[opencms-dev] OpenCms 7 Alpha 1 available in CVS / Roadmap update

[Alexander Kandzior]

OpenCms 7 development is going according to plan. The first alpha version 
of OpenCms 7 is now available in the public CVS in the "DEV_7_0" branch 
(Tag "build_7alpha_1"). The main development is done by Alkacon Software 
with contributions from the OpenCms community.

Features finished / near finished in the 7 Alpha 1 release:

* The internal link management has been greatly improved.
* If files (or folders) are moved / renamed, all links to these files are
now 
  kept intact.
* Deleting a resource that is linked by other resources does now display a 
  warning / confirmation dialog.
* A permalink handler for resources is available for external 
  references in case a resource is moved or renamed.
* Link management support has been added in editors for standard HTML 
  tags 'area', 'object' & 'embed'.
* The new "Content Relationship Engine" (CRE) allows defining 
  arbitrary relations between OpenCms resources.
* Native support for WebDAV access to the OpenCms VFS has been added 
  (still in development).
* Publishing of resources is now done using a queue, so a user can 
  continue to work after publishing has started.
* The concept of "Organization Units" (OUs) has been added to the 
  internal user management.
* It is now possible to delegate management of users / groups in OUs 
  to Sub-Administrators.
* A "switch user" (su) function for Administrators in the OpenCms 
  Workplace is now available.
* Many usability improvements for the OpenCms Workplace have been 
  made, especially concerning the handling of other user locks.
* Many dialogs in the OpenCms Workplace are more responsive because of 
  the use of Ajax technologies.
* The full text search has been greatly improved so that individual 
  resource properties or fields from XML content can be searched 
  directly.
* A "time warp" feature in the Workplace now allows users to view 
  resources with date expired / date released settings.
* Auto correction for structured XML contents now allows changes to 
  the XML schema of existing resources.
* A configurable search tool is now available for content managers in 
  the Workplace.
* JSP 2.0 and Servlet 2.4 are now used by default. 

Features to be developed for the 7 final release:

* The core database structure will be optimized.
* Improved documentation has to be written.
* Improvements to the Workflow (e.g. 6-eye-confirm) where planned for 
  version 7, but the original sponsor has withdrawn his support and no 
  new sponsor is in sight. This means it is currently unclear if 
  improvements to the Workflow will be available in version 7.

Please note that this feature list of OpenCms 7 is subject to change until 
we reach the "Release Candidate 2" stage (please see below). Keep in mind 
that most development on OpenCms 7 is sponsored by customers. That means 
some features may be dropped and other features may be added until the 
feature freeze. 

OpenCms 7 release plan:
(Updated Feb. 14, 2007 for the release of 7 Alpha 1)

The Alpha and Beta releases of OpenCms 7 will be available in the public 
CVS only. These releases will not be feature complete, and the core API 
will be subject to further change. The Alpha release are tagged 
"build_7alpha_x". The Beta releases will be tagged "build_7beta_x". The 
first Alpha version has been made available February 14, 2007 (CVS tag 
"build_7alpha_1"). The Beta stage will be started March 21, 2007. 

The first public release for download from www.opencms.org will be OpenCms 
7 RC 1 (Release Candidate 1). This release will be available May 2, 2007. 
There will be no update wizard in this version. After the release of this 
version, we will concentrate on issues regarding backward compatibility 
with the version 6 releases. 

The second public release for download will be OpenCms 7 RC 2, available 
June 6, 2007. This version will contain bug fixes and the final and stable 
core API for version 7. It will also contain the first version of an update 
wizard for version 7. The goal is to be able to update all released stable 
OpenCms 6.0 and 6.2 versions to OpenCms 7 using this update wizard. This 
release will also mark the beginning of the "feature freeze" period, which 
means no new features will be added to the core after the OpenCms 7 RC 2 
release.

OpenCms 7.0 final will be released July 4, 2007. Compared to the RC 2 
version, we expect no changes except fixes for bugs or other issues that 
have been found in the RC 2 release. This version will also contain the 
final and tested version of the update wizard. 

Please note that this feature list and release plan for OpenCms 7 comes 
without any warranty and it is subject to change without notice. Updates 
will be published on the OpenCms website and the opencms-dev mailing list. 

Kind Regards,
Alex.

-------------------                                                      
Alexander Kandzior                                                        

Alkacon Software GmbH  - The OpenCms Experts

http://www.alkacon.com - http://www.opencms.org