Thanks Ate for taking the time to submit such a thorough proposal. This all sounds good to me -- please submit the patch for review.
--Jesse >-----Original Message----- >From: Ate Douma [mailto:a...@douma.nu] >Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 9:29 PM >To: dev@shindig.apache.org >Cc: rave-...@incubator.apache.org >Subject: [PROPOSAL] Maven project enhancements to improve embedding >and extending shindig-server (for Apache Rave) > >Hi Shindig team, > >At Apache Rave (Incubating) we're embedding and extending the shindig- >server >module and build our own rave-shindig war using a war overlay configuration. > >While that kind of works for now, using the current Shindig server war module >as >an overlay isn't really optimal, as Maven cannot do (transitive) dependency >resolution analysis on war modules. > >Effectively this means we'll either have to exclude all embedded jars within >the >shindig-server war and then manually (re)define the same dependencies >ourselves >again, or we have to (at least) manually check and trace the shindig-server >internal dependencies and do our own sanity check on them. The latter really >is >dangerous as it easily can lead to 'duplicate jars' hell... > >For the record, at Apache Rave we currently use the latter solution, but in the >end that is not maintainable and too easy to break. > >In addition to this, the shindig-server also comes with its own sample >container >code, which means those classes end up directly in the WEB-INF/classes >folder of >the war. These classes are thereby also completely 'hidden' from our own >rave-shindig classpath and thus not 'usable' from a developers perspective >(other than forking/cloning them ourselves, and/or excluding them from the >war >overlay through configuration). > >It would be much easier for downstream projects as Apache Rave, or even >further >down the chain, if the shindig-server module would be a bit more >modularized by >separating the 'base' war resources, the sample container code and the server >war dependencies into separate modules, which then are (re)bundled by the >final >shindig-server war module. > >This would have zero impact on current shindig-server usages (effectively the >produced war ends up being the same), but helps downstream projects >enormously >with a better and more transparent manageable custom Maven shindig >configuration. > >At Apache Rave we already provide a similar modularization of our rave-portal >war module [1] for the same purpose: to make it easier for downstream >customizations. > >In short, my proposal is the following (and I have a patch ready for review): > >a) Move java/server/src/main/java/* (sample container code) > to new jar module java/sample-container >b) Move java/server/src/main/webapps/* > to new (shallow) war module java/server-resources >c) Move resources currently merged into server module from ./../content and > ../../config also into new (shallow) war module java/server-resources >d) Add new pom module java/server-dependencies which (only) defines > the runtime dependencies needed for the shindig-server module > Note: this should also add new dependency on shindig-sample-container >e) The remainder of the shindig-server module then only needs to have > dependencies on the shindig-server-resources (war overlay) and > shindig-server-dependencies (pom), as well as some needed test only > dependencies for the remaining "endtoend" unit-tests > >The end result of the above will again be a shindig-server war equal to the >current shindig-server war but now downstream users can more easily embed >and >extend it, with proper maven (transitive) dependency resolution support. > >The above changes really are quite trivial and will have zero impact for >development and current end usages. > >If there are no objections for the above proposal, I'll create a JIRA ticket >and >provide a patch for it for review. > >And as Shindig 3.0.0 is close to getting wrapped up, it would be great if this >then can be reviewed, and if accepted, be applied before the release tag. > >Thanks, Ate >Apache Rave PMC > >p.s. A different but more critical topic, I just noticed that the NOTICE and >LICENSE files embedded in the shindig-server war (and probably other >modules >too) are not proper, e.g. completely missing the required 3rd party notices >and >licenses! I do see better versions of these in the root and the java folder, >but >these don't end up in the build and released artifacts as they should... >I'll follow up on this later (probably tomorrow) in a separate email and see if >I can provide a fix/patch for that as well. > > >[1] https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/rave/trunk/rave- >portal/pom.xml > [...]/asf/incubator/rave/trunk/rave-portal-resources/pom.xml > [...]/asf/incubator/rave/trunk/rave-portal-dependencies/pom.xml > > > >
