We are happy to announce that our EPlug 1.2.43 is out.

EPlug is our Eclipse plugin for JVx applications and also for our low-code platform VisionX.

The main improvements were a complete redesign and a big performance tuning.
For sure, we have some great new features like:

• Support for ColumnViews
• Support for MasterReferences
• Support for SortDefinitions
• Support for new Var(...)
• Metadata cache improvements
• Avoid compile Errors when columns cannot be checked
• Show element in tree (one click)
• Bugfixes

Feel free to try out our new version and send us your feedback.

-> Eclipse Marketplace

We're happy to announce the release of EPlug 1.2.7. This minor update comes with a big performance improvement!

Major performance improvement

The most notable and important feature of this release is the major speed improvement when checking files. We've revisited how the build pipeline works and could determine quite a few bottlenecks which did not only encumber the build process, but also the live checks of databooks. After fixing these bottlenecks the databook live checks are blazing fast and one does not notice any more that these are active.

While reviewing the code, we also saw the possibility for a few more tweaks which we will incorporate into the next major release, to squeeze even more performance out of this.

Improved DataBook View

The DataBook view has also received some much needed attention. There is now a toolbar button which allows to sort the columns by their name (instead of their order as returned by the datasource). Additionally the view does no longer flicker when refreshing and will also clear itself when the last editor closes.

Other fixes

1. There is no longer a sleeping EPlug job in the Progress View.
2. The EPlug preferences are now only available on Java projects.
3. If there is no screen lifecycle object, the session object is now used.
4. Removed raw HTML in tooltips.

How to get it?

Simply update EPlug via Eclipse!

We're happy to announce the release of EPlug 1.2.6. Again this small version bump does not only yield important bug fixes, but also new features which will make your life a lot easier.

Fixes

This release includes bug fixes along with new features. One of the most notable problems fixed was that compile time checks might not be run if the communication with VisionX was active.

Cleaner context menu with more actions

We have restructured our approach to the context menu entries and introduced a new menu item which holds all EPlug related actions:

As you can see we've also added new actions to jump to the configuration files.

Resources outside of source folders

We do support autocompletion and compile time checks for resources, like images. But we only supported resources inside of source folders, with this version we do now also support resources anywhere in the project.

Improved DataBook handling

DataBook handling has been improved once more. There are now additional checks which make sure that a RemoteDataBook receives the correct DataSource and there for if the MetaData can reliably be determined.

Additionally, the type of flag issued if no MetaData could be determined is now a configurable build option on the project.

An example:

This would have been flagged as warning, because no MetaData could be determined for pDataBook. Now the check determines that determining MetaData for this DataBook is impossible and flags it accordingly. You can configure whether you want to see this flag or not in the project settings.

EPlug does also recognize if a "foreign" datasource has been set:

Usernames for sessions

Last but not least, there is now a project setting which allows to set the username which is used by EPlug for the session it creates.

A little background, to acquire the MetaData (and some other information about the application) EPlug creates a session of the application and executes the server side code. It could be that projects do have checks and manipulations on the username somewhere in their code on the server. Previously EPlug would set null as username, but now it does either use the configured autologin username or the username configured in the project settings. That allows server side code which does operate on the username of the session to run without a problem, which means that there are no checks necessary if the session was initialized by EPlug or not.

How to get it?

Simply update EPlug via Eclipse!

We're happy to announce the release of EPlug 1.2.5. Even though the change in the version number is quite small, the changes which have gone into this version are very interesting.

Better hover information and improved DataBookView

The biggest visual change in this new version is the new hover information for columns:

As you can see it has been vastly extended, with nearly all information about the column which you might want to know about, including its type, the label and all other properties.

Also the image preview is now more useful and is displaying the complete image but scaled to fit the hover:

Additionally the DataBookView has been restructured to display the information in a more easily digestible way, structured by variable name and source of the columns:

Improved DataBook support

The support for DataBooks/DataRows has been greatly improved and the plugin does now support a lot more variations on how to achieve the metadata. For example cloning of ColumnDefinitions, assigning of RowDefinitions and even getDataRow(...) and similar methods are now processed to acquire the metadata and column information.

Objects in server calls

One of the build-time checks is the type-check of parameters in server calls. Let's look at a simple example:

While this compiles completely fine in pure Java (because callAction(...) does accept an Object vararg), EPlug would flag it with an error because getValue(...) returns an Object but the server-side expects a BigDecimal. With this update there is now a build option available in the Project/EPlug settings to ignore such errors, allowing to pass Objects to the server side without checks.

