3. New Features

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.3.0 is included in the combined JBoss Developer Studio and JBoss EAP installer.

JavaFX web engine is available as an alternative to SWT WebKit for running BrowserSim when Oracle JDK is available. Note that use of Oracle JDK with JBoss Developer Studio is not supported by Red Hat for all operating systems; for more information, see https://access.redhat.com/site/articles/427493 on the Red Hat Customer Portal.

Chrome Dev Tools Debugger is available for use with BrowserSim. This feature is offered with the JavaFX web engine only at this time.

Process logs, error messages and JavaScript console function output are listed in the existing IDE Console view.

BrowserSim (and CordovaSim) can be stopped and closed from the Console view.

DeltaSpike partial beans are recognized by CDI Tools. This extends CDI Tools features such as validation, code completion, hyperlinks and refactoring to DeltaSpike partial beans.

CDI 1.1 projects are now supported. The CDI version of a project is automatically detected by CDI Tools when CDI 1.1 .jar files are included in the classpath.

The embedded Forge 1 runtime server is version 1.4.4.Final. Forge 1.x runtime server is feature-frozen and installation of other Forge 1.x runtime servers is disabled.

Forge 2 runtime and command line interface are included as part of the core JBoss Developer Studio distribution, with Forge 2 set as the default Forge in new JBoss Developer Studio installations.

Forge Console view is part of JBoss perspective by default and the default Forge runtime starts on pressing Ctrl+4.

New Forge console commands cd # and cd #/PROJECT_NAME enable navigation to workspace locations and existing projects inside the current workspace.

More actions are available in Forge Console view:

Multiple Cordova versions are now supported, both for developing hybrid mobile applications and for testing these applications using CordovaSim.

Cordova plug-ins can be added to new projects during their creation as part of the New Hybrid Mobile Application Project wizard.

On importing a Cordova project to the IDE, plug-ins referenced in the project config.xml file are automatically restored. This makes sharing Cordova projects within teams possible without adding plug-ins to a source control system.

The plug-in registry used by the Cordova Plug-in Discovery wizard is now cached, resulting in less network calls and faster information retrieval.

A Show installed option has been added to the Cordova Plug-in Discovery wizard, which lists plug-ins already installed for an application.

The Cordova project config.xml file is automatically updated when plug-ins are added or removed from projects using the IDE Install and Remove Cordova Plug-in tools.

The layout of the Cordova config.xml Editor has been updated to provide quicker access to common Cordova development actions.

The Battery Status plug-in is now supported by CordovaSim and battery status values can be changed in the device input panel to simulate different battery levels and charging status for the simulated device.

An informative prompt is displayed on deployment to CordovaSim if an application contains plug-ins unsupported by CordovaSim.

A wizard for importing Cordova CLI-created projects into an IDE workspace is provided.

XCode simulator integration has been updated to support XCode 6.0.

Early Access plug-ins are now available to install from JBoss Central. These plug-ins contain new functionality and fixes that are under development, and while you are encouraged to use them and give feedback you must be aware of the associated limited conditions of use.

New and updated plug-ins in JBoss Central have the following versions:

The Hybrid Mobile Project wizard is featured in JBoss Central under Start from scratch, making it quicker to locate. This project requires Hybrid Mobile Tools and CordovaSim and when these are not already installed you are prompted by the IDE to install them before continuing with the wizard.

A new AngularJS Forge project wizard is available in JBoss Central. The wizard creates a project skeleton and the project cheatsheet guides you through the steps necessary to use JBoss Forge and scaffold a user interface layer based on AngularJS.

A new contacts-mobile-basic quickstart is available in JBoss Central in the Mobile Applications category, under Start from a sample. This quickstart is composed of two applications: a Cordova-based client application and a REST service back-end application.

Usage tracking has been extended to include the following: JVM name and architecture, plug-in and quickstart installations from JBoss Central, new server creation, Forge runtime version, BrowserSim web engine type, names of completed IDE wizards, and usage counts for Forge Tools, BrowserSim and CordovaSim, JBoss Tools HTML/JSP Editor tabs and JBoss Tools HTML5 Preview. The collected anonymous information enables Red Hat to understand which features are being used, assisting in continually improving JBoss Developer Studio.

