Feature Grid:

Taking David’s suggestion, here is a breakdown of features that are expected for 1^st class eclipse integration, I also added the current WTP virtual component support

I added some comments, but also left some blank, if I didn’t have any meaningful thoughts J I highlighted some of the major pain points.

	Arbitary linking	Non-java “Source” folders	Project Filter mapping	Current WTP Support
Navigability (Support from existing navigator views)	Shows “logical” view of resources	Shows physical view with “hidden” built content	Shows physical view with filtering	Shows physical view with “hidden” built content
Editing experience (Support from core/WTP editors)	Existing editors remain working on existing runtime structure	Editors required to introduce flexibility for source structure	Existing editors introduce flexibility to work on source structure	Existing editors remain working on existing runtime structure
Deploy and Run Run in Server space, Run in workspace	Resources already in runtime structure – Require servers to use IResource API	Resources assembled into runtime structure. Servers point to output folders “as is”	N/A	Resources assembled into runtime structure. Servers point to output folders “as is”
Existing Platform/JDT preferences/tools integration	All Supported	All Supported – If adopted by base...	All Supported	Based on Projects – not components
Classpath setup	N/A	Classpath per module supported	Classpath per module supported	Multiple components “share” classpath
Doc Root/Context Refers to a fixed folder location For relative lookup	IResource would provide proper “runtime” root for relative links	Support needed to calculate “runtime” doc root	Support needed to calculate “runtime” doc root	Support needed to calculate “runtime” doc root
Resource Changed Clients which are "resource changed" listeners need to know not just which Eclipse Project a resource is in, but also which Web component (etc.) it is in.	Supports resource changed deltas – no work required	Supports resource changed deltas – no work required	Supports resource changed deltas – no work required	New resource changed listeners required to map IResource to virtual resource/component
Markers Each marker and each use of it, may be a different case ... but there needs to be some tie-in to the "parent project" ... for example, in JSP debugging, the breakpoint marker, or more precisely, the "SourceComputer" needs to know the "context root" of the project.	Markers shared between links	Supported	N/A	Support required to map virtual resource to resource
Scheduling Rules operations need to be able to compute the "smallest" "resource collection unit" to lock during execution.	Scheduling rule should be “link” aware possibly causing wider scope	Supported as is	Support required to be “filter” aware – could include other projects….	Scheduling rule should be aware of physical structure possibly causing wider scope
Team Support End-users will want to check out/in and version control "whole web projects" or entire Maven like layouts.	Issues with team if linked from different projects	N/A	Team Project Sets required	Works as is
MetaData Components need shared "meta data" that needs to be coordinated (e.g. CVS) with rest of web project (even if whole web project in mulitple Eclipse projects).	N/A	N/A	Metadata stored in project root (could cause problems with existing structure) May need alternative directory	Metadata stored in configured folder per component
Debug Could use improved support for JSR45, since "deployed structure" different than "development structure" (and varies by server target)	Resources already in runtime structure	Debug required to introduce flexibility for source structure (Mapping back to source structure)	Debug required to introduce flexibility for source structure (Mapping back to source structure)	Debug required to introduce flexibility for source structure (Mapping back to source structure)
Project Features Current proposal expanding upon current Nature support	Module features could be defined	Module features could be defined	Module features could be defined	Would need to be mapped to components
Profiling/Testing	Resources already in runtime structure for testing	Resources assembled into runtime structure – test from assembled location	Resources assembled into runtime structure – test from assembled location	Resources assembled into runtime structure – test from assembled location
ContentType refined definitions of JSP based on what's in web.xml (e.g default encoding, acceptable file extensions)
validateEdit	Listeners should be notified of each linked resource	Works as is	Works as is	Works as is