Version @version@ built on @builddate@.
Release Notes for Vaadin @version@
- Overview
- General Upgrade Notes
- Instructions for Upgrading from IT Mill Toolkit 5
- Important known problems in Vaadin @version@
- Change Log
- Requirements
Vaadin @version@ is an update release for Vaadin 6. In addition to various fixes, it contains a number of significant enhancements.
- Drag-and-Drop support (#119)
- Dragging Tree and Table items as well as entire components
- See the Sampler for Drag-and-Drop examples and Book of Vaadin for more detailed instructions
- GWT 2.0
- Platform independent and a new development mode.
- No more separate OOPHM - the GWT Development Mode uses a browser plugin to allow debugging directly in the supported browsers
- New protected attachField() method in Form allows customizing the form layout according to item identifier and object type. For example, you could lay check boxes horizontally. (#2205)
- Form no longer resets the field caption set by the FormFieldFactory
- Easier shortcut key binding
- Bind shortcuts to directly to buttons by using setClickShortcut()
- Bind field components by adding a FocusShortcut as a shortcut listener to a component with addShortcutListener()
- Shortcuts can be scoped to a Panel,Window or Form by adding them with addAction() to the component
- ISO-8601 week numbers in DateFields (#3492)
- Customizable system messages to warn about disabled cookies
- Methods for browser and operating system detection on the server-side (#3931, #4356). The getBrowser() method in WebApplicationContext returns a WebBrowser info object, which provides the following:
- The isFirefox(), isChrome(), etc. methods allow detecting the browser
- The getBrowserMajorVersion() and getBrowserMinorVersion() return the browser version info
- The isWindows(), isLinux(), and isMac() allow detecting the operating system
- The <body> element of the application page contains CSS classes for the browser, browser engine, and operating system
- Filtering support for HierarchicalContainer
- ApplicationServlet provides time stamps for static resources to improve browser caching support
- Portlet 2.0 PortletListener now includes the active Window in all methods for improved multi-window support in portlets (#4188)
- Focus and blur listeners for Button, NativeButton, CheckBox, and OptionGroup
- Many bug fixes including several minor fixes for invalid behavior in containers
See Change Log for a full list of tickets fixed in this release.
Problem fixes and enhancements planned for upcoming releases can be found from the Vaadin Roadmap in Vaadin Trac.
As always, when upgrading from an earlier version, you should recompile any custom widget sets and refresh your project in Eclipse. If you are upgrading from earlier than 6.3.0, notice that Vaadin 6.3 uses GWT 2.0 (included in the installation package). See General Upgrade Notes for more details on upgrading.
Upgrading from an Earlier Version of Vaadin 6
The way how widget sets are defined was simplified in Vaadin 6.2. Existing projects, where custom widgets (a custom widget set) are used, must be migrated when upgrading to Vaadin 6.2 or later. Projects where the default widget set is used do not need migration. For most projects this should be a quite painless upgrade.
For applications where custom widgets are used (also applicable to widget projects):
- Remove the getTag() method from all components and replace it with a @ClientWidget(VClientSideWidget.class) annotation. Tag names are no longer used to map the server-side and client-side part of the component. This is done automatically using the @ClientWidget annotation.
- Remove the WidgetSet.java file. This file is no longer needed as the mapping between the server- and the client-side is done automatically using @ClientWidget.
If you are using widgets from another project (typically in a separate JAR file):
- Acquire a new JAR which is compatible with Vaadin 6.3 and add it to WEB-INF/lib. The widget set compilation will automatically include the JAR in your .gwt.xml during compilation if you use the Eclipse Compile Widget Set button. For Ant/Maven you need to specify the location of the widget set JARs that you want to include in the application widget set.
If you package a widget set as a JAR for use in other projects:
- Replace getTag() with @ClientWidget and remove the -WidgetSet.java as described above.
