[jbosstools-dev] Who uses .target file?

[Max Rydahl Andersen]

>>> Let's keep in mind that the plugin/feature being built determines
>>> the versions of its dependencies (not sure how fuzzy this gets
>>> when specifying package dependencies), so it shouldn't matter what
>>> the TP says as it is _not_ the definitive source.  The build
>>> should fail if the plugin requires v1.2.3 and only 1.2.4 is
>>> available.
>> 
>> Yes of course, but plugins doesn't require v1.2.3 it has a range.
> 
> I still contend this is a failure on the part of the plugin defining the dependency, not the target platform.  The user is still able to install the plugin in an environment that includes 1.2.4.  Just because we're sloppy, doesn't mean using a TP for builds is bad.

Just to be clear, TP is *not* the one defining the dependency for the plugin/feature when installing.

The TP is simply used to get a *consistent* build since if we just let plugin/feature resolution do it then it depends on which set of updatesites are available to p2 at the time.

>>> I'd also question why ..x release would break a build.  The minor
>>> version should be updated if the API changes.  Of course, we
>>> sometimes use non-public API or unreleased API, so these things
>>> can happen.  When they do, the plugin with the dependency needs to
>>> be updated to require 1.2.3 as the maximum supported version.
>> 
>> Yes - which is where multiple .target files becomes relevant to test
>> such cases.
> 
> So your real problem is with testing not building?  I think that's an unrelated problem.  I'm assuming we stage builds for QA, which would imply a separate TP for QA.  (I don't know the current process, so bear with me.)

My main problem is building and testing - ensuring that is done on a well known set of dependencies.

And then .target is much less disk heavy and has benefits as the one outlined in Denis mail during development (configuring of platform with source etc.)