11 Replies Latest reply on Jun 17, 2008 1:40 PM by rob.stryker

    Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA

    bbeloff

      Hi

      Plenty of bugs in the project archive parts of JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA. The following prevent the tools from being usable:

      * Corrupted project archive specifications - After an archive is created, it may subsequently be corrupted such that it cannot be viewed in the Project archives window. At this point, it is still visible as deployed under the server, but it is absent.

      * Build archive (full) - this sometimes causes a null pointer exception, with no further explanation.

      * Failed updates - sometimes changes in the source code trigger redeployment of the archive, but the archive does not appear to contain the updated code.

      * Multiple deployments of the same archive? - If you select "Deploy to Server" against an ear file, then it will sometimes be shown correctly under the server(in the servers view). Sometimes it appears twice, with two different icons.

      * Spinning ball - sometimes when interrogating an archive or archives, Eclipse becomes unresponsive for long periods, for no apparent reason.

      * Installation problems - If you do an Eclipse software update to obtain JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA, you end up with both the old (in my case JBoss Tools 2.10.1.GA) and new features and plugins elements. The above bugs happen irrespective of whether both or only the new versions are present.

      My system: Mac OS X 10.5.3, Eclipse 3.3.2.

      I have had similar problems with previous version, but this seems the most unstable.

      Does anyone have any comments?

      Bruno.

        • 1. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
          maxandersen

          Yes, and we got some bad bugs that for some reason did not get caught until 2.1.0.GA was actually out ;( We have also delayed the publishing of JBDS 1.1.0 for the same reason.

          If you could report these issues in Jira ASAP with examples of how to reproduce it then that will be a great help - we will react to them all and get a release out with the fixes ASAP.

          We already fixed a couple that is going through QA right now so we are instantly reactive to these.

          Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the problems.

          • 2. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
            rob.stryker

            * Corrupted project archive specifications -
            - I have not seen any example of this. A use case or example project would be most helpful

            * Build archive (full) NPE
            - These should be fixed in svn and the next release we make

            * Failed updates - I have heard this but not seen it except yet and am struggling to reproduce.

            * Multiple deployments of the same archive? -
            - Please enter a JIRA over this. The "deploy to server" feature deployes what is called a "single file module". The project archives view is what deployes the "project archives module". By doing both, you are essentially deploying two different modules. Open a jira that would request the "deploy to server" action to check if the file is the output location of a project archives configuration. I can make no promises this will be implemented, however, due to project dependencies and the requirement to avoid circular dependencies.

            * Spinning ball -
            - Sometimes build actions are executed from the UI thread. I am trying to track down all instances of this and solve them.

            * Installation problems
            - I am not equipped to comment on installation problems. Sorry.

            • 3. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
              bbeloff

              On the corrupted specifications:

              The archive disappears from the list of archives in the Project archives view. The archive, if (automatically) updated at this point, appears to be empty. This is difficult to verify, because the problem can be transient.

              I have made available the following:

              http://www.classcalendar.biz/tech/packaging.zip

              This contains two Eclipse projects with packaging specifications where this problem has happened several times. (Other projects in my workspace seem to be immune to the problem.) Note that I am not at liberty to include any sources or binaries for these projects.

              On multiple deployments:

              This seems to be a problem in the way the Servers view works - the view reports that an EAR file is deployed twice, though it actually isn't.

              I have uploaded the following screen grab:

              http://www.classcalendar.biz/tech/servers.png

              Which shows the incorrect report.

              By the way, there are two other problems I didn't mention in my original post:

              * Project archive / Edit publish settings - clicking on' Finish' has no effect - the dialogue box remains open. This problem did not exist in 2.10.1.GA. Come on guys, didn't you test this?!

              * Refresh of archives in Package explorer view - Attempting to export a newly-updated archive frequently results in an error message, because Eclipse was not refreshed following the archive update. Doing a manual refresh fixes this (until the next update). This problem did exist in 2.10.1.GA. I'm not certain about it now. Is this a JBoss Tools bug, or is something fundamentally non-transactional in the Eclipse APIs?

              On installation problems - I'm not an Eclipse plug-in developer, but this looks seriously screwed. The software update left all the old plug-in and feature elements still sitting there. This is surely likely to lead to odd behaviour.


              With regret, I'm not going to log any of these on Jira, at least not at this stage. There are simply too many bugs to make a sufficiently reliable report. If you can deliver something more stable, I'll do what I can then.

              Bruno.

              • 4. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                maxandersen

                 

                "bbeloff" wrote:
                On the corrupted specifications:

                The archive disappears from the list of archives in the Project archives view. The archive, if (automatically) updated at this point, appears to be empty. This is difficult to verify, because the problem can be transient.
                <snip>


                I created http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2324 for you.


                On multiple deployments:

                This seems to be a problem in the way the Servers view works - the view reports that an EAR file is deployed twice, though it actually isn't.

