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Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software, Version 8.0 releases: new features and enhancements

Product Documentation


Abstract

This document provides an overview of new features and enhancments in IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software, Version 8.0.x.

Content

Supporting Documentation
Document Description
Rational Application Developer Version 8.0 - What's New Videos, presentations and demonstrations of many of the new features in Rational Application Developer, Version 8.0.x on developerWorks.
Updates to Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software A list of the updates that are available for Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software.
Deprecated and removed product features Information about features in the product that have been deprecated or removed in the version 8.0.x releases.
Detailed System Requirements A description of the hardware and software requirements for installing the product.

Table of contents:

Version 8.0.4.3
Version 8.0.4.2
Version 8.0.4.1
Interim Fix 1 for Version 8.0.4
Version 8.0.4
Interim Fix 1 for Version 8.0.3
Version 8.0.3
Version 8.0.2
Version 8.0.1
Version 8.0
Download Version 8.0.4.3

This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:





Additional supported operating system versions
Beginning with version 8.0.4.3, the following additional operating system versions are supported:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Update 3
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 4
  • Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support)
  • Citrix XenApp 5.0
  • Citrix XenApp 6.0



Product integration support
Beginning with version 8.0.4.3, the following product integration is supported:
  • Rational Common Licensing 8.1.3.3



Updates to supported web browsers
Beginning with version 8.0.4.3, the following additional web browser versions are supported:
  • Mozilla Firefox 24 ESR (Extended Support Release)



IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates
The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:

Download Version 8.0.4.2

This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:






Additional supported operating system versions
Beginning with version 8.0.4.2, the following additional operating system versions are supported:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 8
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 2




Product integration support
Beginning with version 8.0.4.2, the following product integration is supported:
  • Rational Common Licensing 8.1.3.1




IBM Runtime Environment Java Technology Edition updates
IBM Runtime Environment Java Technology Edition is updated to the following versions:
  • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Windows, Java Technology Edition, Version 6.0 Service Release 11
  • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, Version 6.0 Service Release 11




Eclipse platform updates
The following additional Eclipse 3.6.2.2b patches and fixes are included in this release:

Download Version 8.0.4.1

This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:




    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology updates
    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology is updated to the following versions:
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Windows, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 10 Fix Pack 1
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 10 Fix Pack 1




    Updates to supported web browsers
    Beginning with version 8.0.4.1, the following additional web browser versions are supported:
    • Mozilla Firefox 8.0 and later.



    Eclipse platform updates
    The following additional Eclipse 3.6.2.2 patches and fixes are included in this release:



    IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates
    The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:


    Java EE Connector (J2C) tools



    CICS Resource Adapter updated to version 8.1.0.0.


    Download Interim Fix 1 for Version 8.0.4

    Interim fix 1 for IBM Rational Application Developer, version 8.0.4 contains the following update:
    • Dojo is updated from Dojo 1.7 Beta1 to Dojo 1.7.


    Download Version 8.0.4

    This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:





    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology updates
    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology is updated to the following versions:
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Windows, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 9 Fix Pack 002
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 9 Fix Pack 002




    Updates to supported web browsers
    Beginning with version 8.0.4, the following additional web browser versions are supported:
    • Mozilla Firefox 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0



    Eclipse platform updates
    The following additional Eclipse 3.6.2.2 patches and fixes are included in this release:



    IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates
    The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:


    Agent Controller


    Use Rational Agent Controller v8.3.4 in conjunction with version 8.0.4 of the product to get the full benefit of all enhancements and defect fixes.  Rational Agent Controller v8.3.4 can also be used with v7.5.x releases.


    Application build (Ant tools)


    • The Java EE 6 sample is now expanded to make use of a wide variety of the newer Ant tasks added in the v8.0.x service releases.
    • Headless builds now perform a pre-build check of the runtime container so that problems (for example, an incorrect Classpath) are found before the headless build runs.


    Code coverage tools


    • New installable software: Rational Application Developer Extension for Rational Team Concert with Jazz Team Server. Installed on the Rational Team Concert Server, it enables the viewing of code coverage statistic from Rational Team Concert builds in the Rational Team Concert web client.
    • You can now select an option to collect code coverage statistics if the Java program exits abnormally.


    Cloud client



    In the Cloud Explorer view, you can now filter the view based on data centers, and you can search for images by name.



    Java EE tools
    • In the Java EE Specification Migration wizard, you now have the option to upgrade JPA 1.0 modules to 2.0. The wizard migrates the module and all JPA deployment descriptor files.
    • Improved integration with Maven m2e, with support for multiple root source folders.


    Java EE Connector (J2C) tools


    • IMS TM Adapters version 11.3 and 12.1
    • CICS Resource Adapter v8002
    • CICS Transaction Gateway for Application Development v8.0.0.2


    Portal tools


    • You are now able to enable a tracing mechanism in the JSF Portlet bridge. The generated trace log can be used to analyze and investigate the issue when a problem is reported to IBM Support.
    • In the Site Designing Portlet, you can now create and modify URL nodes and set unique names for portlets published on portal server.
    • JAX-RS is now supported in Portlet projects, enabling you to build REST services with the JAX-RS API for WebSphere Portal. You can add this support to Portlet projects by choosing a new option in the Portlet project wizard.
    • You can now test device enabled portlet projects on the Mobile Browser Simulator. You test a portlet project by publishing it on IBM WebSphere Portal server and render it on Mobile Browser Simulator. The rendered page will have the mobile theme applied automatically if the theme is installed on WebSphere Portal Server.


