Version 7

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    JBoss Central, based on Mylyn Discovery, is in part a UI for installing new features into Eclipse or JBDS. It provider a richer, yet simpler UI than what Eclipse's p2 Install Manager provides out of the box.

     

     

    The Software/Update tab in Central is backed by three levels of metadata:

     

    • directory.xml file listing 1 or more discovery plugins (eg., 1 for the Core features, 1 for the Integration Stack (formerly SOA Tooling) features)

    • discovery plugin(s), which define groups of features ("Connectors") to be installed. This amounts to little more than a plugin.xml and some icons.

    • update site(s) referenced by the discovery plugin(s), which host the features to be installed. Sites can be 3rd party vendors' sites, or can be mirrored on download.jboss.org / devstudio.jboss.com for better guarantee of performance / version. Each connector can only define a SINGLE URL for that group of features, however. But that single URL can be a composite site, which in turn points to more than 1 site.

     

     

    There are two simple rules to follow when writing your discovery plugin.xml:

    • connectorIDs must be stable - should not change between releases

    • Where license terms permit, 3rd party content should be mirrored first onto download.jboss.org and/or devstudio.jboss.com, so that the site content can be more easily controlled / guaranteed

     

     

    How about some working examples?