                I have uploaded the following screen grab:

                http://www.classcalendar.biz/tech/servers.png

                Which shows the incorrect report.


                I created http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2325 for this and as you will see in the jira I think this might acutally currently be expected behavior when you have both clicked Deploy to server on the generated .ear file and deployed the archive directly.

                This could be done better - I agree.

                If you did not do the double publish as described then please follow up in the jira with how you that view to show that.


                * Project archive / Edit publish settings - clicking on' Finish' has no effect - the dialogue box remains open. This problem did not exist in 2.10.1.GA.


                I created http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2326 for that.


                Come on guys, didn't you test this?!


                Well, apparently not well enough. As you can see in the jira I actually could not reproduce this at first and had to try a couple of different thigns before it happend. That is not an excuse, but just to show that it actually works for some scenarioes.

                btw. for future reference looking in the Error Log and attaching any exceptions that might occur would provide us with alot more information which we can use to fix the bugs.

                E.g. for the corrupted archives I would assume the error log would have some info. If you dont want to wander through it manually you can use Help > Report a problem which will generate a diagnositc log which contains the error log which would be great to attach to the related jira.


                * Refresh of archives in Package explorer view - Attempting to export a newly-updated archive frequently results in an error message, because Eclipse was not refreshed following the archive update. Doing a manual refresh fixes this (until the next update). This problem did exist in 2.10.1.GA. I'm not certain about it now. Is this a JBoss Tools bug, or is something fundamentally non-transactional in the Eclipse APIs?


                Depends on the error message/stack trace ?


                On installation problems - I'm not an Eclipse plug-in developer, but this looks seriously screwed. The software update left all the old plug-in and feature elements still sitting there. This is surely likely to lead to odd behaviour.


                2 scenarios here:

                1) You install/update JBossTools 2.1.0.GA into a clean eclipse (no previous jboss tools linstall)

                2) You install/update JBoss Tools 2.1.0.GA into an eclipse that had JBoss Tools 2.0.0.GA before.


                In case #1 then *no* trace of previous JBoss Tools installations should be found. Only JBoss Tools 2.1.0.GA releated plugins should be in there.

                In case #2 then both 2.1.0.GA and 2.0.0.GA plugins will be inside eclipse which when it restarts will take the latest ones. This is how eclipse update manager work! Nothing specific about JbossTools here.

                Are you saying you did case #1 or case #2 ?
                If case #1 we have an issue, case #2 is expected Eclipse behavior.


                With regret, I'm not going to log any of these on Jira, at least not at this stage. There are simply too many bugs to make a sufficiently reliable report. If you can deliver something more stable, I'll do what I can then.


                Sorry to hear that - without bug reports we can't really know about them to fix them. Please realize that JBoss Tools has a *huge* set of functionallity and we do our best to QA them before realesing but sometimes bugs do go undiscovered until some user bumps into the specific scenario.

                That said we know Project Archives had a couple of bad NPE bugs which definitly should have been found before the release - and im sorry about that. We have done a 2.1.1.GA release to fix the worst of these and are now working on 2.1.2.GA to get the last bad ones fixed and released.

                Bugs in forums tend to get lost, hence why I always ask users to report issues in jira so we get their additional angle on the bug. In this case you did not want to so I did it for you since I found your issues to be important to get fixed/looked into. I hope in the future you will report in jira ;)

                Thanks for your help so far - I hope you will hang around and beat us up when we as humans fail again and bug shows up in your neighborhood.

                • 5. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                  bbeloff

                   

                  I created http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2325 for this and as you will see in the jira I think this might acutally currently be expected behavior when you have both clicked Deploy to server on the generated .ear file and deployed the archive directly.


                  I didn't do both. I ONLY did a Deploy To Server from the ear file in the package explorer. Subsequently, the second item appeared in the Servers view. I'll update the Jira.

                  The reason why I take this route is that - from experience - if I take the Server > Add or Remove Projects route, I don't get automatic redeployments. Another bug. Sigh.

                  Well, apparently not well enough. As you can see in the jira I actually could not reproduce this at first and had to try a couple of different thigns before it happend. That is not an excuse, but just to show that it actually works for some scenarioes.


                  Well, there you go. I tried this in a number of situations, and could never get it to work!


                  Are you saying you did case #1 or case #2 ?


                  Case #2, using automatic update ('new features'). Thanks for the info. I can see some logic in leaving old versions lying around, but I can also see the logic in removing them. I don't want to work with clean installs if I can avoid it, because I have other plugins in place.


                  Bugs in forums tend to get lost, hence why I always ask users to report issues in jira so we get their additional angle on the bug. In this case you did not want to so I did it for you since I found your issues to be important to get fixed/looked into. I hope in the future you will report in jira ;)


                  My own way of working is to listen to user's bug reports, then write them up myself - so that I can express them more precisely, in terms of a system I understand. That's just my way.