    SCA tools


    • A new Ant task is available for configuring projects with SCA support. If you are managing projects outside of the workspace, you can use this Ant task to easily add SCA support to your projects. You can use the task to set the preferred run time and implementation type values.
    • The SCA tools publisher mechanism deploys OSGi assets independently of other implementation types. The publisher will now notify the OSGi tooling when there are additions, updates, or other changes to the OSGi application.
    • Project references mechanism has been improved. Now, if you set artifacts that are not referenced by the project, a dialog box displays asking if project references should be added.
    • You can now add deployment assembly support to SCA projects, which provides you with more control over deployed assets.

    • On the SCA project properties page, you can specify that referenced assets be deployed either as shared assets or as nested JAR files. This improved control over how assets are deployed provides you with the ability to improve the deployment architecture.
      The SCA Deployment assembly properties are supported for all SCA projects except those with Java EE or OSGi facets.


    Test and profiling tools


    • You can now profile on WebSphere Application Server that is installed on the same computer as Rational Application Developer but is running in a different bit mode than the workbench.
    • The Profiling and Logging perspective had been renamed to the Profiling perspective.
    • When profiling a WebSphere Application Server application client, the JVM of the target WebSphere Application Server will be automatically used. It is no longer necessary to manually set the preference to use JVM of the target WebSphere Application Server.

    Download Interim Fix 1 for Version 8.0.3

    Interim fix 1 for IBM Rational Application Developer, version 8.0.3 contains the following updates:
    • The following tools that were introduced in version 8.0.3 with beta status are updated and are now supported:
      • Source tools for mobile web application development. Visual tools for mobile web application development (such as Rich Page Editor) remain beta.
      • Mobile Browser Simulator.
    • Dojo is updated from Dojo 1.7 Alpha to Dojo 1.7 Beta1.

    Download Version 8.0.3

    This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:





    Support for installing the product to run in 64-bit mode

    Beginning with version 8.0.3, you can choose to install and run the product in 64-bit mode on supported Windows and Linux operating systems. For more information about running the product in 64-bit mode, see:
    http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21499482


    Additional supported operating system versions

    Beginning with version 8.0.3, the following additional operating system versions are supported:
    • Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Release 2 Service Pack 1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Update 1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 6
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 9
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 4
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 Service Pack 4



    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology updates

    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology is updated to the following versions:
    • IBM Runtime Environment for Windows, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 9 plus Fix Pack 001 and interim fix
    • IBM Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, Version 1.6 Service Release 9 plus Fix Pack 001 and interim fix



    Updates to supported web browsers

    Beginning with version 8.0.3, the following additional Web browser versions are supported:
    • Mozilla Firefox 4.0
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer 9



    Eclipse platform updates

    The following additional Eclipse 3.6.2 patches and fixes are included in this release:

    IBM WebSphere Application Server, version 8.0

    IBM WebSphere Application Server, version 8.0 is available from IBM Passport Advantage as part of the Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software V8.0.3 eAssembly (CRF48ML).

    Note: If you installed WebSphere Application Server, version 8.0 beta, you must uninstall the beta version before installing version 8.0.



    IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates

    The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:

    Agent Controller
    • Rational Agent Controller v8.3.3

      Use Rational Agent Controller v8.3.3 in conjunction with version 8.0.3 of the product to get the full benefit of all enhancements and defect fixes.  Rational Agent Controller v8.3.3 can also be used with v7.5.x releases.

    Application build (Ant tools)

    New Ant task supports running JUnit tests in headless mode.


    Code coverage tools

    You can prevent delivery of code to Rational Team Concert if a specified threshold of code coverage is not met.


    Cloud client

    Support for publishing topologies to the IBM SmartCloud.

    Debug tools

    The Collaborative debug extensions for Rational Team Concert client now allow projects to be transferred from one user to another as part of a debug session transfer.  The recipient of the transferred debug session has the choice of importing the projects directly into the workspace, or associating an archive of the source projects with the debug session.


    Java EE tools

    You can migrate Java EE 5 and pre-Java EE 5 projects to Java EE 6 using either of the following methods:
    • To migrate multiple projects, use the Java EE Specifications Upgrade Wizard.
    • To migrate a single project, change the project facet version.

    JSF tools

    Beta function:
    Updated function:
    • Updated the name, URI and contex-params for Dojo Server Faces Beta library.

    Portal tools
    • Support for Active Site Analytic feature in portlet tooling.  You can use this feature to embed client side analytic tags in the portlet at design time.
    • WebSphere Application Server 8.0 is included as a new runtime for portlet projects. Only an Empty portlet project is allowed on WebSphere Application Server 8.0 runtime.
    • Optional Portal runtime stubs:  If you already have portal server installed locally, then it is no longer necessary for the product to install the Portal and WebSphere Application Server stubs.  This reduces the hard disk footprint by approximately 900 MB (100 MB portal + 800 MB WebSphere Application Server).
    • (Beta function) Mobile browser simulator: a web application that helps you test mobile web applications without having to install device vendor native SDK.Configure Mobile Browser Simulator on a Portal Page, and display mobile portlets on this simulator.



    Rich page editor (Beta function)

    Rich Page Editor: a next generation web page visual editing experience for HTML and Dojo. Rich Page Editor uses a real browser to render the design canvas for true "what you see is what you get".  The overall appearance of the editor and many common user interactions will be familiar to users of the Page Designer editor.

    The DOM of the Rich Page Editor's browser will be constantly kept in synchronization with the web page source, so that changes in the source or design pane are instantly reflected in the other.

    Note: This is beta function. For details, see: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/rad/Beta-level%20functionality%20in%20Rational%20Application%20Developer%20Version%208.0.3




    SCA tools
    • Support for deploying as shared assets referenced contribution projects that have no deployable composites.
    • Support for incremental deployment of changes in Java EE and OSGi implementations.



    Test and profiling tools
    • New capability allows you to view the reachable size of an object during memory analysis with heap instance data.
    • You can now export Java profiling results to file.
    • Performance improvements were made to execution analysis and memory analysis during profiling.


