Eclipse Web Tools Platform 1.5 - New and Noteworthy

Structured Source Editing
Code folding Code folding support has been added to the XML, HTML, JSP, and CSS editors. To enable code folding, check the "Enable folding" checkbox located on the Structured Text Editors preference page's Appearance tab.

When enabled, each editor will automatically create foldable areas where supported.

Spell-checking Spell-checking support has been added to the WTP source editors. After enabling it and specifying a dictionary on the Text Editors Spelling preference page, spelling errors will be displayed in the source when editing. Eclipse does not currently include any dictionaries, although contributions would be welcomed. Dictionaries for the default spelling engine can be obtained from http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/.

XSD
Updated Design View The XML Schema Editor has changed its graphical visualization to provide a 'type-oriented' view of an XML Schema. A type is displayed as a box-like figure. If the type contains elements and attributes, these are listed as fields within the box. In the WTP 1.0 version of the editor, attributes of a complex type are shown in the properties page so now, they are more easily accessible.

The 'focus object' is the primary object in the view. (To make an object the focus object, see the Navigation section below). If the focus obect is a type, its inherited type will be displayed above the figure. If the focus object contains elements or attributes, their references will be displayed to the right of the focus object.

Refactoring In WTP 1.5, there is inter-file refactoring in addition to pre-existing intra-file refactoring support. This means that if you rename a complex type, any references to it from other schemas in the current project or workspace will be updated.

Navigation To drill down to the details level of a component or make it the 'focus object' in the graph view, double click on the object from the top level index view of the Schema, or click on the the object in the outline view. Click the Back to Schema button to switch back to the schema index view.

If you are already in the details view, and there are references to other complex types, you can double click on any of the complex types to make it as the focus object in the graph page. Select the back and forward buttons in the navigation framework to move between contexts.

The editor has hyperlink support in the source view. Hold down the Ctrl key and move the mouse pointer over some reference (ie. reference to some other type, or other schema), and a link appears. If you mouse click on the link, context changes to that reference.

Browsing for types and elements Select the Browse... action to invoke the new Set Type dialog where you can choose a type from the current schema, or any schema in the current project or workspace. Once you've chosen the type, and if it belongs to some external schema, an import will be automatically added for you. Similarly, you can browse for elements when editing element references.

Properties - Simple Type Constraints The property sheet for simple types have been redesigned. It is more compact and more intuitive to use. If the built-in string type is too general for your purposes and you need to restrict the values, enter a min or max length value and an anonymous simple type will be automatically created for you. Enumeration and pattern facets can be added from the right side of this page.

Extensions You can provide specialized extension information to your schemas via the extensions tab of the properties view. Use the 'Add..' button to choose from categories of available extensions. Then use the Tree view and the details view to edit the extension information.

DTD
Property Sheets Property Sheets have been added the DTD editor to help ease the task of creating and editing DTDs.

Up


Structured Source Editing

Code folding	Code folding support has been added to the XML, HTML, JSP, and CSS editors. To enable code folding, check the "Enable folding" checkbox located on the Structured Text Editors preference page's Appearance tab. When enabled, each editor will automatically create foldable areas where supported.

Spell-checking	Spell-checking support has been added to the WTP source editors. After enabling it and specifying a dictionary on the Text Editors Spelling preference page, spelling errors will be displayed in the source when editing. Eclipse does not currently include any dictionaries, although contributions would be welcomed. Dictionaries for the default spelling engine can be obtained from http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/.

XSD

Updated Design View	The XML Schema Editor has changed its graphical visualization to provide a 'type-oriented' view of an XML Schema. A type is displayed as a box-like figure. If the type contains elements and attributes, these are listed as fields within the box. In the WTP 1.0 version of the editor, attributes of a complex type are shown in the properties page so now, they are more easily accessible. The 'focus object' is the primary object in the view. (To make an object the focus object, see the Navigation section below). If the focus obect is a type, its inherited type will be displayed above the figure. If the focus object contains elements or attributes, their references will be displayed to the right of the focus object.

Refactoring	In WTP 1.5, there is inter-file refactoring in addition to pre-existing intra-file refactoring support. This means that if you rename a complex type, any references to it from other schemas in the current project or workspace will be updated.

Navigation	To drill down to the details level of a component or make it the 'focus object' in the graph view, double click on the object from the top level index view of the Schema, or click on the the object in the outline view. Click the Back to Schema button to switch back to the schema index view. If you are already in the details view, and there are references to other complex types, you can double click on any of the complex types to make it as the focus object in the graph page. Select the back and forward buttons in the navigation framework to move between contexts. The editor has hyperlink support in the source view. Hold down the Ctrl key and move the mouse pointer over some reference (ie. reference to some other type, or other schema), and a link appears. If you mouse click on the link, context changes to that reference.

Browsing for types and elements	Select the Browse... action to invoke the new Set Type dialog where you can choose a type from the current schema, or any schema in the current project or workspace. Once you've chosen the type, and if it belongs to some external schema, an import will be automatically added for you. Similarly, you can browse for elements when editing element references.

Properties - Simple Type Constraints	The property sheet for simple types have been redesigned. It is more compact and more intuitive to use. If the built-in string type is too general for your purposes and you need to restrict the values, enter a min or max length value and an anonymous simple type will be automatically created for you. Enumeration and pattern facets can be added from the right side of this page.

Extensions	You can provide specialized extension information to your schemas via the extensions tab of the properties view. Use the 'Add..' button to choose from categories of available extensions. Then use the Tree view and the details view to edit the extension information.

DTD

Property Sheets	Property Sheets have been added the DTD editor to help ease the task of creating and editing DTDs.