Eclipse Java Debugging Support for Xalan Extensions

[xvolver]

Not sure whether this has already been requested. Haven't managed to find anything similar browsing through this forum in the last 2 hours.

I'm developing Xalan extensions to simplify the process of creating SVG from XML (piecharts, barcharts and the like). It would be great if one could add breakpoints or watch variables inside their java code. I guess this should already be possible as long as you know what to tweak. Maybe this could be incorporated in a future feature? Any workarounds to make it work for now?

[sorin_ristache]

Hello,

It would be great if one could add breakpoints or watch variables inside their java code. I guess this should already be possible as long as you know what to tweak.

No, it is not possible. The XSLT engine does not send notifications when an extension is executed. You have to debug that part using Java techniques.


Regards,
Sorin

[george]

A suggestion: log all the inputs in your extension and then create a test case in Java asserting the expected output. Then you can use your Java tool of choice to debug that test case.

Best Regards,
George

[xvolver]

Sorin, George
Thanks for your replies
I found a way round this. Just using oXygen standalone with JAVA_OPTS tweaked in the batch file to start the VM in debug mode. Then I use the remote debug feature of eclipse and it all works fine. Had to download version 8 to get the correct line numbers to display though. Not sure what might have caused that...

A couple of further thoughts:
1. Allow multiple jar selection in the Extensions add dialog.
2. Make it a bit clearer in the documentation that extension jars as well as their dependencies need to be added via the extensions dialog (in the transformation scenario)

[sorin_ristache]

1. Allow multiple jar selection in the Extensions add dialog.

We will remove the Add extension dialog and we will add the file browser buttons in the Edit extensions dialog to allow adding multiple files in one step.

2. Make it a bit clearer in the documentation that extension jars as well as their dependencies need to be added via the extensions dialog (in the transformation scenario)

The dependencies of your extensions are extensions too, that is jars or classes which are not included in the standard distribution of the XSLT engine used in your transformation scenario. That means all the jars/classes containing your XSLT extensions should be added in the Extensions dialog.


Regards,
Sorin

[sorin_ristache]

Hello,

1. Allow multiple jar selection in the Extensions add dialog.

We will remove the Add extension dialog and we will add the file browser buttons in the Edit extensions dialog to allow adding multiple files in one step.

I wanted to let you know that now the file browser allows you to add multiple extensions in the scenario in one step. Just download the current version of Oxygen and see how adding extensions works.


Regards,
Sorin