Yes, if someone already has an IoC
container written somewhere I would certainly rather us it than make one up
myself. Any more information about this would be useful.
John Wells (Aziz)
jwells@xxxxxxx
From:
equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Pascal Rapicault
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
10:04 PM
To: Equinox
development mailing list; Stefan Xenos
Cc: Equinox
development mailing list; equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [equinox-dev]
Roadmap?
If I remember correctly, the design of the support for
nesting UI component was based of an IoC container and it had nothing UI
specific.
It
would be good to see if we could actually reuse some of the work that had been
done there.
Stephan,
am I completly smoking? Would you be able to provide us with some usefull
pointers so people can explore?
Thanks,
PaScaL
Jeff McAffer/Ottawa/IBM@IBMCA
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11/22/2005 09:52 PM
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First an answer to your last questions. Yes, anything that makes writing
components easier is very much of interest here. Rather than creating new
programming idioms and mechanisms it would be interesting, as you have been
doing, to investigate all possible avenues. If in the end there is truly
something new here, it may make sense to supply a library/bundle.
I will offer an alternative that *may* make sense. It is something that we have
been playing with. In the Eclipse extension registry it is possible to
create executable extensions via a factory (see IConfigurationElement.createExecutableExtension()
and IExecutableExtensionFactory). So your IoC framework could publish an
extension point "prereqs" (for lack of a better name). People
who have prereqs (services in your example) to register can then supply
extensions that identify either the actual class to instantiate (if the simple
no-arg constructor is enough) or an IExecutableExtensionFactory (with args) if
more complicated construction is needed.
In the IoC mechanism (com.example.ioc)
<extension-point id="prereqs"/>
In the provider JAR (org.example.provider).
<extension id="prereq1"
point="com.example.ioc.prereqs">
<prereq
class="org.example.Factory:coolObject"
...
This extension says run the org.example.Factory and tell it to create the thing
called "coolObject". The factory can be as simple or as
complicated as you like. You can make some generic factories and share
them or make one per thingie you want to create. You can also pass in an
arbitrary number of args statically declared on in the extension (see the
Javadoc for details).
You then have two choices for when the contributed prerequisites are actually
instantiated and supplied to consumers; lazily or aggressively. If you go
for the lazy approach then your POJO could access the prereq on demand using
something like
Object IoC.getPrereq(String prereqName, Object
objectToInject)
where the prereqName is the id of the extension to instantiate
(org.example.provider.prereq1 in the above example). (not really a POJO
if it is referencing IoC but you seemed fine with this in your example...) This
ends up being implemented as a call to
IConfigurationElement.createExecutableExtension(). The prereq object is
only instantiated as needed. When you stop using it, just drop the pointer.
I believe previously you stated that lifecycle was not important so the
disappearance of the provider should not be an issue.
If you want to create the instances aggressively then the IoC mechanism should
have the sort of registerDependency method you outlined. It should also
implement an IRegistryChangeListener that listens for new extensions being
added to the "prereqs" extension point. When it sees one that
someone has registered an interest in, it calls createExecutableExtension and
uses the supplied setter. If it later sees the extension going away, it
can unset the value. See IExtensionTracker for some utilities to help
manage this.
Some notes:
- You are probably thinking that this is crazy, the extension registry is
buried deep in Eclipse. Wrong! As of today's integration build it
is actually broken out in its own bundle (org.eclipse.equinox.registry) and the
intention it that it run on any OSGi R4 implementation (we've not tested that
part yet).
- So you are still thinking, "but its based on OSGi". Yes and
No. It is pluggable. You can customize the implementation of the
registry to suite different sources of declarations (e.g., something other than
plugin.xml), different namespace management policies and different mechanisms
for implementing createExecutableExtension. We supply an OSGi registry
strategy but you can supply one of your own. The usecases that are
driving this new structure are quite similar to your hosted and client
scenarios.
- The ability to supply dynamic context objects to createExecutableExtension is
currently not implemented. We discussed this late in 3.1 but opted out. This
topic has been raised again and we are certainly open to adding it.