    Web development tools
    Beta function:
      • Tooling for the creation, construction, and unit testing of web pages for mobile devices; devices such as iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.

      • Tools are provided for:
        • Project configuration
        • Mobile web page creation
        • Mobile web page construction fully integrated with Rich Page Editor
        • Mobile web page testing using a mobile browser simulator.
        The mobile browser simulator allows multiple devices to be simulated side by side in a single view without leaving the development environment. This allows for rapidly identifying and correcting variations in presentation without the need for physical devices.

      Note: For details on beta function, see: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/rad/Beta-level%20functionality%20in%20Rational%20Application%20Developer%20Version%208.0.3

    New function:
      • Tooling for v1.1.0 of the WebSphere Web 2.0 and Mobile Feature Pack, including Dojo 1.7 (alpha). Dojo tooling includes support for HTML5-style declaration of attributes and properties, and CommonJS Modules/Asynchronous Definition for asynchronous module loading.
      • The user may selectively configure the project for only the Dojo elements they are interested in, or select from common configurations such as Mobile or the full Dojo library.
      • JavaScript tooling now provides accurate syntactic validation and semantic validation. Semantic validation is now enabled by default.
      • A preference is provided that allows for all web link errors to be quiesced. For servlet v3 projects it is on by default.
      • The JSON Editor has been enhanced to allow for use with any filename extension, an outline view has been added, and validation has been improved.
    Updated version:
      • FireBug JavaScript debugger updated to version 1.7


    Web services
    • The Web service wizard is enhanced to support the SOAP/JMS transport type; and the support for adding custom JNDI context properties.
    • Validation warning is now provided when an EJB module with JAX-RPC Web services and clients is linked into a WAR.
    • JAX-RPC code generation is enhanced to generate the elementFormDefault and attributeFormDefault Java2WSDL options.
    • The "Monitor Web Service" option is enabled so that if the GSC is selected as a test client, the TCP/IP monitor will automatically be created/launched so you can monitor the web service.


    Download Version 8.0.2

    This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:




    Additional supported operating system versions
    Beginning with version 8.0.2, the following additional operating system version is supported:
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6




    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology updates
    IBM Runtime Environment for Java Technology is updated to the following versions for Windows and Linux operating systems:
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Windows, Java Technology Edition, Version 6.0 service release 9 with interim fix 002
    • IBM 32-bit Runtime Environment for Linux, Java Technology Edition, Version 6.0 service release 9 with interim fix 002




    Eclipse platform updates

    The IBM Eclipse SDK is updated to version 3.6.2.

    IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates
    The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:



    Agent Controller
    • Rational Agent Controller v8.3.2

    • Use Rational Agent Controller v8.3.2 in conjunction with v8.0.2 of the product to get the full benefit of all enhancements and defect fixes.  Rational Agent Controller v8.3.2 can also be used with v7.5.x releases.


    Application build
    • New Server Ant tasks are added to setup and perform actions on a server in the workspace:

    • * listWSServers
      * listServerTypes
      * listWSRuntimes
      * listRuntimeTypes
      * createWSRuntime
      * createWSServer
      * modifyWSServer
      * deleteWSServer
      * deleteWSRuntime
      * addToWSServer
      * removeFromWSServer
      * publishToWSServer
      * startWSServer
      * stopWSServer


    Annotation support
    • Support implied values for new JCA 1.6 annotations  



    Code coverage tools
    • You can now gather code coverage statistic on web application deployed on remote WebSphere Application Server.  Rational Agent Controller v8.3.2 is required on the remote platform with WebSphere Application Server installed.  All platforms supported by Rational Agent Controller v8.3.2 are supported.
    • Server refresh interval for gathering code coverage statistic on web application running on a WebSphere Application Server can now be set in the server editor.  This interval can either be automatically configured based on the size of the coverage data file or set manually by the user.
    • IBM Rational Application Developer Code Coverage Extension (used to be called IBM Rational Application Developer Code Coverage for Rational Team Concert Builds) can now be installed on z/OS and Linux for z series platforms in addition to Windows and Linux to enable gathering of code coverage statistic on a system installed with Rational Team Concert Build or other environments.



    Java domain modeling
    • Java visual references are now resolved based on the containing Java project's references. This can be controlled by the new preference option under Window > Preferences > Modeling > Java, that is not enabled by default.


    Java EE Connector (J2C) tools


    • IMS TM Adapters version 10.50 and 11.30
    • CICS Resource Adapter v8.0.0.1
    • CICS Transaction Gateway for Application Development v8.0.0.1


    Java EE tools
    • You can now reuse existing batch artifacts.
    • The EJB artifacts for batch/compute intensive jobs are automatically generated.
    • Validation messages added for batch artifacts.
    • Usability enhancements in batch wizards and editors.
    • Validation  added for EJBs in WARs.



    Portal tools
    • Support for creating additional JSPs and relevant code for viewing on Mobile devices

    • You can create portlets that can be consumed on a smart phone browser, by generating relevant JSPs and controller code for supported mobile devices.
    • Support for Portal Server7 on cloud

    • You can provision an instance of a WebSphere Portal server v7.0 based on cloud. You can develop, test portlet and iWidget projects within the product workspace and then publish them to portal server based on cloud.



    Profiling tools
    • The performance for profiling an application (execution analysis and memory analysis) has been improved.
    • The new Detach icon in the Profiling and Logging perspective enables you to detach an application being profiled.



    SCA tools
    • Support for SCA components with OSGi implementations on WebSphere Application Server version 8 Beta 3.

    • Previously, SCA components with OSGi implementations required WebSphere Application Server version 7, the Feature Pack for SCA, and the Feature Pack for OSGi and JPA 2.0.