Misspelled a column name? No problem!

We do now offer QuickFixes for column names with typos:

Automatic check of complement files

There is now a new build option in the Project/EPlug settings which allows to enable the automatic check of complement files. A "complement" file is simply the "other side", for example for the lifecycle-object the complement file is the workscreen, and vice versa. That means that now workscreens are automatically checked if the lifecycle object changes.

Preliminary String array support

There are various functions which do accept a String array of column names, for example getValues(...). Because of limitations coming up from the JDT infrastructure which we are using, we've been unable to provide autocompletion for column names in such circumstances:

We are still unable to determine the exact databook in such circumstances, but we do now simply provide all columns as completion suggestions. What we can do is provide full hover and build support for these functions.

Improved VisionX/EPlug communication

VisionX is now a lot more talkative, it informs EPlug about file changes. If "Auto Reload" is enabled in EPlug, all files that have been changed by VisionX will now be reloaded and checked automatically. The same accounts for changed metadata.

Changes

• Updated JVx version
• Cached MetaData is now correctly invalidated and refreshed
• DataBookView is now not constantly refreshed
• Markers (Errors, Warnings) are now only placed on the names of the columns, instead of the whole statement
• Inserted methods (from quick fixes) should now always be correctly formed
• Fixed "phantom" markers which could pop up during build
• Fixed that the DataBookView might not display all metadata
• Fixed that folding nodes in the DataBookView made the child-nodes vanish
• Various bug fixes

Simply update EPlug via Eclipse!

Our Eclipse plugin for JVx and VisionX is available as version 1.2.4.
It's a small bugfix release.

Changes

• Proxy support (tests)

  Some customers had problems with http(s) proxies and our trial activation. We made extended tests with (win/linux) proxies and didn't find any problems. We reduced the communication timeout because it was too long. Please send us your feedback.

• Additional checks for client/server code mixing

  It might be a problem if you use a server class (src.server) in your client classes (src.client). This depends on the deployment mode (Web, Desktop, ...), but it's better to separate client and server code. The new check can be dis/enabled but it checks by default if your client has direct server references.

• Using Metadata independent of AbstractCachedStorage

  It's now possible to use column name autocompletion, even if the storage isn't an instance of "AbstractCachedStorage".

Simply update EPlug via Eclipse or jump to the info page.

A new version of EPlug is available. It's a smaller bugfix release.

Changes:

• Fixed that all dialogs (including trial) would not be displayed
• Resource detection for Maven projects should now work correctly
• Fixed NullPointerException, if "check databooks while typing" was active and a file was edited that was not a Java file
• Fixed possible NullPointerException in the DataBooksView
• "Auto Reload" and Auto Select" are now properly disabled if EPlug is not active on the project

Simply "Check for updates" in your Eclipse IDE.

Great news for everyone who uses, or plans to use our Eclipse plugin called EPlug, a new version  is available! Version 1.2.0 brings a whole truckload of new features and bug fixes.

Changes (Pro and VisionX)

• Completion for resources is now more reliable
• Sped up the time it takes for VisionX to reload a file if a change was made in Eclipse
• MetaData changes are now properly handled
• When selecting from VisionX to Eclipse it will be made sure that the server and client class both show up
• Added the "Checkl File (EPlug)" command, which allows to easily re-run all checks on the current file
• The hyperlinks for server calls/actions are now "fuzzy", which means that if there is no function with that signature, the next best function will be the target
• Improved the error messages if there was a problem when checking databooks
• Added completion for generic resources, which means you now can get completion for any resource in your project
• The call to UIImage.getImage(String) is now checked at compile time if the resource exists
• By default, databooks are now checked while you're typing for instant feedback. This can be disabled in the project properties
• Added a view that displays all databooks in the current file, including column name and type
• Added support for the constructor of UIEditor
• Dramatically increased the speed of compile time checks

Eclipse Mars

Also we have tested and developed EPlug with Eclipse Mars, which means that you can use it in the latest and greatest Eclipse release version. Of course we haven't dropped support for older versions, EPlug should continue to work even on Eclipse Juno.

Download

You can install EPlug directly from the Eclipse Marketplace.

