BIRT executable story

[wimjongman]

We have a couple of BIRT applications that open the Java perspective when launched. It is very easy to open the designer perspective for these applications by appending -perspective <perspective.id> [1]

Also, the BIRT product should be available on the welcome page [2] which is extendable like most things in Eclipse

Finally, we could provide a nice splash screen and application icons [3]

[1] http://blog.vogella.com/2011/11/02/eclipse-setting-the-default-perspective-via-config-ini/
[2] https://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/platform-ua/proposals/shared-intro/shared-intro.htm
[3] https://wiki.eclipse.org/Rich_Client_Platform/Custom_Look_and_Feel
[3] https://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-Branding/branding-your-application.html

[hvbtup]

Regarding the report design perspective, I think what needs to be in the file resulting birt.ini (above -vmargs) is

-perspective
org.eclipse.birt.report.designer.ui

so that the whole file reads (on Windows)

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.6.300.v20210813-1054.jar
--launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.2.300.v20210828-0802
-perspective
org.eclipse.birt.report.designer.ui
-vmargs
-Xms512m
-Xmx1024m

But I don't know what is the source for this file (there are actually 3 of them, for linux, macos and windows).
Is it p2content.xml or BIRT.product?

(I found these possible sources by searching for the string -Xmx1024m which is also in birt.ini)

[wimjongman]

Yes it is in the product files. 👍

[ruspl-afed]

@hvbtup another way to fix this is to add the default perspective via plugin_customization.ini like

org.eclipse.ui/defaultPerspectiveId=org.eclipse.birt.report.designer.ui

[hvbtup]

@ruspl-afed I think this is not correct. The plugin_customization is inside the target folder, thus not part of the sources, but generated (for me: magically) probably from the .product file. I'll try what happens when I add it to the product file and then build with Maven...

[hvbtup]

For the splash screen and icons, should we use the new BIRT logo somehow?
Where can I findt it as an SVG file and hi-res bitmap?

[hvbtup]

Wim was right. The option should go here:

I think it is easier if one of the commiters makes this change directly.

[ruspl-afed]

Hey @hvbtup you already did the most part of work to switch the perspective. Why not to go one step further and create a PR? :)

[hvbtup]

Lack of time due to very tight project dead lines. And I don't know if the same thing should be done for the RCP designer (never used it). And creating PRs is more complicated for me for other reasons as well.

[wimjongman]

We all have to learn, @hvbtup. Alexander and I are looking forward to your PR. Let's go! 😉💪

[wimjongman]

For the splash screen and icons, should we use the new BIRT logo somehow? Where can I findt it as an SVG file and hi-res bitmap?

@chloetz, can you help.

[hvbtup]

We all have to learn, @hvbtup. Alexander and I are looking forward to your PR. Let's go! 😉💪

Probably no chance before next Thursday.

And aren't we under time pressure for the next release?
At least we seem to have a working software now (assuming anyone tested the runtime as well...)

[chloetz]

Here we go: https://github.com/eclipse/birt-website/tree/main/static/img/BIRT-Logo.png https://github.com/eclipse/birt-website/tree/main/static/img/BIRT-Logo.svg The svg-file was created with inkscape. If you need any other format or resolution let me know.

[hvbtup]

I noticed that the property editor does not work in the "all-in-one" designer.
Not sure if this is related to the perspective setting.
The property editor is working in the BIRT RCP designer, though.

@wimjongman , does the property editor work for you?

[ruspl-afed]

Property editor is related to the view that provides selected object, and another perspective can have another view.
So you can try to open another "explorer" view and check how it works with property editor.

[hvbtup]

Couldn't reproduce it. Probably this was because I used the same .metadata directory for "all-in-one" and "RCP Designer".

[hvbtup]

@chloetz The SVG file is rendered as just a white plane on my machine (what we call "Ostfriesische Nationalflagge - weißer Adler auf weißem Grund" in Germany).
So I decided to use the PNG file as a source for the splash screen. I converted it "as is" to BMP.