- I've thought about this exact problem for about as long as it took me to
write this response so I could be completely out to lunch here...
Jeff
"John Wells"
<jwells@xxxxxxx>
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Yes, the code using the LogService would have to explicitly check (with a
synchronized block) whether or not the logger exists. The code would be
something like:
LogService localLogger;
synchronized (this) {
localLogger = logService;
}
If (localLogger != null) {
localLogger(“This is fun!!!”);
}
This will work whether or not we are in the OSGi environment.
Also very interesting “trick” to getting the bundle. Thanks.
I wish there was a more “framework independent” way to do
this.
My more general question remains though: is this a requirement that more
people than me have faced? Would a Dynamic IoC utility be of interest to
the OSGi community? At this point I’m writing this thing anyway, I
just want to know if people here would be interested in me contributing the
code? Since this is a utility (of course it would be a Bundle as well) I’m
not exactly sure where the proper place would be to put such a thing, or if
people are even interested in such a facility.
John Wells (Aziz)
jwells@xxxxxxx
From: equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jeremy Volkman
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 2:57 PM
To: Equinox development mailing list
Subject: Re: [equinox-dev] Roadmap?
John,
When writing a component to be environment-agnostic, how do you handle the case
when LogService
may not be available at the time of your POJO's instantiation (only in the OSGi
environment, of course)? Will the programmer have to explicitly check the
value of the logger member before attempting to use it? If
so, doesn't this go against your wishes that the programmer not care what
environment he/she is writing for?
Also, on getting a caller's BundleContext: it is possible, but it get ugly.
I had to do something similar to get per-bundle logging working with the
Apache Commons Logging API. Commons Logging provides the static LogFactory
class to get Log instances, and I wanted Log instances to know which Bundle had
created them (so I could print out the name of the Bundle logging a message).
One way would be to include a separate copy of my modified LogFactory class
with each bundle, and provide the Bundle's personal LogFactory instance with a
reference to the Bundle at start up, but this seemed like a maintenance
nightmare, and it negated OSGi's nifty code sharing feature.
So i went with the following approach:
1. Subclass SecurityManager and gain access to the getClassContext() method
2. Pick the Class of the caller off the stack
3. Use OSGi's PackageAdmin and its getBundle( java.lang.Class) method to get
the Bundle containing a particular class
Since the BundleContext instance is supposed to be private to its associated
Bundle, OSGi provides no way of getting a BundleContext for a given Bundle (the
DS spec mentions this). With Equinox, this can be done through
reflection, as Equniox's AbstractBundle class defines a method
"getContext":
Bundle bundle = ...
Method contextMethod =
bundle.getClass().getDeclaredMethod("getContext", (Class[]) null);
contextMethod.setAccessible(true);
BundleContext context = (BundleContext) contextMethod.invoke(bundle,
(Object[]) null);
Of course there are numerous possible issues with this method (can't create new
SecurityManagers, can't change Method accessibility, etc.), but perhaps it will
be food for thought.
Jeremy Volkman
On 11/22/05, John Wells < jwells@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks for your response Olivier.
In an earlier response I talked about the requirement I would
like to see satisfied that would make the IoC pattern work in both a dynamic
and a static environment. Basically, I want to write code that
dynamically tells the IoC system that it wants to depend on some other type and
I want this to work both in a "client" environment where the classes
are linked together via the system class-loader as well in the dynamic environment
afforded by OSGi. To me what is interesting is to be able to write code
that runs in both a "hosted" and "client" environment
without modification.
What I do not want is for the programmers writing the code to
know the difference between the two environments. Furthermore, I think
that this could be a common programming pattern when writing modular code.