- Add a "Vaadin-Widgetsets: <fully qualified name of widgetset>" (e.g. "Vaadin-Widgetsets: com.example.widgetset.mywidgetset") row to the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF of the JAR file. This enables the widget set builder to automatically detect and include the widget set in other projects.
General Upgrade Notes
When upgrading from an earlier version of the Vaadin library, you should always do the following:
- Install the new Vaadin JAR to your project
- If using the Vaadin Plugin in Eclipse, download and select the new version in project preferences.
- Install new GWT JARs if the GWT version has changed
- The Eclipse plugin will automatically download the new GWT and update launch configurations and the project build path when you update the Vaadin version.
- If you have custom widget sets, recompile them with the new Vaadin library using the included GWT compiler
- If using the Eclipse IDE:
- Refresh the Eclipse project by selecting the project folder and pressing F5
- Restart the application server
Using the Vaadin project facet in the Eclipse IDE does the steps 1 and 2 automatically.
Instructions for Upgrading from IT Mill Toolkit 5
While the Vaadin 6 API is otherwise mostly backward-compatible with IT Mill Toolkit 5.4, the change of the product name has made it necessary to reflect it in the Java package names, some name prefixes, and some other details.
Server-side Upgrade Instructions
- Java Package names have changed:
- In all Java files using IT Mill Toolkit, rename package prefix com.itmill.toolkit → com.vaadin
- You also need to update the web.xml deployment descriptor:
- The servlet class is now com.vaadin.terminal.gwt.server.ApplicationServlet.
- Changes in themes:
- Rename WebContent/ITMILL → WebContent/VAADIN
- If you have extracted the built-in themes and widgetsets in IT Mill Toolkit JAR to the folder to have them served statically by the server, remove the old content and re-extract from Vaadin JAR.
- This may require changes to build scripts for custom widgetsets, as well as to any code that relies on the old naming (it is discouraged but possible).
- The new "reindeer" theme is the default theme in Vaadin; the old "default" theme in IT Mill Toolkit 5 has been renamed as "runo"
- There is no longer a theme with name "default"
- In your custom theme, replace:
@import "../default/styles.css"; → @import "../reindeer/styles.css"; if you wish to use the new default theme, or → @import "../runo/styles.css"; if you wish to use the old default theme. - Use the new default theme with setTheme("reindeer") and the old one with setTheme("runo").
- CSS class names now start with "v-" prefix instead of "i-"
- Search and replace ".i-" → ".v-" in custom themes
- Embedding Vaadin applications in web pages:
- The name of the JavaScript variable used for launching applications has changed from "itmill.toolkitConfigurations" → "vaadin.vaadinConfigurations"
- Other changes in naming:
- Rename references to translateToolkitUri() → translateVaadinUri() method in ApplicationConnection class.
Client-side Upgrade Instructions
The following changes are relevant only if you have developed or integrated custom client-side widgets with Google Web Toolkit (GWT).
- GWT 2.0 is required for compiling custom widgets (optional)
- You need to upgrade GWT
- The GWT Compiler class name has changed:
- Replace com.google.gwt.dev.GWTCompiler → com.google.gwt.dev.Compiler in your widget set build script (Ant) or launch configuration (Eclipse).
- Replace the output directory argument for the compiler with the new WAR output argument: -out → -war. The directory parameter for the argument remains unchanged.
- The "I" (IT Mill) prefix in client-side widget classes has been changed to "V" (Vaadin), for example: IButton → VButton.
- Rename IToolkitOverlay → VOverlay
Notes and Limitations for Google App Engine
The following instructions and limitations apply when you run a Vaadin application under the Google App Engine.
Applications must use GAEApplicationServlet instead of ApplicationServlet in web.xml.
Session support must be enabled in appengine-web.xml:
<sessions-enabled>true</sessions-enabled>
Avoid using the session for storage, usual App Engine limitations apply (no synchronization, i.e, unreliable).
Vaadin uses memcache for mutex, the key is of the form _vmutex<sessionid>.
