[opencms-dev] OpenCms 5.3.6 available in CVS

[Alexander Kandzior]

Hi all,

OpenCms version 5.3.6 is now available in the CVS HEAD. As usual, all
feedback on this development version is greatly appreciated. 

The most important change in this version are the updated module mechanism
and the new scheduler, and the addition of a lot more Junit tests. Moreover,
the registry.xml finally has been removed and fully replaced with the new
XML configuration. Also, a lot of bugs in the 5.3.5 version have been fixed
(but new ones are likley introduced ;-)

The version is tagged with the "build_5_3_6" tag. In case you want to use
this version, make sure you check out this tag and not the CVS HEAD. We will
commit a large number of changes to CVS HEAD tomorrow and in the next couple
of days, and these changes are already part of the next version.

This is the latest of the 5.3.x. ("6.0 pre alpha") versions. The next
version will be 5.5.0 ("6.0 aplha"). 5.5.0 will be the first "public"
downloadable alpha release of OpenCms 6. There will be some DB schema
changes in this upcoming version. Expect version 5.5.0 in about 4 - 6 weeks.


The target release date for OpenCms 6.0 is now the 4th quarter of this year.

Here's the complete list of changes in 5.3.6 from the history.txt:

Legend:
! New Feature
* Bug fixed
- General comment

OpenCms 5.3.6 Ix - August 2, 2004
! Improved core search configuration by adding configurable "input sources"
for the indexers
* Removed legacy dependency on search configuration
! Added new scheduler that replaces the old OpenCms "CronScheduler" based on
OpenSymphony Quartz
! New scheduler has (almost) full support for cron expressions
! Execution context for scheduled jobs can be described in detail
! Each scheduled job can have a list of parameters (instead of only one
String as a parameter)
! Threads are more carefully managed by the scheduler
- Configuration of scheduler moved from registry.xml to opencms-system.xml
- Removed "package path" configuration option, path is now hardcoded
- Moved "file upload extension mappings" from DB table to opencms-vfs.xml
- Removed unrequired "CMS_SYSTEMPROPERTIES" table from DB schema
! New API for resource types
! Default resource types of the core now are located in package
org.opencms.file.types
! Resource types can now be located in other packages (not only
org.opencms.file)
- Refactored several methods in CmsObject and DriverManager to improve code
quality
! Added several Junit test cases for CmsObject/DriverManager methods
! Additional methods for creation of a user in a well defined context added
- Configuration of static export moved from opencms.properties to
opencms-importexport.xml
- Improved the JavaDocs
- Officially deprecated everything in com.opencms.* 
! New module mechanism in package org.opencms.module
! Modules are now Objects of type CmsModule
! Modules are now managed by a CmsModuleManager
! Module information is saved in XML configuration "opencms-modules.xml"
! Improved XML for module configuration (old XML is automatically converted)
! Improved module lifecycle handling with interface I_CmsModuleAction
! Improved module versioning and dependency mechanisms
! Added several Junit test cases for modules
- All module handling code removed from class CmsRegistry
- CmsRegistry moved to package com.opencms.legacy and deprecated (likley to
be fully deleted soon)
- Access to registry now through CmsRegistry singleton, not longer through
OpenCms object
! Implemented writing of new XML configuration after a configuration change
! The FlexCache can now generate variations for session attributes, 
  use "session=(a,b)" as cache property values

Best Regards,
Alex.

Alexander Kandzior
Alkacon Software - The OpenCms Experts
http://www.alkacon.com