I want the service writers to have simple instructions for how to write
their services, and then I want the framework to do the "correct"
thing based on whether or not we are running in the OSGi framework or on a
client that has not started the OSGi kernel. Yes, I want my cake and I
want to eat it too ;-)
Let's take something as simple as a log service. I want
to have a pojo that says something like:
private LogServer logger;
…
// inside some method of my pojo
IoC.createDependency("com.acme.LogService",
"setLogger", this);
…
public synchronized void setLogger(com.acme.LogService
logger) {
this.logger = logger;
}
When in the OSGi world, the LogService might be satisified by
lots of different implementations. However, in the client world there may
be only the one that is satisfied on the client classpath.. One problem
we run up against right away is that com.acme.LogService is very likely an
interface, and hence cannot be instantiated directly on the client. In
order to solve this problem I was thinking that it would be necessary to define
a generic sort of factory interface like this:
public interface GenericFactory<T> {
public <T> create(…);
public <T> find(…) throws
NotFoundException;
}
(excuse any typo's, I am typing as I write, not pasting from
an IDE ;-)
Now instead our IoC object might look like this:
private LogFactory logFactory = new LogFactory(); //
Implements the GenericFactory interface
private LogServer logger;
…
// note this time I must provide the factory to use for this
service
// just in case this is running in a "client"
environment
IoC.createDependency("com.acme.LogService",
"setLogger", this, logFactory);
…
public synchronized void setLogger(com.acme.LogService
logger) {
this.logger = logger;
}
The signature for createDependency would be something like:
public Object createDependency(String serviceName, String
setterName, GenericFactory staticFactory, …);
where the extra arguments are used in the find/create methods
of the factory.
What my IoC controller could do then would be that *if* I was running in OSGi (and could find
the bundle context of this caller) then use the ServiceTracker to hook up the
LogService with the implementation. But *if* I was running in a "client" environment I would
use the factory (first trying to find, then create the service).
Everything above is doable (with a big question mark on how
to get the code's BundleContext) using home-made code. I was wondering if
anyone else has these sorts of requirements or if there is any
"standard" way to accomplish what I am trying to achieve? And
does this clarify what requirements I have?
John Wells (Aziz)
jwells@xxxxxxx
From: equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Olivier Gruber
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 12:26 PM
To: Equinox development mailing list
Subject: RE: [equinox-dev] Roadmap?
John,
Declarative services are mostly about lifecycle and injection.
It is the combination of both that is powerful, especially regarding the
linkage with the bundle lifecycle underneath.
That is, a service is created only when its dependencies are available...
and this means that the creations of class loaders are also delayed.
Without lifecycle, injection becomes service tracking with the use of
setter/getter methods,
especially if you are not using a constructor-based injection.
What I am curious about is that inversion of control becomes really interesting
when used with a lifecycle.
The goal is that a service code does not have to deal with the dynamic nature
of its environment.
When it is activated, it has all the references it needs because they have been
injected.
Before loosing a reference, it will be deactivated.
But you are stating that you have no lifecycle, does this mean that you have
injection but your code is also fully
responsible for dynamically appearing/disappearing references? Who controls
that lifecyle? That is, who creates
your POJO and why.
Just trying to understand.
Best regards,
Olivier Gruber, Ph.D.
Persistent & Distributed Object Platforms and Frameworks
IBM TJ Watson Research Center
Yeah I had thought of that too. I guess I wanted it to be sort of
"standardized" rather than having to write a layer. But that's
ok.
So... then I also need to know if/when the "ServiceTracker"
will be
implemented in Equinox. Or perhaps it already is, since I can remember
ServiceTracker from r3?
John Wells (Aziz)
jwells@xxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Jeremy Volkman
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 11:21 AM
To: Equinox development mailing list
Subject: Re: [equinox-dev] Roadmap?
It seems as though you may be able to realize your DDS needs right now
by using the already-available ServiceTracker. When
registerDependency() is called, create a new ServiceTracker with the
given service information and start it. Override the addingService()
and removedService() methods (or provide a ServiceTrackerCustomizer)
and make these methods call your POJO's setter/unsetter (remember that
this is a dynamic environment, so you'll probably want an unsetter).
The only issue is that you'll need to provide ServiceTracker with a
BundleContext for it to get a ServiceReference.