    • Direct guidance in the user interface for how to enable implementation types in different contexts.

    • The tools present implementation types for selection in a number of dialogs, wizards, views and menus. In some of contexts, some implementation types may be unavailable for selection. SCA Tools now provide information to help you understand why an implementation type may be unavailable and also provides instructions for enabling them.

    • The SCA tools will automatically configure a project with the Java nature when you choose only the Spring implementation type.

    • When you use the New SCA Project or Add SCA Support to Project wizards and select only the Spring implementation type, the SCA tools will automatically configure the project with the Java nature.

    • Enhanced browse dialogs for expanding and narrowing the search scope when you are trying to locate OSGi, Java EE and Spring implementations.

    • The SCA tools provide several selection dialogs to help you choose resources used in SCA assemblies, including Java classes, WSDL documents, Java EE enterprise applications, OSGi applications, Spring applications, HTML files and SCA composites. The dialogs now provide a consistent mechanism that allows you to select the desired search scope. For example, you can select the workspace, working set, project, and project plus referenced projects. This feature will allow you to search for resources consistently and with improved performance.

    • Easily retrieve the WSDL URI provided by WebSphere Application Server for a deployed SCA component service that has a Web service binding. You can then use the URI to test your service with the Web Services Explorer or Generic Services Client.

    • In previous releases, in order to compose the URI of the WSDL document you had to find the host, the port, component name, service name and assemble them as described in the documentation. This process is time consuming and error prone. Now you can retrieve the URI with a few clicks of the mouse and place it in the clipboard, whether the service is deployed on one or multiple WebSphere Application Server server instances.

    • You can automatically migrate projects targeted to WebSphere Application Server 7 plus the Feature Pack for SCA to WebSphere Application Server version 8.

    • When you import a project that targets WebSphere Application Server 7 plus the Feature Pack for SCA in the workspace, the migration wizard will guide you and perform the required updates to ensure you can target and deploy the project to WebSphere Application Server version 8.



    Server tools
    • New advanced publishing settings for local installation of WebSphere Application Server. 
      Use the settings to control incremental publish on the server based on updates to files with certain file extensions.  You can define the settings specific to a server or as a workspace preference. 

      To specify the setting specific to a server, open the server editor and under Publishing settings for WebSphere Application Server section, click the Set Advanced Publishing Settings link.

      To specify the settings as a workspace preference select Window > Preferences > Server > WebSphere Application Server > Advanced Publishing Settings
    • The workbench supports High Performance Extensible Logging (HPEL) mode for WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Beta.


    • HPEL is designed to provide faster log and trace handling capabilities and more flexible ways to use log and trace content than the basic mode.

      When either a remote or local installation of WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Beta is enabled with HPEL, the console view displays in the same format as basic logging.  In addition, from the Servers view, when you right-click the server and select Properties > WebSphere Application Server and click the Display a snapshot of the binary server logs link the workbench translates a snapshot of the binary server logs into readable text which displays in the editor pane.
    • New Cloud data centers in Toronto (ca-on-dc1) and in Boulder(us-co-dc1) are supported.
    • Cloud image sharing within a community group is supported.  Images created by a community member can be shared between members in the group.
    • Additional server support for running batch applications on WebSphere Application Server V8.0 March, 2011 Beta refresh.
    • An Updated substitution properties section is added to the Run Configurations wizard under the  WebSphere Application Server Batch Job page. 
      Use this section to specify new property values to override the default values for substitution properties defined in a job during a run configuration session.  You can set information in the run configuration settings, without modifying the actual batch job (xJCL) file.  This is helpful when substitution properties contain environment-specific values, such as file paths.
    • After running the WebSphere Application Server Batch Job page of the Run Configurations wizard, the Modern Batch Job Management Console opens the specific Job log page directly and no longer displays the main console page



    User Assistance
    • The Local Help Updater now supports installing single features.  We no longer require features to be part of a category.
    • We removed the radio buttons from the help content preference page which were causing confusion both internally and from the customer end.  We now default to remote help having priority over local help, instead of letting users choose.
    • Automatic Updates job starts right as local help server is started, rather than forcing users to kick off an update from the Local Help Updater.


    Web development tools
    • Version updates for the following items:
      • The Mozilla FireBug JavaScript debugger has been upgraded to 1.6
      • Tooling support for WebSphere Communications Enabled Applications Feature Pack v1.0.0.9
      • The iWidget container has been upgraded to specification level 2.1 (IBM Mashup Center 3.0).
    • CSS 3 support
    • Differentiation between CSSv2 and CSSv3
    • Identifying which browser and browser version support each attribute.
    • Dojo snippets are provided for frequently used code.
    • Additional Dojo content assist templates.
    • A new Dojo tutorial that creates a mortgage calculator has been added.
    • JAX-RS container support has been added to the Ajax Test Server.
    • The Ajax Test Server now automatically restarts when referenced projects Java source change.
    • The Target URL is displayed in the Ajax Test Server editor and the proxy configuration editor.
    • The Ajax proxy editor provides support for common metadata properties.
    • Selecting the iWidget facet also provides Dojo tooling support.
    • Content assist for Dojo Objective Harness unit test functions is provided.


    Web services
    • JAX-RS 1.1 support - As part of the Web 2.0 FeP v1.0.1.1 upgrade, JAX-RS 1.1 support was added.  For example, selecting the JAX-RS preset will result in a JAX-RS 1.1 configuration.
    • Added new support for managing policy set attachments on service refs in binary beans, JAX-WS Handlers, and deployment descriptor elements.  A new Registered JAX-WS Handlers folder is added under the Services node.
    • Added the allow vendor extension option (-extension) to the web services wizard and preferences.  This is for the various JAX-WS tools, wsgen, wsimport and xjc.