                  Good luck!

                  Bruno.




                  • 6. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                    maxandersen

                     

                    "bbeloff" wrote:
                    I created http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2325 for this and as you will see in the jira I think this might acutally currently be expected behavior when you have both clicked Deploy to server on the generated .ear file and deployed the archive directly.


                    I didn't do both. I ONLY did a Deploy To Server from the ear file in the package explorer. Subsequently, the second item appeared in the Servers view. I'll update the Jira.


                    Thanks.


                    The reason why I take this route is that - from experience - if I take the Server > Add or Remove Projects route, I don't get automatic redeployments. Another bug. Sigh.


                    I think you might just bump into that the default redeploy for servers is 5 seconds in WTP so it wont happen as quickly as you might like ?


                    Well, apparently not well enough. As you can see in the jira I actually could not reproduce this at first and had to try a couple of different thigns before it happend. That is not an excuse, but just to show that it actually works for some scenarioes.


                    Well, there you go. I tried this in a number of situations, and could never get it to work!


                    yup - without you bugging us it could have lived on for a while ;)


                    Are you saying you did case #1 or case #2 ?


                    Case #2, using automatic update ('new features'). Thanks for the info. I can see some logic in leaving old versions lying around, but I can also see the logic in removing them. I don't want to work with clean installs if I can avoid it, because I have other plugins in place.


                    Yes, I complain regulararly about this to eclipse - but deleting plugins is apparently hard to do safely by the updatemanager.


                    Bugs in forums tend to get lost, hence why I always ask users to report issues in jira so we get their additional angle on the bug. In this case you did not want to so I did it for you since I found your issues to be important to get fixed/looked into. I hope in the future you will report in jira ;)


                    My own way of working is to listen to user's bug reports, then write them up myself - so that I can express them more precisely, in terms of a system I understand. That's just my way.


                    Well I like to get the users input into the jira and then update the jira or spawn of other jiras if needed....that ensures the user can actually keep track of the jira automatically (since they are the owners).....that's just my way ;)

                    /max

                    • 7. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                      rob.stryker

                       

                      The reason why I take this route is that - from experience - if I take the Server > Add or Remove Projects route, I don't get automatic redeployments. Another bug. Sigh.


                      This is a WTP issue and something we have no control over sadly.

                      • 8. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                        rob.stryker

                        bbeloff:

                        I just wanted to say, wow. I think these two example projects show pretty much absolutely everything that's wrong with this plugin. I think you hit on basically every single problem we knew about (and several we didn't).

                        I swear I could write a case study paper on how revealing the past hour has been ;) But I won't. Instead I'll just fix it =D

                        I look forward to your input when I have a built jar you can make use of (which may not be until tomorrow night. )

                        • 9. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                          bbeloff

                           

                          "rob.stryker@jboss.com" wrote:
                          The reason why I take this route is that - from experience - if I take the Server > Add or Remove Projects route, I don't get automatic redeployments. Another bug. Sigh.


                          This is a WTP issue and something we have no control over sadly.


                          I think I figured out what was going on here.

                          When I start up Eclipse and immediately start my server from the Servers view, the deployment screws up. This probably has nothing to do with the WTP ...

                          The work-around is - before starting the server - to go to the Project Archives pane. At this point I get the message about "Please select an opened project or resource." Once I've done this, the archives are re-synchronised, and the server deployment will work OK.

                          My question is, why the f*&^ do I have to tell the archive system which archives I'm interested in? Surely it already knows? Can't it sort this out itself on start-up?

                          Cheers,

                          Bruno.

                          • 10. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                            maxandersen

                            that definitly sounds like a step that is *not* needed.

                            • 11. Re: Bug Highlights in JBoss Tools 2.1.1.GA
                              rob.stryker

                              I made a JIRA for this as soon as I saw it, perhaps prematurely. I've been trying to replicate it for this morning and am unable to.

                              The view initiaties registration of a project in the archives model, but so does the module adapter in the jbossAS plugin. So I can't figure out what's going wrong.

                              When testing, I created a new plain java project, gave it an archives configuration, made sure it published properly by right-clicking on the archive in the Archives view and publishing it. Then I stopped the server and closed the archives view (to prevent initialization on the next startup).

                              I restarted my workbench, and noticed when switching to the Servers view that the module says it's not in sync. This means that before startup, it will publish first.

                              My test project deployed properly and then the server started up properly.

                              I encourage you to share some more details. First and foremost is what build are you using exactly? Since your last problem there have been many many commits on archives specifically, so it's possible a previous change has fixed the problem.

                              If you're using nightly builds and STILL experiencing this, then I *definitely* encourage you to put up a test project at:
                              http://jira.jboss.com/jira/browse/JBIDE-2356

                              I will say, though, that your last batch of test projects DEFINITELY helped me fix many bugs in this area, and I hope either this one is already fixed or your new example will help me fix some more =]