NewAndNoteworthyMilestone1NB67

1 New and Noteworthy NetBeans IDE 6.7 M1

New and Noteworthy NetBeans IDE 6.7 M1

Platform

Declarative Annotations

Module developers can now register some kinds of objects into the runtime system using Java source code annotations rather than separate metadata.

In particular, @ServiceProvider can be used instead of META-INF/services/* files; and some things that previously needed to be registered in an XML layer can now be registered using an annotation like @SomeSPI.Registration.

Details: DeclarativeRegistrationUsingAnnotations

Importing plugins from previous release into new one

NetBeans IDE users can install some extension plugins in their IDE. But if someone upgrade IDE to new release, one has to find and install same plugins again. Since M1 there is a possibility to import plugins from old version to new one.

More: ImportPluginsFromReleaseToRelease

Improved toolbars behavior

The implementation of the main window toolbars has been rewritten from scratch so now the toolbars behave better when the main window is being resized. It's also possible to dock any toolbar to the right edge of the main window.

Improved Declarative MIME Type Resolvers

DTD of declarative MIME resolver was extended by new elements. The name element is intended for file name checking and the pattern element enables to check a string pattern in file content. For performance reasons it is highly recommended to use declarative resolvers instead of procedural ones.

Details: How to create declarative MIME resolver

Maven project support

Broad support for Maven based projects was added to standard NetBeans distribution. Maven NetBeans support allows you to easily open, build, run, profile and deploy your existing Maven projects or create new one from the scratch. If interested, we encourage you to read Maven Best Practices document which describes how to use IDE's Maven support. Note that document refers to state in 6.5 version, and there are couple of improvements in 7.0 M1, which include:

Compile On Save support

Improved, more powerful Add Dependency dialog with as-you-type searching in Maven repositories and wise handling of "dependencyManagement" section for complex POM inheritance scenarios. Dialog can be invoked either by right-clicking "Libraries" node -> "Add Library..." or by Alt+Insert in POM editor.

Better POM xml editing support like support for generating profiles, dependencies via Alt + Insert shortcut:

Various Web Services (SOAP) support

Java Web, EE, Web Frameworks

Struts library has been migrated to version 1.3.8

Databases

The SQL Editor now supports Save As. This also allows an SQL file created through "View Data" or "Execute Command" to be saved as another name or in another directory.

Java Debugger

Exception breakpoints print the name of the exception class and exception message when hit.
It's possible to evaluate code fragments, not just single expressions.

Projects

Editor pane can be synchronized with Projects and Files views. In other words: when editor is selected then the file in editor is also selected in Projects tab or Files tab.

Freeform project wizard will scan first two levels of folders under selected project folder root and offer possible source roots in the next wizard panel.

Editor and Java Projects

The ParsingAPI has been merged to the trunk.
The keymap options pane has been revamped for better usability.

PHP

All the features are described in more detail on netbeans php blog. Here is a list of Milestone1 features:

Ruby and Ruby on Rails

Remote Debugging Support
Platform Node in the project logical view

editor

detect incorrect hash assignments
better Ruby constants support (context sensitive code completion, type inference, ...)
initial works on type inference in general (more here)