinox, Jetty, and JGit on the server.
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To realize our vision of embracing the web, the important technologies will be RESTful HTTP, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, Atom, OpenID, OAuth, Persona, etc. Our goal is to enable linking between Orion and other web-based tools such as bug tracking systems like Bugzilla, build monitoring tools like Hudson, code review tools like Gerrit, versioning repositories like GitHub, and so on. By comparison, the concrete technologies used for our current implementation are not as important to us, but since you asked, we used pure HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript on the client, and Java with Equinox, Jetty, and JGit on the server. We also have a [https://npmjs.org/package/orion second, experimental server] written in JavaScript using Node.js.
  
==== What is the relationship between Orion and the Rich Ajax Platform (RAP)? ====
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==== Orion is not based on the old Eclipse codebase, so how does the Orion code relate to the "old" Eclipse platform code and the other existing Eclipse projects? ====  
Orion does not use the [http://www.eclipse.org/rap Rich Ajax Platform (RAP)]. Quoted from the RAP project homepage, "the Rich Ajax Platform lets you build rich, Ajax-enabled Web applications by using the Eclipse development model, plug-ins with the well known Eclipse workbench extension points and a widget toolkit with SWT API. Existing RCP applications can be run as Web applications with only minor changes." Orion is a completely new codebase and has no dependencies on the traditional Eclipse development model with its plug-ins, extension points, Java API, or SWT widget toolkit.
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We are using code from the Eclipse Runtime project for our server. On the client side, we are working on UI components that are fully web based. The desktop Eclipse IDE is not going to go away, and is going to be actively developed and maintained for many years to come. In fact, if the logic of your Eclipse based application has a clean separation of headless APIs and Data and UI, you can use the Orion server as a starting point to expose your core application data to a JavaScript application written using Orion.
 
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==== Orion is not based on the old Eclipse codebase, so how does the Orion code relate to the “old” Eclipse platform code and the other existing Eclipse projects? ====  
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We are using code from the Eclipse Runtime project for our server. On the client side, we are working on UI components that are fully web based. To the extent possible, we want to make it possible to use these web UI components in the existing desktop Eclipse, for example as views or editors. But the codebases will be separate. We are only starting with Orion, and are at a very early stage. The desktop Eclipse IDE is not going to go away, and is going to be actively developed and maintained for many years to come.
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==== Is Orion limited to providing a development infrastructure, or is it conceivable to use the Orion code for other purposes, in a similar way the Eclipse code was used for RCP and Runtime Projects? ====  
 
==== Is Orion limited to providing a development infrastructure, or is it conceivable to use the Orion code for other purposes, in a similar way the Eclipse code was used for RCP and Runtime Projects? ====  
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==== What are the next steps for Orion? ====  
 
==== What are the next steps for Orion? ====  
We are planning a summit in Palo Alto, CA, in March, to bring interested people from various companies together for a face to face kick-off meeting. The goal of the meeting is to let those who participate set the direction for Orion, and produce a formal project proposal for Orion. In parallel, we will be improving the current code base based on our own needs, since we are already self-hosting - i.e. using Orion itself to work on the client side of Orion.
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Orion graduated to a mature Eclipse Project in October 2012 coinciding with a 1.0 release at EclipseCon Europe. For our 3.0 release in June 2013, we are addressing themes around Java server scalability, improved content assist, a more intuitive search page and editor page, better internationalization, and a modern UI refresh. Packaging Orion as a web archive (WAR) is also a goal. <!-- we want to focus on improved JavaScript tooling, hosting scenarios on Node.js, additional file services and discovery and deployment solutions for the projects you are developing in Orion.-->
 
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We are also planning to make a hosted version of Orion available at eclipse.org so that those who would like to try it can do so with minimal effort. There is going to be a period where this will be a beta program and by invitation only, but we hope to be able to open a demo server for anybody within the next few months.
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As we develop new features, we encourage you to try them out at [http://orionhub.org/ orionhub.org].
  
 
[[Category:Orion|FAQ]]
 
[[Category:Orion|FAQ]]

Latest revision as of 10:25, 18 December 2015

If you have a question that is not covered by this FAQ but think it should be, please let us know (on IRC, on the mailing list, or by filing a bug). Thanks!

