xmind - one of the best eclipse rcp apps

XMindOne of the Best Eclipse RCP Apps

frank@xmind.net twitter:@frankshaka weibo:@frankshaka

Frank ShakaCTO/Co-Founder, XMind Ltd.

What is XMind?

XMind is...• a cross-platform brainstorming and mind

mapping tool that's easy to use and easy to extend

• an application based on Eclipse RCP

• an open source project

"Best Commercial RCP Application" of Eclipse Community Awards at EclipseCon 2008

"Best Project for Academia" of SourceForge's 4th Annual Community Choice Awards in 2009

Reference: http://conciselearning.tumblr.com/post/9830232462/this-mind-map-created-by-learning-fundamentals

–Tony Buzan

“A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the

potential of the brain.”

Mind Maps are Useful...• to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, ...

• for studying/organizing information, solving problems, clarify thinking, making decisions, writing, ...

• in many personal, family, educational and business situations, including note-taking, brainstorming, summarizing, memorizing, categorizing, ...

• improving learning/study efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking

Hand Drawn Mind Maps

Reference: http://mappio.com/mindmap/learning-fundamentals/population-explosion

Mind Mapping Software

Reference: http://www.xmind.net/m/DLKZ/

• Pens and paper, the classic way

• Slow

• Bounded

• Hard to make modifications

• Waste of environmental resources

• Computer, keyboard, mouse, touch, etc.

• Fast

• Boundless

• Easy to reorganize/refactor

• Support for additional diagrams, like tree chart, org chart, spreadsheet, gantt chart, etc.

Hand Drawn Mind Maps vs. Mind Mapping Software

XMind ❤ Eclipse

XMind ❤ Eclipse

• Cross PlatformWindows, Mac OS X, Linux

• ModularityPlug-in system, RCP, p2

• Mature Code BaseSWT, JFace, Equinox, GEF

• Powerful IDE and SDK JDT, PDE, EGit, TPTP

Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP)

• An extendable framework to facilitate rich client application development

• org.eclipse.ui + org.eclipse.core.runtime

• Write once, run anywhere

• Bundled as native apps, in contrast to traditional Java applications (.jar)

XMind Software Architecture

XMind Distribution Package

Mind Map Editor Other UI Contributions

Cathy Application

Mind Map Viewer Workbench (Editors, Views)

XMind Core

Draw2D JFace

SWT Equinox

Challenges

• The classic user interface is over 7 years old

XMind 2008in 2008

XMind 6in 2015

Challenges

• The classic user interface is over 7 years old

• Flat design of major platforms

Challenges

• The classic user interface is over 7 years old

• Flat design of major platforms

• Hard to customize Workbench's look and feel using 3.x APIs

e4

CSS Spy

3.x Compatibility Layer

EventAdmin

Addons

EModelService

EPartService

Hierarchical Contexts

Model Fragments

CSS Widget StylingCustom Renderer

Dependency Injection

Application Model

Goals of New XMind UI

• Migrate from 3.x API to e4 (long term)

• Adapt to flat design

• Redesign main toolbar

• Redesign tab folder

• Usability improvements

DemoNew XMind UI

Target ReleaseLater this year

Thanks and Q/A