Since last year we are offering an Eclipse Plugin that integrates  the JVx workflow into Eclipse. Now that EPlug 1.2 has been released, we believe it's long overdue to give you a guided tour of the experience that EPlug is offering.

Trial

We offer a free trial period so that you can test EPlug without any problems. The first time you start Eclipse with EPlug you will be asked if you'd like to only test EPlug, or if you'd like to select an already purchased Pro license.

When clicking the Trial button, a new trial license will be issued and you'll be able to evaluate EPlug with all features for 30 days.

'First Run' Wizard

One of the biggest usability improvements compared to previous versions is discoverability of how to use and activate EPlug. With the new version we have added a "First Run Wizard" which allows to directly activate EPlug on selected projects.

Usage

EPlug integrates seamlessly into Eclipse, but to use most of its features it has to be activated on each project you want to use it with. This can be done in the previously shown First Run Wizard, or by right-clicking a project and selecting "Activate EPlug" under "Configure".

From there on you will be able to use code completion, compile time checks and all the other features on this project.

Better and extended commands

A handful of commands are added by EPlug, which make it faster to navigate in JVx projects.

Go to complement class

It's often the case that you want to go from the server to the client class, or from the client to the server class. Most of the time in Eclipse this involves expanding trees and looking for the correct class in the Package Explorer. That is why we've implement the command "Go to complement class", which enables you to quickly jump from the server to client, or the other way round.

As you can see the command is available from the context menu, but you can also bind it to a key in the "Keys" preferences.

Open Declaration

The "Open Declaration" command, sometimes known by its key binding "F3", allows you to jump to the declaration of whatever is currently under the cursor. We've extended this command with the possibility to jump to the declaration of event handlers (actions), server methods and storage's. If the item underneath the cursor is not handled by our extension, the default "Open Declaration" command will be invoked.

The declaration:

Because we've extended the "Open Declaration" command, you can bind the "Open Declaration (EPlug)" command also to "F3" and enjoy faster navigating in your JVx files without any downsides.

DataBooks

The biggest and most important feature of EPlug is its support for data books. EPlug offers code completion, compile time checks and more for column names on remote and local data books.

Code completion

Everytime you want to get or set a value, or wire up an editor you will receive code completion suggestions with all column names that are in the databook, it doesn't matter if those are remote or added locally.

Compile time checks

Of course we also added compile time checks, which means that you can never mistype a column name ever again.

With the newest version, these compile time checks are even active while you type!

Text hovers

When hovering above a column name, a simple text hover will inform you about the type of the column.

Storage support

RemoteDataBooks require to have the correct name set so that the server side storage is found, of course we do also offer code completion, compile time checks, text hovers and hyperlinks for this.

The DataBook View

And last but for sure not least, with the newest version a feature has been added which I've been looking forward to for quite some time: The DataBook View. A view similar to the Outline view, which displays all databooks in the current file and all of its columns.

Actions/Events and server calls

Support for actions, events and server calls is the second big EPlug feature. For events and actions we support a very Lambda-like system that uses reflection and strings. Obviously the compiler was never able to understand this system and provide feedback or support for it, but with EPlug this has changed.

Code Completion

Whenever you want to wire up an event, you'll now receive code completion for all fitting methods in the used class.

Action methods:

Remote calls:

As you can see in upper image, we also provide a fast and convenient way to create methods if necessary.

Compile time checks

During compilation the actions, events and server calls are checked for their correctness, and if there is a problem it'll be reported to you.

You can also see the quick fixes for this problem, which do not only offer to create the missing method, but also suggesting methods with similar names in case a typo happened.

Text hovers, hyperlinks and refactoring support

Additionally EPlug provides text hover and hyperlink support, that means that you can now jump to the methods by using your mouse (Ctrl+Left Click) or the "Open Declaration (EPlug)" command. Refactoring support has also been added, which means that you can now rename action/event handlers without having to manually search for all uses and change those.

Resources

Dealing with resources can often be a pain in the neck, especially if you constantly have to look up the path and check if you're now using the correct image. Because we also felt these pains, we've added functionality to EPlug to make sure that working with resources becomes easy and painless.

Support for UIImage

Whenever you use UIImage methods, you can now enjoy code completion, previews of the images and compile time checks.

Preview:

Compile checks:

Generic resource completion

For all other resources, we do only offer a "generic" code completion system and no preview. Still, this is a huge help.