The Vaadin WebApplicationContext class is serialized separately into memcache and datastore; the memcache key is _vac<sessionid> and the datastore entity kind is _vac with identifiers of the type _vac<sessionid>.
DO NOT update application state when serving an ApplicationResource (e.g ClassResource.getStream()).
AVOID (or be very careful when) updating application state in a TransactionListener or a HttpServletRequestListener - they are called even when the application is not locked and won't be serialized (e.g ApplicationResource), and changes can thus go missing (it should be safe to update things that can be safely discarded later - i.e valid only for the current request)
The application remains locked during uploads - a progress bar is not possible
Important known problems in Vaadin @version@
#1155: Uncompressing the installation package fails in Windows if using the default Zip uncompression. Uncompression gives (in Windows Vista) an error message about too long filenames, and a more obscure message in other versions of Windows. Workaround: use 7-Zip or some other good unzip program for Windows.
For other known problems, see open tickets at developer site dev.vaadin.com.
Change Log
The following closed issues have been included in this release:
- #119: Design drag and drop support API
- #875: Keybinding for any components should be easier to do
- #1394: Focus server-side code needs redesign and implementation (?)
- #1844: Form component should implement Action.Container interface
- #2205: Make Form layouting more flexible
- #2586: Theme should be refreshed when Vaadin version is updated
- #3226: Lazy-initialization for PortletAdapter
- #3467: Button styles missing? (Button.STYLE_LINK exists, but others not)
- #3492: DateField should have an option to show week numbers
- #3554: Form.addItemProperty() resets caption created by FieldFactory
- #3734: Widgetset fails to load when customized system messages contain special characters
- #3736: Split up style and type definitions
- #3810: Upgrade GWT to 2.0
- #3846: Empty string as a caption in VOrderedLayout uses space in IE6&7 but not in other browsers.
- #3913: Focus and BlurEvents for Button/Checkbox and OptionGroup
- #3931: Provide methods for browser detection in WebBrowser
- #3940: Setter for CustomLayout template contents
- #3949: Add a convenience removeItemAndChildren method to HierarchicalContainer and ContainerHierarchicalWrapper
- #3984: CustomLayout "not found" debug message should indicate where it looked
- #3994: Remove extra dependencies from DefaultWidgetSet
- #4085: Table height is miscalculated (IE6)
- #4102: RichTextArea should provide feedback on current text format
- #4106: BeanItemContainer slow in some instances
- #4107: Multi-selectable AbstractSelect considers itself to be non-empty when nothing is selected
- #4128: Allow custom servlets to send critical notifications to client
- #4129: Show a message if cookie support is disabled in the browser
- #4139: Update RichTextAreaToolbar to GWT 2.0
- #4153: The noscript tag should be rendered also when running as portlet
- #4160: restartApplication flag does not work for portlet 2.0
- #4170: IndexedContainer.addItemAfter(null, Object) does not work
- #4188: PortletListener cannot know which window the request is using
- #4192: HierarchicalContainer implements Container.Filterable but does not allow filtering
- #4212: ComboBox mixed behaviour in dropdown.