Creating server adapters in the IDE for remote servers no longer requires a replica version of the remote application server and remote Java developer kit to be installed locally for the majority of server adapter functions to work. Locally installed replica components may still be required for features such as JMX Explorer.

Server adapters for Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform are now based on server profiles, defining a set of functionality and pre-configured options determining how the server is to be run.

Server runtime environments can be associated with a specific execution environment or JRE that is to be used when starting the server. The list of available environments and JREs are based on the server type and can be set during or after server runtime environment creation.

A Behavior Profile wizard is provided in the JBoss Server Editor enabling you to modify a server profile. The wizard ensures that any consequences of server profile changes are consistently reflected in the server adapter.

Classpath containers for Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform runtime servers are now customized based on JBoss module ID, rather than filesets specified with includes and excludes statements, to accommodate the new JBoss EAP server updates patching process. The classpath containers search all appropriate directories based on the current state of the JBoss EAP installation to locate the correct versions of the .jar files to be added to the project classpath. Additionally, for projects that have a manifest.mf declaring Dependencies, these dependent modules are also added to the classpath.

Hot-code replacement is available for module changes when a server is run in debug mode. In the event that the hot-code replacement fails, due to either obsolete methods on the stack or a changing method signature, you are presented with a prompt that allows you to terminate or restart the server, ignore the changes, or redeploy the modules. The hot-code replacement setting can be changed or reset in the Server Editor. You can also full-publish a module manually to force a module restart.

The JMX Navigator view now has three groupings: User-defined connections, Server connections, and Local Processes. This categorization makes clear where connections have originated from and reduces visual noise caused by list reordering as connections are added or removed from the view.

JVM Navigator information, displayed in the Properties view, is available when a JMX connection is established and the JMX node of a server is selected in the Servers view.

JVM Monitor functionality has been added to the JMX Navigator. The JVM Monitor captures profiling data for running Java processes, providing information to assist in debugging applications and identifying server issues. The JMX Navigator can automatically detect system Java processes or processes can be manually connected, with JVM Monitor information displayed in the Properties view.

The New JSF Project wizard supports servlets 3.1

The jQuery Mobile palette supports versions 1.3 and 1.4, each with common and unique widget wizards. The palette detects the jQuery Mobile JavaScript file version used in the HTML5 file and switches to the corresponding palette version. The palette version can also be switched manually.

The versions of jQuery Mobile JavaScript and CSS references inserted into .html files by jQuery Mobile widgets can be specified from within the widget wizard. When appropriate and available, version options are listed on the second page of the jQuery Mobile widget wizard.

A Form Button widget is available in the jQuery Mobile palette for versions 1.3 and 1.4.

The Panel widget wizard is extended with the option to also generate a menu, combining Panel and ListView widgets in one wizard.

jQuery Mobile palette drag-and-drop action has been improved as follows:

jQuery Mobile and HTML5 palette widget templates can also be inserted into .html files through content assist.

Content assist is available for jQuery Mobile 1.4 data-* attributes.

AngularJS content assist, code highlighting and navigation are supported by the JBoss Tools HTML Editor for JavaScript projects. This AngularJS tooling is supported as an Early Access feature. The IDE must be in Early Access enabled mode and the Early Access version of the AngularJS for Web Tools plug-in must first be installed, both of which can be actioned from JBoss Central Software/Updates tab.

A palette of Ionic widgets is now available in the IDE, with drag-and-drop capabilities and a content assist code completion feature. The palette is automatically listed in the Palette view when a HTML5 file is opened in an IDE editor. This feature is supported as Technology Preview and the AngularJS for Web Tools plug-in must first be installed from JBoss Central Software/Updates tab.

Enhanced content assist for JavaScript is provided with support for ECMA5 and Cordova and it is automatically enabled for JavaScript and Cordova projects, respectively.

The Properties view for HTML5 files is enhanced, providing an advanced look and feel for basic HTML5, jQuery Mobile and AngularJS components and attributes.

A reload delay parameter has been introduced that controls the length of time between project modifications being saved and browser reload requests being sent. This option is useful when time is needed by the application server to complete processing associated with modifications.

Maven Profile Management user interface has been donated to the Eclipse m2e project. This feature is still available with JBDS as m2e is packaged as a core component of JBDS but it is now also available to all Eclipse users.

m2eclipse-egit, the Maven SCM Handler for EGit, is now included as part of the core JBoss Developer Studio distribution. This provides a preinstalled Git SCM connector for use in the Checkout Maven Projects from SCM import wizard.