Jeremy Volkman
On 11/22/05, John Wells <jwells@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Yes, I do like the delayed activation part of DS. Here are some
issues
> I have with DS (since you asked - didn't you? ;-)
>
> I would like to be able to have a POJO that uses a service which gets
> injected. While I think that with DS I can declare a class that the
DS
> would instantiate, what I want is something more dynamic. I want to
be
> able to have my own class (that I instantiated myself in whatever way)
> declare that it wants a service (e.g. "com.acme.Foo") injected
into
it.
> This class would *not* be under the lifecycle control of DS, but would
> still be getting the dependent service injected into it appropriately
as
> the class is available in the OSGi framework.
>
> In my mind I have been calling such a facility "Dynamic DS" or
DDS for
> short. It would be a service or a class with static methods that had
> methods like the following:
>
> /**
> * This method would call the setter on the object when the
appropriate
> * service becomes "available", but objectToInject is *not*
under the
> * specific control of the DS framework
> * Note: There are likely other "registerDependency"
verbs that
specify
> * all the options available in the DS configuration file and OSGi
> * service filters
> * @param serviceName The name of the service I would like to depend
on
> * @param setterName The name of the setter - a public void method
that
> * takes the type as the argument
> * @param objectToInject The object (not under the control of DS) to
> * "inject"
> */
> public static void registerDependency(String serviceName, String
> setterName, Object objectToInject) throws WhateverException;
>
> /**
> * This method removes the dependency, for when the object is done
> needing
> * the service.
> */
> public static void unregisterDependency(String serviceName, Object
> objectToInject) throws WhateverException;
>
> Obviously, the above is pseudo-code and I wouldn't mind having the
> "registerDependency" return some form of object that can be used
to
> unregister the dependency later. I also wouldn't mind having the
> registerDependency take some form of other object (e.g. BundleContext)
> that it might need in order to make it work in OSGi. (However, one
of
> the design goals I have is to make any OSGi specific imports not
> visible, so I would almost prefer some sort of wrapper or even
> name-based mechanism).
>
> The basic idea is that independent object can register for injection
> dynamically, and would not have to muck about in the OSGi API in order
> to do service tracking or the like.
>
> Or perhaps there is already a way to do this with the current DS? I
> looked at the spec and the API, but it is possible I missed something?
> Thanks for helping me understand this a bit more.
>
> And of course, I still need the DS like yesterday ;-).
>
> Anyway, have a nice day.
>
> John Wells (Aziz)
> jwells@xxxxxxx
> -----Original Message-----
> From: equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of BJ Hargrave
> Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 10:34 AM
> To: Equinox development mailing list
> Subject: Re: [equinox-dev] Roadmap?
>
> IBM is in the process of preparing a contribution of a Declarative
> Services implementation (among other selected services). Stay tuned...
>
> I would have to say Declarative Service is the best to use. But in the
> interest of full disclosure, I was the designer of Declarative
Services
> :-) I am also not very familiar with GBeans. But DS does fully
integrate
>
> with the OSGi service model and has certain desirable performance
> characteristics such as delayed activation.
>
> BJ Hargrave
> Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM
> OSGi Fellow and CTO of the OSGi Alliance
> hargrave@xxxxxxxxxx
> Office: +1 407 849 9117 Mobile:
+1 386 848 3788
>
>
>
> "John Wells" <jwells@xxxxxxx>
> Sent by: equinox-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx
> 2005-11-22 10:00 AM
> Please respond to
> Equinox development mailing list
>
>
> To
> <equinox-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> cc
>
> Subject
> [equinox-dev] Roadmap?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Is there a roadmap for Equinox, especially where it concerns the
> compendium services of r4? In particular, I am interested in using
the
> Declarative Services Specification?
>
> I have been looking around to see if I could find information about it
> (dss), but haven?t found anything other than a handful of mail in the
> archive. In particular, I need to have a good idea when (if) dss is
> going
> to be implemented. I?ve even considered just implementing that part
of
> the specification myself in order to get it quicker.
>
> Also:
>
> Both DSS and GBeans are IoC frameworks. Does anyone have any
opinions
> on
> which are easier to use? Better? Any pros/cons?
>
> John Wells (Aziz)
> jwells@xxxxxxx
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