    Download Version 8.0.1

    This release of Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software contains new features and enhancements in the following areas:





    Additional supported operating system versions
    Beginning with version 8.0.1, the following additional operating system versions are supported:
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Servicie Pack 1
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Servicie Pack 1




    Eclipse platform updates

    The following additonal Eclipse 3.6 patches and fixes are included in this release:




    IBM WebSphere Application Server test environment updates

    The following IBM WebSphere Application Server Test Environment updates are available:

    Compute Grid tools for Modern Batch - new installable feature
    • Supporting the new Feature pack for Modern Batch, The WebSphere Compute Grid Tools introduce a set of projects, wizards, views, editors and actions for creating, editing and launching batch jobs, and assist the developer in assembling artifacts that are part of the compute grid programming model.


    Code coverage
    • The code coverage tooling now includes functionality for comparing coverage reports.



    Java EE tools
    • Tooling support for developing EJBs inside Web projects for WebSphere Application Server v8 beta.  The existing EJB 3.0 tools that are used for developing EJBs inside EJB projects can now work for developing EJBs in Web 3.0 projects.



    OSGi tools
    • You can now publish OSGi applications to WebSphere Application Server v8 beta.
    • You can now retrieve the deployment Manifest file from WebSphere Application Server v8 beta and view its contents in the workbench.
    • The usability of the OSGi Bundle creation wizard is improved.


    Portal tools
    • Tooling support for new runtime IBM WebSphere Portal V7.0 has been introduced, to allow creation of portlet projects and testing them on WebSphere Portal V7.0.
    • Support for publishing a project with Portlet and iWidgets.
    • User can create iWidgets in the same project as a portlet project and they can be published on to the server like a normal portlet or iWidget project and each artifact gets handled as they are supposed to be handled.
    • A new section has been introduced for publishing of portlets and iWidgets for Portal Server 7
    • Portal server 7 has new CSA 2.0 theme as default theme, it provides 2 rendering modes - CSA and SSA. To support the creation of pages in a specific rendering mode, a section has been provided in Server editor for Portal Server v7.
    • IBM JSF Portlet bridge support for JSR 286 Portlet porjects based on JSF 1.2.
    • IBM Portlet bridge will now support the JSR 286 JSF Portlet projects. Palette options and tooling support for JSR 286 features like eventing and resource serving for JSF Portlet projects have been added.
    • Consumption of JSR 301 portlet bridge:
    • Tooling support for creation of JSR 168 Faces Portlet projects which use JSR 301 compliant bridge has been added. User can maintain the 3rd party JSR 301 portlet bridge through preferences dialog and use these while creating the portlet project targeting WebSphere Portal V6.1 on WAS 7 and WebSphere Portal V7.0.


    Profiling extensions
    • Added a Profiling Quick Start button to the Profile Settings tab in the Profile Configurations wizard.  Profiling Quick Start walks the user through common profiling scenarios and help them set up the appropriate profile settings.
    • Enable user to import heap instance data file into workspace.


    SCA tools

    • Added support for EJB 2.x beans in the EJB workspace browse dialog for EJB binding configuration.
    • Enhanced the tree view in the Servers veiw for SCA contributions so that Java EE applications and OSGi Applications are shown as children of the SCA contribution if they are used by the contribution.
    • Added a new sample so that the user can learn more about using OSGi applications in an SCA contribution.

    Source editor


    HTML5 Support in Source Editor:  
      Support for the new Content model of HTML5 in the form of validation and content assist has been added in Source Editor. This support is only in Source editor and Page Designer has not yet added the HTML5 support.


    Web services
    • Starting in this release, it is no longer necessary to create a Router project for EJBs exposed as JAX-WS Webservices.
    • Tooling support is added for WebSphere Application Server custom properties.

    Download Version 8.0

    Read about major advances in product features and technology since the last release in the following areas:




    Assembly and deployment tools

    The workbench can integrate with WebSphere Application Server v6.0, v6.1, v7.0 and v8.0 Beta 1. You can use the IBM Installation Manager to install the integrated test environment for WebSphere Application Server v6.1 and v7.0. However for WebSphere Application Server V6.0 and v8.0 Beta 1, integrated test environments are no longer available and stand-alone installations are required for these servers.

    When installing Rational Application Developer using IBM Installation Manager, the stub directories are now available as Tools for developing applications without a local server installation options and are no longer required to be installed with the product. This can help save disk space, for example when choosing to use a local installation of the server instead of the stub directories.

    New server tools
    • The Servers view is now condensed to display the state and status of a server as label decorators. This adds flexibility when placing the Servers view in a horizontal or vertical pane on the workbench.
    • WebSphere Application Server v8.0 Beta 1 adds support for Java EE 6 and EJB 3.1.
    • Universal Test Client adds support for testing EJB 3.1.
    • A new configuration setting is available to start a remote WebSphere® Application Server running on a Windows® or Linux® operating system. You can choose to use an operating systemor Secure Shell (SSH) authentication method to access the remote host running the server.
    • A new wizard is added for importing sample applications targeting a WebSphere Application Server when the stub directory or local installation of the server is not available.
    • New behaviors for Run server with resources within the workspace publishing option:
      • Saving changes to static files no longer requires a publish operation to occur. This is designed to improve the Run on Server experience for modifying static files.
      • During a publishing operation, the workbench locks the projects involved in the publishing operation instead of the locking the entire workspace. This new design allows you to modify other resources within the workbench during the publish operation.
    • A new support is available to help reduce the start time of the WebSphere Application Server. The Start server with a generated script option starts the server with a previously generated script instead of using the startServer command directly.







    Code coverage analysis

    Code coverage tools provide insight into how well your test cases are exercising your Java applications by generating statistics showing the percentage of lines in your code that have been run by a test case. You can compile the code coverage results into reports that you can view in the workbench or save in HTML files for future analysis.