Comments

One of the more simple and not so obvious features of EPlug is that it allows to have code completion of the current class in comments, and also provides the JVx category separators.

Separator:

Action/call completion in comments:

VisionX support

Now we've arrive at the big final, support for VisionX. For all of you who do not know VisionX, it is our product for rapidly building applications from scratch or migrating already existing systems. It allows to build GUIs and the respective database backend within a matter of minutes. Even though VisionX allows you to build whole applications, from time to time you'll want to do something by hand and this is the great thing about VisionX, all projects and applications are automatically and by design already Eclipse projects. So all you need to do is import the project into Eclipse and start working on it. To improve this workflow further EPlug does offer various features.

Selection synchronization

The selection in Eclipse and VisionX can be automatically synchronized, so that whatever you're working on in the one application is also visible and selected in the other

Automatic applying of changes

VisionX will also automatically refresh its current view if you change a sourcefile in Eclipse, allowing to rapidly and verify changes in a workscreen without the need to manually reload the workscreen.

How and where to get it?

EPlug comes in two flavors, EPlug for JVx and EPlug for VisionX, both are available from the Eclipse Marketplace and can be installed and used freely for 30 days. Afterwards a license is necessary to keep using all features.

Our first Eclipse Plugin for JVx and VisionX will be available in a few weeks. We're feature complete and are in the internal test phase. We're extremely surprised about the productivity boost. With VisionX it's currently possible to create and deploy professional database applications in few minutes. The development process is super fast because of VisionX and some really useful features like Action wizard and GUI designer. The missing piece was the IDE integration. It was possible to use Eclipse as IDE to modify VisionX applications, live and bidirectional. The only problem was that it was not easy to find the right line of code or member to do modifications. It wasn't a big problem but it was a waste of time.

Our Plugin helps to save development time, again. The combination of VisionX with EPlug is awesome.

The name of the Plugin is EPlug (not very creative but simple). It will be available in different editions: Lite, Pro and VisionX.

The Lite edition will be free and doesn't offer full power but will be useful.
The Pro edition won't have any limits but won't interact with VisionX.
The VisionX edition adds interaction to Pro edition. It will be possible to use VisionX to jump to Source Code in Eclipse and to show changes directly in VisionX (means live live).

I've an amazing feature for you as screenshot:

Preview image (hover)		Preview image (completion)

Really useful

We want to tell you some fantastic news from our RnD team: The next big step for VisionX will be an IDE integration feature.

Our team is working very hard to reach the goals. The result will be an Eclipse plugin that connects to VisionX and allows bidirectional communication. We won't embedd VisionX in Eclipse because it makes no sense for us, but we'll use the whole power of the IDE.

What will be supported?

• Event links (Eclipse)

  A click on an event action string will jump to the right method.

  databook.eventValuesChanged().addListener(this, "doValuesChanged");

  The click on doValuesChanged will jump to the method in the work-screen.

• Call links (Eclipse)

  A click on an action/object call will jump to the right method, in the right life-cycle object.

  getConnection().callAction("getLicenseInformation");

  The click on getLicenseInformation will jump to the method in the life-cycle object.

• DataBook links (Eclipse)

  A click on the name of a databook will jump to the storage definition, in the life-cycle object.

  RemoteDataBook rdb = new RemoteDataBook();
  rdb.setDataSource(dataSource);
  rdb.setName("users");
  rdb.open();

  The click on users will jump to the DBStorage definition, in the the life-cycle object.

• Auto completion (Eclipse)

  We'll offer auto completion for table columns, event methods, action/object calls, ...

  databook.getRowDefinition().getColumnDefinition("DESCRIPTION").getDataType().setCellEditor(VisionXUtil.MULTILINE_EDITOR);

  It'll be possible to get a list of all available columns, like DESCRIPTION.

• Column checks (Eclipse)

  We'll check if all column names are valid and will show compiler warnings/errors.

• Jump to Eclipse

  It'll be possible, with VisionX, to jump to the source code of e.g. actions, component definitions or databooks in Eclipse. We'll introduce some new Buttons in VisionX, for that feature.

  

  VisionX E-Plug

• Jump to VisionX

  It'll be possible, with Eclipse, to highlight selected GUI components directly in VisionX.

No worries, we have more features for you!

The IDE integration will be available as optional VisionX module.