Orion is a Mature open source project under the Eclipse top-level project.

Orion's objective is to create a browser-based open tool integration platform which is entirely focused on developing for the web, in the web. Tools are written in JavaScript and run in the browser. Unlike other attempts at creating browser-based development tools, this is not an IDE running in a single tab. Links work and can be shared. You can open a file in a new tab. Great care has been taken to provide a web experience for development. Orion components are individually consumable and all the components of Orion together can be viewed at the public facing OrionHub site where anyone can create an account and try Orion out. This FAQ describes what you can expect from OrionHub.

What are the benefits of bringing the development infrastructure to the web?

More and more software and infrastructure is moving to the web and adopting web technologies. The same reasons apply to software development tooling:

  • Zero install on the client
  • Lower total cost of ownership
  • Scalable computing power
  • Simple connectivity -- links
  • Trivial update mechanism (i.e. refresh the page)
  • Powerful rendering engine -- browsers
  • Very large and active community

What Browser versions are supported?

Supported browser versions are captured in each release plan found in the Orion Project Overview.

What is the current status of the project?

Orion has now been under development for over a year and graduated to a Mature project in October of 2012. Orion has an excellent base platform for the purposes of developing HTML, JavaScript and CSS applications. There is source code management through Git, built in search capabilities, an excellent editor with JavaScript content assist, Sites and self hosting your code as you develop it, a few deployment scenarios and a growing list of plugins to extend the base functionality. The components that make up the core infrastructure of Orion such as the plug-in mechanism, micro service framework are mature and have many example of reuse. We're not done by any means, but the 3.0 release gives a foundation on which to build.

What is Orion Hub?

http://orionhub.org is a public TEST server of Orion. It is available to the general public for the purpose of evaluating a stable Orion build. Everyone can request an account directly on the site. Note that this is a site meant to test Orion features and there is no guarantee that data stored on this server will be persisted. The Eclipse Foundation reserves the right to delete any and all data from the server. If you are trying it out, you should regularly push your changes to a remote Git repository such as GitHub, copy your files to another server via SFTP, or export a Zip file with your changes.

Can OrionHub be used for real work?

Yes, however note that your data is on a public test server, and is not backed up. From time to time, the user accounts on OrionHub may be reset or removed due to lack of use or misuse.

Which technologies are running behind the scenes of the Orion project?

To realize our vision of embracing the web, the important technologies will be RESTful HTTP, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, JSON, Atom, OpenID, OAuth, Persona, etc. Our goal is to enable linking between Orion and other web-based tools such as bug tracking systems like Bugzilla, build monitoring tools like Hudson, code review tools like Gerrit, versioning repositories like GitHub, and so on. By comparison, the concrete technologies used for our current implementation are not as important to us, but since you asked, we used pure HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript on the client, and Java with Equinox, Jetty, and JGit on the server. We also have a second, experimental server written in JavaScript using Node.js.

Orion is not based on the old Eclipse codebase, so how does the Orion code relate to the "old" Eclipse platform code and the other existing Eclipse projects?

We are using code from the Eclipse Runtime project for our server. On the client side, we are working on UI components that are fully web based. The desktop Eclipse IDE is not going to go away, and is going to be actively developed and maintained for many years to come. In fact, if the logic of your Eclipse based application has a clean separation of headless APIs and Data and UI, you can use the Orion server as a starting point to expose your core application data to a JavaScript application written using Orion.

Is Orion limited to providing a development infrastructure, or is it conceivable to use the Orion code for other purposes, in a similar way the Eclipse code was used for RCP and Runtime Projects?

This is definitely conceivable, but not our current focus. We will definitely be thinking about this constantly as we are developing Orion further.

What are the next steps for Orion?

Orion graduated to a mature Eclipse Project in October 2012 coinciding with a 1.0 release at EclipseCon Europe. For our 3.0 release in June 2013, we are addressing themes around Java server scalability, improved content assist, a more intuitive search page and editor page, better internationalization, and a modern UI refresh. Packaging Orion as a web archive (WAR) is also a goal.

As we develop new features, we encourage you to try them out at orionhub.org.

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