    New features of code coverage tools in this release:

    • Integration with Rational Team Concert. You can generate code coverage statistics during project builds in Rational Team Concert. You can view these as part of the Rational Team Concert builds results viewer and create work items directly from the viewer, or you can download reports to your workbench to get rich navigation and visualization of the coverage statistics in your workbench.
    • Dynamic instrumentation. Instead of inserting instrumentation code (code inserted into your Java classes at the start of every executable unit for generating code coverage statistics) into the class files of your application and then saving the instrumented class on disk, the byte-code for you Java classes are instrumented at the time that they are loaded by the JVM.
    • Integration with WebSphere Application Server. You can run a code coverage enabled application on WebSphere Application Server without having to set up environment variables. Code coverage tools automatically detect which module projects have been deployed to the server and will start data collection automatically. You can gather code coverage statistics while running in run, debug, and profiling modes. Coverage statistics are updated while you interact with your Web application.






    IBM Rational Desktop Connection Toolkit for Cloud Environments

    Cloud computing is a new service available that simplifies the process of testing and deploying software by providing a flexible hosting environment that configures itself to the needs of each user. Using the tools in the IBM® Rational® Desktop Connection Toolkit for Cloud Environments, you can manage resources on and deploy to the IBM cloud.

    For Rational Application Developer V8.0, there are two installable components to the IBM Rational Desktop Connection Toolkit for Cloud Environments:

    Cloud Client for Eclipse


    Provides tools for interacting with IBM Cloud environment from within Rational Application Developer, such as browsing the IBM Clouds asset catalog, requesting instances, and managing running instances.

    Server Tools Extension for the Cloud


    Provides tools for deploying applications to virtualized WebSphere® Application Server instances on the IBM Cloud. This feature requires the WebSphere Application Server development feature to be installed if installing on Rational Application Developer v8.0.

    These components can be installed through IBM Installation Manager. If you are interested in working with the IBM Cloud and would like to find out more about the IBM Cloud, look at pricing, or talk to a service representative, please contact IBM as described on the following page: Power your development and testing environment with cloud computing.







    Debug tools
    Support for debugging XSLT 2.0 applications






    Java EE 6

    Java EE 6 simplifies Java EE 5 by improving usability. Java EE 6 adds new capabilities to the platform and adds new features to existing technologies such as EJB, Java servlet technology, and JavaServer Faces (JSF) technology.

    Java EE 6 continues the usability improvements made in previous releases of Java EE, making it easier to develop enterprise and web applications. Annotations define web components such as servlets and servlet filters.

    Java EE 6 adds new technologies that make the platform even more powerful:

    • JSF 2.0
    • Java API for RESTful web services (JAX-RS)
    • JAX-WS 2.2
    • JPA 2.0
    • Servlet 3.0
    • EJB 3.1

    Tooling support for Java EE 6
    • JSR-109 1.3: webservices.xml editor.
    • Bindings/Extensions editing and validation support for no-interface and singleton session beans.
    • Project creation wizards for EE 6 projects
    • Deployment support for EE 6 projects.
    • Editor support for all EE 6 deployment descriptors including the new fragment.xml for Web Fragments.
    • Java EE Import/Export support for all EE 6 artifacts.
    • Display EE 6 model in Enterprise Explorer.
    • EJB 3.1 Bean creation wizard enhancements.
    • Publishing of EE 6 modules to WebSphere Application Server version 8 Beta.






    Java EE Connector (J2C) Tools
    • Java EE 6 tolleration
    • CICSECIResourceAdapter and CICSXAResourceAdapter update to Version 8.
    • (new) CICS Transaction Gateway (CTG) V8.
    • IMS TM Resource Adapters updates to version 11.20 and 10.40.
    • Enhance deployment support for Faces Web page.







    Web Services
    • Support for the WebSphere Application Server 8 Beta JAX-RS runtime environment, JEE 6 JAX-RS enhancements, and the Generic Service Client as the test client for JAX-RS applications.
    • Java Web services tools quick fixes to create a Singleton EJB 3.1 Web service from a POJO in a Java Project.
    • MTOM (Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism) support on a Web service client can be enabled from the Web service wizard and the WebSphere > JAX-WS Code Generation Preferences page.
    • Support for attaching and configuring policy sets to a service reference. This support, now available with the WebSphere Application Server 8 Beta runtime environment, allows configuration of a policy set that is different from the policy set attachment for the service.
    • Generic service client for testing web services.
    • Checkbox for inheritFromService Support.  When selected, the service ref will inherit the policy set from the service client.  It will effectively clear out any existing attachment records on the service ref.








    JSF Tools
      JSF 2.0

      In JSF 2.0, Facelets 2.0 is the standard view decoration language for JSF application development. Facelets provides a lightweight templating framework that is designed for component reuse and ease of development and maintenance. The JSF tools in this product fully support JSF 2.0 and Facelet development. You can create Facelet pages and templates, drag and drop Facelet UI components from the palette to your page, and edit the component attributes in the Properties view. JSF 2.0 offers the following new features:

      • Managed bean configuration using annotations instead of XML.
      • Facelet template and instance page creation.
      • Composite components, that help you to turn a page into a JSF UI component.
      • Native AJAX support of partial page refreshes.
      • Bookmarking support with new link and button tags.







    OSGi application development tools (new installable feature)

    The OSGi application framework provides a programming model for developing, assembling, and deploying modular applications that use Java EE and OSGi technologies. OSGi application development tools help you to build enterprise applications that benefit from the modularity, dynamism, versioning, and third-party bundle integration provided by the OSGi applications framework. Using OSGi applications, you can deploy and manage your applications as a set of versioned OSGi bundles. You can also configure one or more bundle repositories to host common bundles used by multiple applications simplifying the deployment of applications that use the common bundles.

