GWT 2.1.1 is now available

Back in October of this year we released GWT 2.1, with a framework and set of tools that made it easy to build business web apps. Since then we’ve had some great feedback from the GWT community, and today we’re happy to announce that we’ve incorporated that feedback into our latest release, GWT 2.1.1. The specifics of this release are detailed below, but if you’re interested in getting started you can do so here.

For Eclipse users, simply click on the “Google updates available” icon in the lower left hand corner of your screen, or select the “Help->Check for Updates” menu item.

Alongside this release, we’ve also updated the Google Plugin for Eclipse and GWT Designer. Both can be installed via the links below.

The main release updates for each product include:

GWT SDK

GWT’s RequestFactory component, introduced in GWT 2.1, received a lot of attention, both from the GWT team at Google and from the GWT open source community at large. Based on this feedback, we’ve added the following:

  • A service layer, which includes support for non-static service objects
  • Value object support
  • Multiple methods calls on a single request

Google Plugin for Eclipse

  • Improved UiBinder error reporting within SpringSource Tool Suite (STS)
  • Optimized the IDE experience by removing unused Java builders and leveraging the AspectJ fixes in the latest STS release
  • Updated Speed Tracer to perform a full J2EE publish before launching

GWT Designer

If you have questions or want to provide some feedback, we’d love to hear it, and the best place to do so is in the Google Web Toolkit Group.

Chrome is Ready for Business

Since we launched the Chromium project over two years ago, we’ve been hearing a lot of feedback from IT administrators who want to manage and configure Google Chrome. Of course, we were eager to do what we could to help them get Chrome deployed inside their organizations.

Today, after talking directly to administrators and testing the features extensively with other organizations, we believe the first set of features is ready for prime-time. Both Chrome and Chromium are now manageable through Group Policy objects on Windows, plist/MCX configuration on Mac, and special JSON configuration files on Linux. We polished up the NTLM and Kerberos protocol support, and created a list of supported policies and administrative templates to help administrators deploy. For users needing access to older web applications not yet qualified for Chrome, we also developed Chrome Frame, an Internet Explorer (TM) plug-in that provides Chrome-quality rendering for the broader Web, while defaulting to host rendering for any web applications that still require IE.

No feature is really useful to an administrator without great documentation, so we wrote articles to help admins in the configuration and deployment of both Google Chrome and Chromium. We also documented answers to the top questions testers encountered when deploying.

Even though the first set of features is done, we still have a lot more we’d like to do. We have some interesting ideas that we’re working on, including more policies to manage everything in the content settings and authentication protocols, and interesting new ways to deploy policy cross-platform. But we could use your help: please try out the new features by checking out the documentation, downloading the MSI installer, and filing bugs. And let your administrator know to give it a try and let us know what they think.

Geodatabase API

File Geodatabase API BETA – January 2011

File Geodatabase API BETA - January 2011
Image source: ESRI – File Geodatabase API announced.

The File Geodatabase API provides a non-ArcObjects based means by which advanced developers can work with File Geodatabases. The File Geodatabase API will be C++ based and will provide the ability to perform the following tasks:

  • Create, Open and Delete file geodatabases
  • Read the schema of the geodatabase

All content within a geodatabase can be opened for read access

  • Create schema for objects within the simple feature model
  • Tables
  • Point, Line, and Polygon feature classes
  • Feature datasets
  • Domains
  • Subtypes
  • Read the contents of datasets in a geodatabase
  • All dataset content within a geodatabase can be read
  • Insert, Delete and Edit the contents of simple datasets:

Tables

  • Point, Line, Polygon, Multipoint, and Multipatch feature classes
  • Perform attribute and (limited) spatial queries on datasets
  • Spatial queries will be limited to the envelope-intersects operator
  • Navigate relationships and work with Attachments

This API is targeted for advanced developers who require access to the File Geodatabase without an ArcObjects license for purposes of interoperability. A commonly requested user scenario is to open File Geodatabase tables outside of an ArcObjects based application to view or modify data. This API does not replace ArcObjects as the recommended approach to interacting with the geodatabase.

The File Geodatabase API leverages the work done in ArcGIS 10 to simplify the Geodatabase system tables. Therefore, the File Geodatabase API only supports file geodatabases from release 10 or later. We are planning to deliver the API as a single downloadable ZIP containing:

C++ library (single dll, lib, .h)
API documentation in html format
(Supported on Windows only for the initial release)

Limitations of the File Geodatabase API

While the File Geodatabase API will support reading the schema and data of complex geodatabase types, the API will not honor geodatabase behavior on inserts, deletes or updates to the following dataset types:

  • Annotation and Dimension feature classes
  • Relationship Classes
  • Networks (GN and ND)
  • Topologies
  • Terrains
  • Representations
  • Parcel Fabrics

The API will not prevent users from attempting to edit objects with complex behavior, the onus will be on the developer to understand what they should and should not edit through the API and avoid editing datasets that have geodatabase behavior. There will be a method called Table::IsEditable which will provide developers with the ability to determine whether a dataset can be safely edited.

Other limitations of the File Geodatabase API at its initial release:

  • Rasters (Raster Dataset, Raster Catalog, Mosaic Datasets and Raster Attributes) are not supported with the initial release of the File Geodatabase API.
  • Spatial queries with the File Geodatabase API will be limited to the envelope-intersects operator.

http://blogs.esri.com/Dev/blogs/geodatabase/archive/2010/12/13/File-Geodatabase-API-details.aspx