[jdt-ui-dev] Pre-reqs are not exported

[Randy Hudson <hudsonr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

jdt.ui requires several plugins, but
the plugins are not exported. What is the reasoning behind not exporting
these plugins to other plugins that pre-req jdt.ui?

Much of the public API in jdt-ui requires
that these other plugins be present *AND* that they be exactly the same
version.  For example, IClassPathEntry returns an IPath, which is
from org.eclipse.core.runtime.  Why make other plugins prereq both
jdt.ui and core.runtime? The only reason I can think of is to optimize
for the plugin class loader.

The reason I am asking is that I am
writing a graphical view of the plugin registry.  Each plugin is represented
as a box, and lines are used to show the plugins required by each plugin.
 Plugins are positioned vertically (in ranks) such that all required
plugins appear above a given plugin.  Long lines make the diagram
hard to read, so I added code to reduce redundant imports. Then I found
out that there weren't any redundant imports, so I cheated.  Without
changes, a diagram of all Eclipse plugins requires about 300 lines.  If
I cheat and "export" all requires statements, the same diagram
only needs about 85 lines.

Randy Hudson