    The OSGi application development tools accelerate and simplify the development of OSGi applications and bundles by helping you:

    • Create OSGi bundles, composite bundles, and applications. Bundles contain Java code, resources, and a manifest that describes the bundle and bundle dependencies. Composite bundles group bundles into aggregates to ensure consistent behavior. Applications group a set of bundles to provide a coherent business logic and can access external bundle repositories.
    • Import and export OSGi bundles, composite bundles, and applications.
    • Convert existing Java EE web, JPA, plug-in, or simple Java projects into OSGi bundles to take advantage of the many benefits of the OSGi framework.
    • Edit OSGi application manifest files. The manifest file contains metadata that enables the OSGi Framework to process the modular aspects of the bundle.
    • Create and edit OSGi blueprint configuration files that contain the component assembly and configuration information for a bundle. The file describes how components are registered in the OSGi service registry or how they look up services from the OSGi service registry.
    • Create and edit OSGi blueprint binding configuration files that contain the resource references to authentication alias bindings for a bundle. If an OSGi application contains an OSGi blueprint binding configuration file when it is deployed as an asset, the binding configuration file provides the default authentication alias values that are used when binding the resource references.
    • Support blueprint extension elements such as transaction and JPA.
    • Deploy OSGi applications to the WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 Feature Pack for OSGi Applications and Java Persistence API 2.0.
    • Diagnose and fix problems in your bundle and applications using validation and quickfixes.
    • View your bundles and bundle details graphically in the Bundle Explorer.







    Page designer

    Support for standards and standard currency:
    • Tools to support visual editing of  Facelet pages.
    • Tools to support visual design of Dojo pages. Dojo widgets can be dragged and dropped from the Dojo palette onto the Web page and the widgets' properties can be edited in the Properties view.

    Productivity enhancement
    • Drag and drop Flash objects from the palette, visualize the object in the Design pane and receive autocomplete help for new Flash attributes in the Source pane.
    • Convert widgets from one widget type to another type.
    • JSP Fragment editing helps determine how a fragment will be visualized when included in different files.
    • JSP include support for VCT.
    • SVG Image rendering feature enables users to include .svg images in Web pages, visualize in the Design pane and set the size as a normal image.
    • View all the pages affected by changing a particular style rule in a CSS file.







    Portal tools
    • Dojo tooling for portlet applications.
    • Inter-portlet communication using Dojo events.
    • Site Designing Portlet.
    • iWidget tooling for Portal.
    • Remote Procedure Call Tooling.
    • Option to enable/disable the Dev mode on Portal server runtime.
    • Tooling support for WebSphere Portal Server v6.1.x and v7.0.
    • Tooling support for multiple profiles for WebSphere Portal v7.0 .






    Profiling tools

    Use profiling tools to identify and fix performance issues in your applications. The profiling tools perform memory-usage analysis, method-level execution analysis, and thread analysis.

    New features of profiling tools in this release:

    • Environment variables do not need to be defined when profiling applications running on a local WebSphere Application Server and some remote WebSphere Application Servers.
    • Object names and live data content are available during memory-usage analysis.
    • In conjunction with IBM Rational Agent Controller, Version 8.3, you can profile an application running on a remote WebSphere Application Server, Version 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 Beta on Windows, Linux, AIX, z/OS, Linux for System Z, Solaris SPARC, and Solaris x86.






    Rational License Key Server update

    Rational License Key Server, Version 8.1.1 is now available for the version 8.0 release of the product. If you use FLEXlm floating or token licenses for your product, you must upgrade your license server to Rational License Key Server, Version 8.1.1, before installing the product.

    Rational License Key Server, Version 8.1.1 is compatible with earlier versions of the product.

    For information about how to upgrade from v7.1.x or an earlier Rational License Key Server to v8.1.1, see http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/rational/v0r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.rational.license.doc/topics/r_migration.html.






    Service Component Architecture (SCA) Tools
    • Added OSGi application as a new implementation type for Service Component Architecture (SCA) components. You can create and edit OSGi application components using v8.0 and can deploy and test SCA contributions with OSGi application components onto the WAS v7.0 server with OSGi and SCA FePs.
    • Added a browse dialog for defining an EJB binding. The dialog allows the user to browse and choose the EJB 3.x beans and WAS servers in the workspace. The URI attribute of the EJB binding is constructed based on the user choices.
    • Added support in the New Component Wizard, Regenerate implementation wizard and Generate JAX-WS Interface wizard for WSDLs with portType only.
    • Added SCA property reflection support in the Refresh from Implementation wizard.







    Token licensing
    New support
    Token licensing is supported in the version 8.0 release of the product, including the chargeable components. Token-based licensing is a form of floating licensing in which licensing is tracked at the level of the tools or features being used instead of how many instances of a product are in use. In token licensing, an organization buys a pool of license tokens. When a user starts a feature of the product, a number of tokens are issued to that user out of the pool of tokens available. For more details about token licensing, contact your local IBM marketing representative.







    UML modeling
    Rich text is now supported directly for notes and comments on a diagram surface. Preferences are available for default settings in both rich and plain text modes.







    Web 2.0

    The AJAX Test Server is a lightweight server ideally suited for developing and testing AJAX applications. The server performs module publishing and server restart and contains an AJAX proxy that creates requests to remote domains.

    Drag and drop Dojo widgets from the palette to your web page. The code is automatically generated in you web page source and the widget is visualized in the Design view. Content assist and validation for Dojo widgets have been enhanced. Add Dojo code to your page or Dojo templates using content assist. Validate your code for Dojo widgets and JavaScript.

    Create custom Dojo widgets and drag and drop them from the palette to a web page. Add Dojo code to your page using content assist and validate your Dojo custom code.

