src/site/xdoc/index.xml - commons-configuration - Git at Google

 <?xml version="1.0"?>
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    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
    contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
    this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
    The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
    (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
    the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at

        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
    limitations under the License.
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 <!-- ===================================================================== -->
 <!-- $Id$ -->
 <!-- ===================================================================== -->
 <document>

   <properties>
     <author email="pete@kazmier.com">Pete Kazmier</author>
     <author email="mpoeschl@marmot.at">Martin Poeschl</author>
     <author email="jason@zenplex.com">Jason van Zyl</author>
     <author email="epugh@upstate.com">Eric Pugh</author>
     <author email="tobrien@discursive.com">Tim O'Brien</author>
     <author email="rgoers@apache.org">Ralph Goers</author>
     <title>Java Configuration API</title>
   </properties>

   <body>
     <section name="Intro">
       <p>
       	The Commons Configuration software library provides a generic configuration interface which enables
         a Java application to read configuration data from a variety of sources. Commons Configuration
       	provides typed access to single, and multi-valued configuration parameters as demonstrated
         by the following code:

 <source><![CDATA[
 Double double = config.getDouble("number");
 Integer integer = config.getInteger("number");
 ]]></source>

       </p>
       <p>
         Configuration parameters may be loaded from the following sources:

         <ul>
           <li>Properties files</li>
           <li>XML documents</li>
           <li>Windows INI files</li>
           <li>Property list files (plist)</li>
           <li>JNDI</li>
           <li>JDBC Datasource</li>
           <li>System properties</li>
           <li>Applet parameters</li>
           <li>Servlet parameters</li>
         </ul>

         Configuration objects are created using configuration builders.
         Different configuration sources can be mixed using a <code>CombinedConfigurationBuilder</code> and
         a <code>CombinedConfiguration</code>. Additional sources of configuration parameters can
         be created by using custom configuration objects. This customization can be achieved by
         extending <code>AbstractConfiguration</code> or <code>AbstractHierarchicalConfiguration</code>.
       </p>
       <p>
         The full Javadoc API documentation is available <a href="apidocs/index.html">here</a>.
       </p>
     </section>

     <section name="Commons Configuration 1.x and 2.x">
     <p>
       After its initial release in 2004, Apache Commons Configuration has been steadily improved,
       and a series of feature releases has been published over the years. All of these releases
       were binary backwards-compatible. The latest release of this series is version 1.10. This code
       base is now pretty mature and does what it is expected to do.
     </p>
     <p>
       Nevertheless, there have been some design decisions made in the past which are problematic
       in retrospect. For instance, access to configuration objects is always synchronized which
       might be a performance issue in some use cases, or support for reloading of configuration
       data is very limited - just to mention a few pain points. These problems could not be
       fixed without breaking backwards compatibility in the affected areas.
     </p>
     <p>
       Therefore, work has been spent on a major redesign of the library
       addressing some of the weaknesses of the 1.x versions. The results
       have been made available over a longer period as a series of alpha and beta releases.
       Now the final version 2.0 is available incorporating feedback from the community. Note that
       this is not a drop-in replacement for Commons Configuration 1.x! Changes on client code
       are required to make use of the new version. There is
       a <a href="userguide/upgradeto2_0.html">Migration guide</a> that can be
       used as guideline when upgrading from version 1.x to 2.0. It describes the
       most important changes. A good source of information is also the
       <a href="changes-report.html">Changes Report</a> that explains all of the changes and bug
       fixes that have been applied.
     </p>
     <p>
       Both Commons Configuration 1.10 and the most recent 2.x release can be downloaded from the
       <a href="https://commons.apache.org/configuration/download_configuration.cgi">Apache download area</a>.
       The artifacts have also been deployed to
       <a href="http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/">Maven central</a> (with different coordinates for
       both versions to avoid conflicts). Which version should you use? Well, if you are a
       long-term user of Commons Configuration 1.x and happy with its functionality, there is
       no urgent pressure to upgrade to the newest version. New projects, however, should start
       with the new API as it offers more functionality and makes some tasks easier and cleaner.
       Also note that development currently focuses exclusively on the 2.x branch, so that the
       probability for bug-fix releases for version 1.x is pretty low.
     </p>
     </section>

     <section name="History">
       <p>
         Commons Configuration started as code in Apache JServ.  The JServ code was subsequently
         added to <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/turbine">Jakarta Turbine</a>. After Jakarta
         Turbine, this configuration interface moved to <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity">Jakarta Velocity</a>
         and underwent various improvements.  After Velocity, this code was introduced to the
         <a href="https://commons.apache.org">Apache Commons</a> as <code>ExtendedProperties</code>.
         Configuration began life in the Commons as a Sandbox component, and was promoted to the
         Commons Proper in late 2003.
       </p>
     </section>

     <section name="Bugs">
       <p>
         Bugs may be reported via the <a href="https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CONFIGURATION">ASF JIRA</a>
         system. Detailed information can be found on the <a href="issue-tracking.html">issue tracking page</a>.
       </p>
     </section>

