Hello,
in compliance with a previous vote on webservices-general (see http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=106198386600001&r=1&w=2 and http://nagoya.apache.org/wiki/apachewiki.cgi?JaxbProposal for details) I would like to propose the JaxMe project for incubation. The proposal is available on
http://nagoya.apache.org/wiki/apachewiki.cgi?JaxMeProposal
I'll add it also below.
Regards,
Jochen
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JaxMe - Proposal for an Apache implementation of JAXB
10 Sep 2003 : Davanum Srinivas ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Jochen Wiedmann ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Section 0 : Rationale
The specification for Java/XML binding (JAXB) describes a customizable mapping between an instance of XML Schema and a set of Java classes being generated by the JAXB implementation. A JAXB compliant binding compiler creates
- a SAX 2 handler that is able to parse a conforming XML instance
- a Java bean that allows to store the information read by the parser
- a Marshaller that is able to convert the Java bean back into an
XML instance which is equivalent to the original XML instanceDetails on JAXB can be found on http://java.sun.com/xml/jaxb/.
From the view of the Apache project, JAXB is important, because it is going to be a requirement in a series of upcoming Java standards, in particular JAX-RPC 2.0 (in planning stage at JCP - http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=224) and J2EE 1.5. In other words, a JAXB implementation will be required by Axis and Geronimo.
From the view of the JAXB users, an Apache sponsored implementation is important, because it would be open: Source generators tend to be usefull only as far as you can extend and customize them to your individual needs. A proprietary implementation like the JAXB reference implementation can be open to a certain extent only.
Section 0.1 : criteria
Meritocracy: The project will be based on JaxMe 2 (see below), which is already following meritocratic guidelines. The usual Apache meritocracy rules would apply in the future.
Community: The existing community is small, because the project didn't have much audience in the past. However, it can be said to be constantly growing. The user community for this project is potentially massive, because JAXB is the first standard for Java/XML binding.
Core Developers: The initial developers are listed below and consist of existing and emerited Apache comitters. Some other developers have already expressed their wish to help and become committers.
Alignment: Axis requires a JAXB implementation as part of JAX-RPC 2.0. Geronimo requires JAXB as part of J2EE 1.5. However, JAXB is obviously usefull as a standalone project, because its place is whereever XML marshalling and/or unmarshalling is happending.
Section 0.2 : warning signs We feel that this project has a good chance for success as the following warning signs do not apply to the project we are proposing :
Orphaned products: The code base being used was rewritten from scratch just some months ago. The predecessor has been used as a mature product in large scaled applications.
Inexperience with open source: The initial community is made up of existing Apache committers.
Homogeneous developers: The current list of committers consists of individuals which found themselves on the JaxMe mailing list simply because of interest in JAXB.
Reliance on salaried developers: None.
No ties to other Apache products: At first glance JaxMe might seem in conflict to Betwixt or XMLBeans. However, JaxMe is clearly different. Betwixt is using Java Beans as the origin. XMLBeans is also using an XML Schema, but doesn't currently have a runtime or a code generator implementing JAXB. In contrary, it seems reasonable to combine XMLBeans and JaxMe at some point: XMLBeans might use JaxMe internally as a generator to implement JSR-31.
A fascination with the Apache brand: The JaxMe development will continue, regardless of the acceptance by the ASF.
Section 1 : scope of the project As a possible part of Geronimo, JaxMe is aimed to become a fully compliant implementation of JSR-31. Again, as part of Geronimo, it should even be able to pass the JAXB compliance kit (JCK).
Section 2 : initial source from which the project is to be populated
The following modules are being included into the Apache CVS:
* JaxMeXS, the JaxMe parser for XML Schema; this is an extensible XML schema parser, particularly developed for implementation of XML schema extensions like JAXB. The parser can be replaced at a later time. See http://jaxme.sf.net/JaxMeXS/ for details.
* JaxMeJS, the JaxMe java source generation framework, a generic framework for complex Java source generators. Unlike typical Java source generators, this one is not template driven. It views the generated sources as abstract objects, which are created and customized in a pipe of smaller generators. The approach is comparable with Cocoon. See http://jaxme.sf.net/JaxMeJS/ for details.
* JaxMe2, the ongoing JAXB implementation, which is internally based on the former sources. See http://jaxme.sf.net/JaxMe2/ for details.
All of the above sources are available under the BSD license. A formal vote took place on the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED], which decided to offer the copyrights to the ASF. Another vote on [EMAIL PROTECTED] resulted in acceptance by ws.apache.org.
Section 3: identify the ASF resources to be created
Section 3.1 : mailing lists
* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* [EMAIL PROTECTED]A user list can be established at a later time.
Section 3.2: CVS repositories
* ws-jaxme
Section 3.3: Bugzilla
* ws jaxme
Section 4: identify the initial set of committers
* Jochen Wiedmann (JaxMe project founder, formerly perl.apache.org)
* Davanum Srinivas (ws.apache.org)
* Robert Burrell Donkin (jakarta.apache.org/commons)Section 5: identify apache sponsoring individual
* Davanum Srinivas, dims at yahoo.com
Section 6: open issues for discussion
As an implementation of JAXB, the project depends on a small set of interfaces. These should ideally be distributed in a small jar file, much like the xml-apis.jar from xml.apache.org. Unfortunately, these interfaces are currently only available as part of the Java Web Services Developer Pack (JWSDP) 1.2 under comparatively restrictive license terms. A JaxMe distribution would be allowed to add these Jar files to a binary archive, but only as a part of a larger super set. This super set consists of 7 jar files with no less than 5 MB. An integration into the CVS would be strictly forbidden. A better approach would be a clean room implementation of the JAXB API. Technically there are no issues. The interfaces are clear and replacements for the default implementations are already implemented.
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