    Create custom Dojo builds to improve the performance of your Dojo application. The Dojo build system assembles the Dojo resources and external dependencies into layers. The layers are compressed and all non-layered JavaScript is copied to an easily accessible location to ensure that the Dojo resources can be loaded even if they are not contained by a layer.

    When you create a Dojo enabled web project, configure the project to access the Dojo toolkit remotely (for example using Content Delivery Networks, in another project, or accessed through a URI) or locally (copied into your project). In an existing Dojo enabled web project, you can change the way that the Dojo toolkit is accessed and all of your source files are automatically updated to access the new toolkit.

    The JSON text editor helps you to easily modify and format your JSON files with syntax highlighting, range indicators, source compression and formatting, and bracket matching.

    Customize the properties for Dojo layout widgets.

    Create Dojo classes using a wizard. Add code to the Dojo class using content assist and validate your code.

    For more information on Web 2.0 application development, see the online help (Help > Help Contents).







    Web development tools

    Support for standards and standard currency:
    • Advanced Web 2.0 development tools to build rich internet applications
    • Dojo code generation Create custom Dojo widgets and templates Enhanced code generation on palette drops for standard Dojo widgets
    • Dojo custom build support Create custom Dojo build with layers making runtim page loading faster
    • Dojo tools Support multiple Dojo versions on palette Custom property views for standard and custom Dojo widgets
    • Dojo library support Users can provide metadata for a Dojo library
    • Dojo JavaScript™ Tools Content assist for JavaScript/Dojo

    Productivity enhancements:
    • JPA Refactoring - tools for project configuration, test client, and samples Integrations

    Integrations:
    • CEA Widget support.
    • Lotus® iWidgets - tools for project configuration, test client, and samples.
    • The AJAX Test Server is a lightweight server ideally suited for rapidly testing AJAX applications. The server performs module publishing and server restart and contains an AJAX proxy for requests to remote domains.
    • Drag and drop Dojo widgets from the palette to your web page. The code is automatically generated in your web page source and the widget is visualized in the Design view.
    • Content assist and validation for Dojo widgets have been significantly enhanced and include Dojo version aware templates. Add Dojo code to your page or Dojo template using content assist. Validate your code for Dojo widgets and JavaScript.
    • Tooling is dynamically created for any JavaScript or Dojo in the workspace. Tooling created includes content assist, validation, visualization on the palette, and default code generation on drag and drop from palette.
    • The Dojo Widget Wizard allows you to create your own Dojo Widgets. The widget is then available from the palette for drag and drop. Add Dojo code to your page using content assist dynamically created for your widget as well as validation.
    • The Dojo Class Wizard allows you to create your own Dojo classes. Add code to the Dojo class using content assist and validate your code.
    • When you create a Dojo enabled web project, configure the project to access the Dojo toolkit remotely (for example using Content Delivery Networks, in another project, or accessed through a URI) or locally (copied into your project). In an existing Dojo enabled web project, you can change the way that the Dojo toolkit is accessed and all of your source files are automatically updated to access the new toolkit.
    • The JSON text editor helps you to easily modify and format your JSON files with syntax highlighting, range indicators, source compression and formatting, and bracket matching.
    • Create custom Dojo builds to improve the page loading performance of your Dojo applications . The Dojo build system assembles the Dojo resources and external dependencies into layers. The layers are compressed and all non-layered JavaScript is copied to an easily accessible location to ensure that the Dojo resources can be loaded even if they are not contained by a layer.
    • Installation has been improved to provided a reduced disk footprint installation for web developers. For example, an AJAX development with HTML installation option provides the smallest Rational Application Developer footprint possibly while providing all of the functionality needed by AJAX and HTML developers.
    • Improved JavaScript debugging with Firebug via tighter integration into the workbench.
    • JPA has been redesigned to provide more intuitive configuration of manager beans and JEE entity beans
    • Lotus iWidgets tooling for configuring projects, creating iWidgets, and testing your iWidgets in the provided test client
    • Tooling to support WebSphere's Communication Enabled Application Widgets






    Web Services tools
    • Support for the WebSphere Application Server 8 Beta JAX-RS runtime environment, JEE 6 JAX-RS enhancements, and the Generic Service Client as the test client for JAX-RS applications.
    • Java Web services tools quick fixes to create a Singleton EJB 3.1 Web service from a POJO in a Java Project.
    • MTOM (Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism) support on a Web service client can be enabled from the Web service wizard and the WebSphere > JAX-WS Code Generation Preferences page.
    • Support for attaching and configuring policy sets to a service reference. This support, now available with the WebSphere Application Server 8 Beta runtime environment, allows configuration of a policy set that is different from the policy set attachment for the service.
    • Generic service client for testing web services.
    • Checkbox for inheritFromService Support.  When selected, the service ref will inherit the policy set from the service client.  It will effectively clear out any existing attachment records on the service ref.








    XML tools
    XML Schema Tools: graphical redefines editing, graphical enumerations editing, index view filtering XPath 2.0 content assist enhancements







    Additional Eclipse patches and fixes

    The following additional Eclipse 3.6 patches and fixes are included in this release:

    • Eclipse platform: Bugzilla fix 315839
    • Eclipse Equinox p2: Bugzilla fix 313905
    • Eclipse Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF): Bugzilla fixes 319191319433
    • Eclipse Graphical Editing Framework (GEF): Bugzilla fix 307720   
    • Eclipse user assistance: Bugzilla fixes 314324316824
    • Web Tools Platform (WTP) patches: Bugzilla fixes 321398, 321529, and fixes in WTP 3.2.1 and JPA 2.3.1

    Original Publication Date

    13 July 2010

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    Document Information

    Modified date:
    17 June 2018

    UID

    swg27018924