- #4240: Remove URIFragmentUtility workaround (#4099)
- #4241: Implement drag'n'drop support for Table
- #4242: Implement drag'n'drop support for Tree
- #4249: IndexedContainer.addItemAfter(Object) should return item id, not item
- #4250: IndexedContainer.nextItemId should return null for item ids not in container
- #4279: RichTextEditor does not save contents on Chrome and Safari
- #4284: Add Chrome version parsing to BrowserInfo
- #4286: RichTextArea IE workaround causes assertion error in GWT development mode
- #4292: removeItem in Container.Hierarchical implementations should handle orphaned children
- #4293: ContainerHierarchicalWrapper.setParent() creates "duplicates" into the hierarchy
- #4299: Suboptimal row cache update in Table
- #4300: Fix standard DnD drop hints
- #4303: BeanItemContainer.addItemAfter(null, Object) does not work
- #4313: ComboBox sends extra value updates to the server
- #4322: Tree drop indicator flickers and shows the wrong target
- #4332: Add web.xml parameter to control the resource caching
- #4334: TextField contents offset in Firefox 3.6
- #4347: Mouse cursor should not change during a drag'n'drop operation
- #4348: Column resize cursor not shown in Opera 10
- #4350: Removing a root recursively puts HierarchicalContainerWrapper in an inconsistent state
- #4352: Vaadin application font is ugly in Windows Safari/Chrome
- #4354: SplitPanel setComponent methods should check if the component is already set
- #4356: Add operating system detection
- #4359: Immediate upload in a wide form layout does not work in Firefox 3.5 and Opera
- #4360: HierarchicalContainer.setParent() creates "duplicates" into the hierarchy
- #4362: Sub windows don't obey setPositionX/Y if only one is set
- #4365: When dragging components, drop target is null for WrapperDropDetails
- #4370: HierarchicalContainer.setParent() removes node children incorrectly
- #4380: Vaadin's client side does not react visibly to HTTP error codes
- #4392: Any drag-event should be safely cancelable by pressing the ESC key
- #4394: ValueChangeListener is called multiple times for fields
- #4395: HTML5 Drag and Drop example gives Internal Error on Safari
- #4396: RichTextArea broken in IE
- #4399: AbstractApplicationServlet.RequestType enum should have visibility protected
- #4401: Clicking on week numbers in VCalendarPanel selects a date
- #4463: "widgetset version does not seem to match theme version" should not be output to console
- #4469: VScrollTable prints debug on 4 places
- #4476: AcceptCriteriaFactoryGenerator does not find criteria classes which are inner classes
- #4477: Drag'n'drop partly broken in IE
- #4489: Extra scrollbars when scrolling Table (Chrome 4 + Runo)
- #4491: Provide methods for browser minor version detection in WebBrowser
- #4492: Clicking on tree node icon does not select node or send click events to server
- #4503: Keyboard shortcuts and inputpromt don't work together in Opera
- #4508: Update "Handling Portlet Mode Changes" to use correct Window
- #4510: Add css class names according to browser engine
Requirements
Vaadin is available for the following operating systems:
- Windows (see the Zip installation notice above)
- Linux
- Mac OS X Tiger (mac) or Leopard (leopard)
- Other UNIX operating systems, such as Sun Solaris
Vaadin supports Java Servlet API 2.3 and later versions and should work with any Java application server that conforms to the standard. It supports the following application servers:
- Apache Tomcat, version 4.1 or later
- BEA WebLogic® Server, version 9.2 or later
- IBM WebSphere® Application Server, version 6.1 or later
- JBoss Application Server, version 3.2.8 or later
- Jetty, version 5 or later
- Glassfish, version 2 or later
Vaadin supports the following browsers for using the applications made with it:
- Mozilla Firefox 3
- Internet Explorer releases 6, 7, and 8
- Safari 3 and 4
- Opera 10
- Google Chrome (latest version)
The support for browsers follows the support by GWT. The browsers are supported on both Windows and Mac, if available. Firefox is supported also on Linux. There may be differences between the exact versions of the supported browsers that may cause incompatibility with applications made with Vaadin.
The following browsers are not supported but have been found to work to a large degree:
- Safari 2
- Firefox 2
- Older versions of Google Chrome
- iPhone (firmware 2.2)
- Midori (0.1.2)
- Epiphany (2.22.3), Galeon, and other Gecko-based browsers. Also WebKit-based Epiphany (2.22.3) works.
- Konqueror 4.2 (3.5.x does not work)
- Nokia Internet Tablet N800 and N810 (ITOS 2008, Opera-based browser).
The reported versions are those that have been tested, though other versions may work as well.
Nokia E-series phones, such as E90, have been known to work with older versions, but not with Vaadin 6. Links, Lynx, and other text-based browsers do not work.