Greetings GWT developers, The GWT team is happy to announce the availability of 1.6 Milestone 1! Binary distributions are available for download directly from GWT's Google Code project.
http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit/downloads/list?can=1&q=1.6.0 As always, milestone builds like this are use-at-your-own-risk. There are known bugs, and it definitely isn't ready for production use. Please expect some trial and error getting everything to work. The javadoc that comes bundled with the distribution should be up-to-date, but the online Developer Guide (http://code.google.com/docreader/#p=google-web-toolkit-doc-1-6) is still very much a work in progress. We will be updating it over the next several weeks. In lieu of an up-to-date Developer Guide and release notes, below are the major highlights relative to GWT 1.5.3. *** New Project Structure in GWT 1.6 *** One of the biggest changes to GWT 1.6 is a new project structure. The old output format has been replaced by the standard Java web app expanded "war" format, and the actual directory name does default to "/war". Note that the war directory is not only for compiler output; it is also intended to contain handwritten static resources that you want to be included in your webapp alongside GWT modules (that is, things you'd want to version control). Please also note that the "GWTShell" and "GWTCompiler" tools will maintain their legacy behavior, but they have been deprecated in favor of new "HostedMode" and "Compiler" tools which use the new war output. When 1.6 is officially released, we will be encouraging existing projects to update to the new directory format and to use the new tools to take advantage of new features and for compatibility with future GWT releases. The sample projects provided in the GWT distribution provide an example of correct new project configurations. For more details on the specifics of the new project format, please see GWT 1.6 WAR design document ( http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit/wiki/WAR_Design_1_6). A couple of important changes we should highlight here: - Projects with server-side code (GWT RPC) must configure a "web.xml" file at "/war/WEB-INF/web.xml". This web.xml file must define and publish any servlets associated with the web application. See the included DynaTable sample. Additionally, server-side library dependencies must be copied into "/war/WEB-INF/lib". For example, any GWT RPC servlets must have a copy of gwt-servlet.jar in this folder. - HTML host pages will no longer typically be located in a GWT module's public path. Instead, we'll be recommending that people take advantage of the natural web app behavior for serving static files by placing host pages anywhere in the war structure that makes sense. For exmaple, you might want to load a GWT module from a JSP page located in the root of your web app. To keep such handwritten static files separate from those produced by the GWT compiler, the latter will be placed into module-specific subdirectories. Any page that wishes to include a GWT module can do so via a script tag by referencing the GWT-produced "<module>.nocache.js script" within that module's subdirectory. As of 1.6, we'll be recommending that only module-specific resources used directly by GWT code, such as image files needed by widgets, should remain on the public path. See the included Showcase sample for some examples of this distinction. - When you do need to load resources from a module's public path, always construct an absolute URL by prepending GWT.getModuleBaseURL(). For example, 'GWT.getModuleBaseURL() + "dir/file.ext"'. This advice has not changed, but in the past it was easy to be sloppy with this, because the host page and GWT module typically lived in the same directory, so using a relative URL would usually do the right thing. Now that GWT modules live in a subdirectory, you must reference public resources through GWT.getModuleBaseURL(). *** Hosted Mode Enhancements *** Although the legacy GWTShell still uses an embedded Tomcat server, the new HostedMode runs Jetty instead. There is also a new "Restart Server" button on the main hosted mode window. Clicking this button restarts the internal Jetty server, which allows Java code changes to take effect on the server without having to completely exit and restart hosted mode. This is useful when making code changes to RPC servlets, or when serializable RPC types are modified and the server and client are out of sync. *** New EventHandler System *** Event handlers have been added to replace the old event listeners used by Widgets, History, and various other classes. The new system has a few differences from the old system: - EventHandler methods always take a single parameter: the GwtEvent that the Widget fired. For example, ClickHandler has a single method onClick(ClickEvent). - Each GwtEvent contains accessors relevant to the event, such as the key that was pressed on KeyEvents. Native events provide access to the underlying native event object. - Each EventHandler defines only one method, so you do not need to create empty methods just to satisfy the interface requirements. For users who create their own Widgets, you no longer need to manage listeners manually. Every Widget has a HandlerManager that manages all of its handlers. For native events, such as ClickEvent, just call addDomHandler() from within your code to register a handler and sink the associated event on the Widget. When the native event is detected, the handler will automatically be called. For logical events, such as SelectionEvent, call addHandler() and fire the event manually using the fireEvent() method. You can see examples of EventHandler usage in many of the updated GWT widgets and samples, or in new projects created with the new webAppCreator tool. You can now trigger a native event on almost any Element. Create a new native event using the Document.create*Event() methods, then dispatch it on a specific Element by calling Element.dispatchEvent(). These methods allow you to expand your test coverage in ways that were previously impossible. *** New Widgets *** DatePicker The new DatePicker and DateBox widgets allow your users to select a date from a calendar. The Showcase sample provides examples of both of these widgets. LazyPanel The new LazyPanel widget allows you to delay the creation of certain sections of your application until they are first accessed, improving startup performance. For example, if your application has a seldom used "Help" section, you can wrap it in a LazyPanel and create the user interface only if and when the user tries to access it. To use the LazyPanel, extend the class and override the abstract createWidget() method. The createWidget() method will be called the first time you call setVisible() on the LazyPanel. *** Fixed Issues *** Please see our bug tracker for a full list of fixed issues and enhancements ( http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit/issues/list?can=1&q=status:Fixed,FixedNotReleased%20milestone:1_6_RC&num=1000 ). As always, please report bugs to our issue tracker ( http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit/issues/list) after doing a quick search to see if your issue has already been reported. Happy coding, Scott, on behalf of the GWT team --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Web-Toolkit-Contributors -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---