My personal opinion is that is looks ugly, but the majority decided so.

Is there also a more or less quadratic small image that could be used as an icon?

[chloetz]

Please send me the resolution you need and I will generate the appropriate files in different types so that you can choose.

[hvbtup]

Eclipse would like a lot of files (serving as icons more or less) - see the "Launching" tab for the .product files:
For Linux: A single XPM icon (I have no idea about the pixel size).
For Mac OS X: A signle ICNS file
For Windows: BMP images in 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 (each one in 8-bit and 32-bit), and 256x256 (32-bit) (I think 32-bit means RGBA.

In the tab "Branding" the same pixel sizes are mentioned (without a specific file format), plus the dimensions 64x64 and 128x128.

In addition, the "Branding" tab supports an image for the "About dialog": "Its size must not exceed 500x330 pixels. The text is not shown if the image size exceeds 250x330 pixels". Not sure if the 330 is x or y, but I think it should be "Portrait" in BIRTspeech.

It should suffice if you send me the file in the different sizes as a 8-bit PNG (with a palette that contains a transparent color) and as 32-bit PNG (RGB with alpha channel), then I will convert them to the different platform-specific file formats.

Please note that I think that the logo from https://github.com/eclipse/birt-website/tree/main/static/img/BIRT-Logo.png is not suitable for using it as an icon - just because it is not more or less quadratic.

[hvbtup]

In addition to the icon images, are there any ideas for a text in the "About" dialog?

[wimjongman]

In addition to the icon images, are there any ideas for a text in the "About" dialog?

We are looking forward to your suggestions ;)

[chloetz]

I read your mails, but I lie in bed with a terrible cold. I hope tomorrow I will feel better and I’ll be able to procure all the files you are asking for.

[claesrosell]

The SVG file here: has 88 different layers, all disabled but one. The other 87 layers contain all kinds of icons and logos in it. That may be a reason why it does not render well.

As @hvbtup mentions: we need a quadratic version of the logo.
Do we have contact with the author of the logo?

I think that we will need, at least:

• quadratic version
• monochrome versions (black and white)
• a combination of the above but adjusted for smaller sizes like 16x16 and 24x24

I have tested to create quadratic monochrome versions by just removing the "BiRT" text, changing colors to black on the logo elements and render it to a small size, it looks ok, but would need an artists touch. It would be nice if the original artist could provide us with specific versions.

[hvbtup]

Perhaps it is better to use a typical eclipse-style hexagon for the icons?

[chloetz]

No ! You might not like the logo, but it is good democratic custom to accept election results, even if you do not like them.

[hvbtup]

Of course. Let's look at the results from Claes.

[chloetz]

I will send the requested files when I’ll be done with my work. So please be a little bit patient.

[claesrosell]

Do not wait for me, the things that I did was more of a personal test. I did not even save the SVG file.
I think that we should try to get in touch with the original artist and ask for additional versions of the logo. If we fail with that, perhaps we can look into other solutions, depending on which license the logo is released under. I assume that the logo is under a EPL compatible license, but I have not found any evidence yet.

[hvbtup]

The fundamental issue is my very restricted knowledge of the Eclipse IDE probably.

May someone else fiddle around with the icons.

My talent is more towards programming and debugging.

[wimjongman]

It requires some tenacity. Here is a good blog about it:

http://andrius.velykis.lt/2012/10/creating-icons-for-eclipse-rcp-launcher/

[claesrosell]

If I recall correctly, the BMP files for the launcher needs to be uncompressed.

[chloetz]

OK, once my daily work done, I will provide the Logo files in bpm format.

[wimjongman]

The fundamental issue is my very restricted knowledge of the Eclipse IDE probably.

May someone else fiddle around with the icons.

My talent is more towards programming and debugging.

Does this mean you are no longer working on this issue?

[hvbtup]

Yes - as I wrote 14 days ago.

[wimjongman]

This was fixed

[hvbtup]

Nice work, Wim!