   </body>
 </document>
	<?xml version="1.0"?>
	<!--
	Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
	contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
	this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
	The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
	(the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
	the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

	Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
	distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
	WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
	See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
	limitations under the License.
	-->
	<!-- ===================================================================== -->
	<!-- $Id$ -->
	<!-- ===================================================================== -->
	<document>

	<properties>
	<author email="pete@kazmier.com">Pete Kazmier</author>
	<author email="mpoeschl@marmot.at">Martin Poeschl</author>
	<author email="jason@zenplex.com">Jason van Zyl</author>
	<author email="epugh@upstate.com">Eric Pugh</author>
	<author email="tobrien@discursive.com">Tim O'Brien</author>
	<author email="rgoers@apache.org">Ralph Goers</author>
	<title>Java Configuration API</title>
	</properties>

	<body>
	<section name="Intro">
	<p>
	The Commons Configuration software library provides a generic configuration interface which enables
	a Java application to read configuration data from a variety of sources. Commons Configuration
	provides typed access to single, and multi-valued configuration parameters as demonstrated
	by the following code:

	<source><![CDATA[
	Double double = config.getDouble("number");
	Integer integer = config.getInteger("number");
	]]></source>

	</p>
	<p>
	Configuration parameters may be loaded from the following sources:

	<ul>
	<li>Properties files</li>
	<li>XML documents</li>
	<li>Windows INI files</li>
	<li>Property list files (plist)</li>
	<li>JNDI</li>
	<li>JDBC Datasource</li>
	<li>System properties</li>
	<li>Applet parameters</li>
	<li>Servlet parameters</li>
	</ul>

	Configuration objects are created using configuration builders.
	Different configuration sources can be mixed using a <code>CombinedConfigurationBuilder</code> and
	a <code>CombinedConfiguration</code>. Additional sources of configuration parameters can
	be created by using custom configuration objects. This customization can be achieved by
	extending <code>AbstractConfiguration</code> or <code>AbstractHierarchicalConfiguration</code>.
	</p>
	<p>
	The full Javadoc API documentation is available <a href="apidocs/index.html">here</a>.
	</p>
	</section>

	<section name="Commons Configuration 1.x and 2.x">
	<p>
	After its initial release in 2004, Apache Commons Configuration has been steadily improved,
	and a series of feature releases has been published over the years. All of these releases
	were binary backwards-compatible. The latest release of this series is version 1.10. This code
	base is now pretty mature and does what it is expected to do.
	</p>
	<p>
	Nevertheless, there have been some design decisions made in the past which are problematic
	in retrospect. For instance, access to configuration objects is always synchronized which
	might be a performance issue in some use cases, or support for reloading of configuration
	data is very limited - just to mention a few pain points. These problems could not be
	fixed without breaking backwards compatibility in the affected areas.
	</p>
	<p>
	Therefore, work has been spent on a major redesign of the library
	addressing some of the weaknesses of the 1.x versions. The results
	have been made available over a longer period as a series of alpha and beta releases.
	Now the final version 2.0 is available incorporating feedback from the community. Note that
	this is not a drop-in replacement for Commons Configuration 1.x! Changes on client code
	are required to make use of the new version. There is
	a <a href="userguide/upgradeto2_0.html">Migration guide</a> that can be
	used as guideline when upgrading from version 1.x to 2.0. It describes the
	most important changes. A good source of information is also the
	<a href="changes-report.html">Changes Report</a> that explains all of the changes and bug
	fixes that have been applied.
	</p>
	<p>
	Both Commons Configuration 1.10 and the most recent 2.x release can be downloaded from the
	<a href="https://commons.apache.org/configuration/download_configuration.cgi">Apache download area</a>.
	The artifacts have also been deployed to
	<a href="http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/">Maven central</a> (with different coordinates for
	both versions to avoid conflicts). Which version should you use? Well, if you are a
	long-term user of Commons Configuration 1.x and happy with its functionality, there is
	no urgent pressure to upgrade to the newest version. New projects, however, should start
	with the new API as it offers more functionality and makes some tasks easier and cleaner.
	Also note that development currently focuses exclusively on the 2.x branch, so that the
	probability for bug-fix releases for version 1.x is pretty low.
	</p>
	</section>

	<section name="History">
	<p>
	Commons Configuration started as code in Apache JServ. The JServ code was subsequently
	added to <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/turbine">Jakarta Turbine</a>. After Jakarta
	Turbine, this configuration interface moved to <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity">Jakarta Velocity</a>
	and underwent various improvements. After Velocity, this code was introduced to the
	<a href="https://commons.apache.org">Apache Commons</a> as <code>ExtendedProperties</code>.
	Configuration began life in the Commons as a Sandbox component, and was promoted to the
	Commons Proper in late 2003.
	</p>
	</section>

	<section name="Bugs">
	<p>
	Bugs may be reported via the <a href="https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CONFIGURATION">ASF JIRA</a>
	system. Detailed information can be found on the <a href="issue-tracking.html">issue tracking page</a>.
	</p>
	</section>

	</body>
	</document>