[equinox-dev] workspace metadata and OSGi

["Rafael Chaves" <Rafael_Chaves@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

Eclipse has its own concept of metadata
area (a .metadata directory inside the workspace), which is where the platform
configuration  (the list of currently enabled plug-ins), the platform
log, and plug-ins'  state are stored.

The concept plug-in state location is
equivalent to OSGi bundle's persistent storage area, which exact location
is completely specific to the OSGi implementation.

I would say that with Eclipse running
on OSGi, we should keep the platform metadata area inside the workspace
location, while plug-ins metadata would be stored inside their persistent
storage areas.

Pros:
- we will have a well known location
for important data, such as platform log and configuration.
- consistency between regular bundles
storage areas and plugin bundles state locations.
- no changes required on the OSGi implementation
(although it would be great if the recommended OSGi implementation for
running Eclipse could use the same metadata root and store their internal
state there too).

Cons:
- plugin metadata exact location will
depend on the OSGi implementation being used - this is bad because it makes
harder to diagnose problems that require access to plug-ins metadata;.
- metadata will be split in two different
places, so it will be harder  to clean up the metadata area when the
user wants to start things from scratch.

Any comments?

Rafael