The Maven Central archetype catalog is registered by default, giving fast access to more than 9600 archetypes when using the New Maven Project wizard.

JBoss Maven Integration has been extended with advanced settings choices when adding new repositories. You can choose the repository layout, enable and disable snapshots or releases, and change the update policy.

The detection of local repositories by JBoss Maven Integration is improved with the search action now also looking for a unique .maven-repository configuration file during recursive scanning.

JBoss project configurators for m2e now support an activation property in the <properties> section of a project pom.xml file. Expected values are true or false and override the workspace-wide preferences. The available properties are as follows: These XML templates are provided by content assist in the pom.xml editor.

The New OpenShift Application wizard has been modified to provide a better and simplified user experience and extended functionality.

The New OpenShift Application wizard by default only shows projects under no version control or those under Git version control when opting to merging the new application with an existing workspace project.

Custom Code Anything cartridges are supported in the New OpenShift Application wizard both as the basis of the application and as embedded cartridges. When selecting the Code Anything cartridge option, the Git URL for the custom cartridge source must be provided.

OpenShift quickstarts are now available in the New OpenShift Application wizard. These quickstarts are sample OpenShift applications, combining code and one or more cartridges to demonstrate how to make effective OpenShift applications.

Access to the New OpenShift Application wizard has been extend to the project context menu, providing more convenient wizard access when creating new OpenShift applications from existing workspace projects.

On encountering an unknown SSL certificate when connecting to servers, OpenShift Tools prompts users to review and accept or decline the certificate.

The OpenShift server adapter context menu, in the Servers view, is extended to display all application-related actions, including access to the Configure Markers window.

The OpenShift server adapter now supports management of Java EE 7 projects deployed on OpenShift.

The Publish Changes prompt for OpenShift projects has been updated with options for customizing your commit message and the files to commit and push as part of the publishing process. Based on the EGit commit window, the wizard also provides features for comparing files with a visual diff.

New snapshot functionality allows users to create backups and restore OpenShift applications to and from local .tar.gz files. Two types of snapshots are available: a full snapshot contains the application and all local files including logs, a deployment snapshot contains a binary of the deployed application.

On importing OpenShift applications to IDE workspaces, OpenShift Tools automatically makes IDE-specific changes to projects but no longer commits these changes without your approval.

Additional users can be added to OpenShift domains from the IDE Create Domain and Edit Domain wizards. These wizards provide an Edit domain members link which opens the IDE default browser at the required OpenShift URL for managing your domain members and their read and write permissions.

JAX-RS 2.0, part of Java EE 7, is supported, with the following new features:

A new JAX-RS Application wizard is available, which provides a choice between creating a subclass of javax.ws.rs.core.Application or defining a <servlet-mapping> element in the project web deployment descriptor.

A new JAX-RS Resource wizard is available, which provides default settings for the class name, the @Path value at the type level, and the supported media types (by default, application/json and application/xml). The wizard also provides skeleton code generation for CRUD methods.

Validation now occurs for parameter types in Resource methods.

Quick fixes are provided in the Java editor for @Target and @Retention meta-annotations of custom NameBinding and HttpMethod annotations that do not have appropriate values and fail validation.

The scope of Java type declarations and methods are validated as you type while editing them. When the Java element corresponds to a JAX-RS element, validation occurs when the file is saved in order to ensure validation does not impact IDE speed.

Saving changes to a Java class triggers JAX-RS validation for all classes with related JAX-RS elements, enabling any associated problems in these latter classes to be automatically and immediately identified or resolved.

Support is included for JAX-RS Resource Fields and Properties (fields or setter methods annotated with @PathParam, @QueryParam, @MatrixParam) as well as the JAX-RS 2.0 Parameter Aggregators (method parameters, fields or setter methods annotated with @BeanParam). These elements are checked for validation and the associated Endpoints URI templates are displayed in the Project Explorer view.

A new HTML Preview view is available that renders HTML source open in IDE editors. Key features of the view include refreshing as HTML source is changed or saved and source-preview highlighting for fast navigation. The view is compatible with any IDE editor with DOM model support and it is automatically used in the Visual/Source and Preview tabs of the JBoss Tools HTML Editor when XULRunner is not available.