Collaboration Engine 5.0.0.beta1

Changes since 5.0.0.alpha3

• Features:

  • Add configurable beacon path [#58]
  • Add shortcut methods in CollaborationList and CollaborationMap to remove a value

• Fixes:

  • Clear connections on service destroy when using a custom executor

Collaboration Engine 5.0.0.alpha3

Changes since 5.0.0.alpha2

• Feature:
  • Provide access to the item key from ListChangeEvent

Collaboration Engine 5.0.0.alpha2

Changes since 5.0.0.alpha1

• Fixes:
  • Check if a named map exists before clearing on expiration [#55]

Collaboration Engine 5.0.0.alpha1

Starting with Collaboration Engine 5.0, Java 11 (or newer) is now required as part of Vaadin Platform V23.

This pre-release replaces and includes all the changes in 4.1.0.alpha1.

Collaboration Engine 4.1.0.alpha1

Replace and remove items in Collaboration Lists

CollaborationList now supports operations to replace and remove items using a ListKey object which is returned when inserting new values:

CollaborationEngine.getInstance().openTopicConnection(context, user, topic, connection -> {
    CollaborationList list = connection.getNamedList("list");

    // The `insertLast` method has replaced the deprecated `append` method and returns a `ListInsertResult`
    ListInsertResult<Void> result = list.insertLast("foo");

    // The result object provides a `ListKey` to identify the inserted item
    ListKey fooKey = result.getKey();

    // The key can be used to replace the item...
    list.set(fooKey, "bar");

    // ... to get the current item value...
    String bar = list.getItem(fooKey, String.class);

    // ... and to remove the item from the list
    list.set(fooKey, null);
});

Fixes

• Deactivate connections on shutdown
  This change makes Collaboration Engine store TopicConnectionRegistration instances and removes them on VaadinService shutdown, waiting for asynchronous tasks to complete.

Collaboration Engine 4.0.1

Changes since 4.0.0

• Fixes:
  • Check if a named map exists before clearing on expiration [#55]

Collaboration Engine 4.0.0

This is the final release of Collaboration Engine 4.0, which brings a whole set of new features for collaboration in Vaadin applications.

Message Manager

Collaboration Engine now includes a Message Manager to handle text messages in a topic. You can use it, for example, for subscribing to incoming messages and submitting new messages programmatically. The manager can also be configured to persist messages to a custom backend, such as a database, so that the messages are restored when the application restarts. It provides a flexible way to manage messages in a topic and helps create custom components with collaborative messaging features.

The following example shows how to create a new MessageManager instance and receive messages for a given topic:

UserInfo localUser = new UserInfo("john");
String topicId = "notifications";

MessageManager messageManager = new MessageManager(this, localUser, topicId); 

messageManager.setMessageHandler(context -> { 
    CollaborationMessage message = context.getMessage();
    UserInfo user = message.getUser();
    String text = message.getText();

    Notification.show(user.getName() + ": " + text);
});

System Connection Context

The new SystemConnectionContext is a connection context that is always active. This context is intended to be used in situations that are not directly associated with a UI, such as from a background thread or when integrating with external services.

You can acquire an instance with SystemConnectionContext.getInstance() after a VaadinService is initialized. In other situations, you can use CollaborationEngine.getSystemContext() or create a new context instance using the constructor.

SystemConnectionContext context = collaborationEngine.getSystemContext();

Connection scoped entries

By default values will be stored in the Topic until explicitly removed. Starting with 4.0, you can use methods accepting a scope parameter and use EntryScope.CONNECTION to have the entry removed when the connection is deactivated. For example:

collaborationEngine.openTopicConnection(context, user, topic, connection -> {
    CollaborationList list = connection.getNamedList("my-list");
    list.append("foo", EntryScope.CONNECTION); // <- this entry will be removed when the connection is deactivated
});

Changes since 4.0.0.rc1

• Fixes:
  • Deactivate connections on shutdown
    This change makes Collaboration Engine store TopicConnectionRegistration instances and removes then on VaadinService shutdown, waiting for asynchronous tasks to complete.

Collaboration Engine 4.0.0.rc1

This is a release candidate of Collaboration Engine 4.0, which will bring a whole set of new features for collaboration in Vaadin applications.

Message Manager

Collaboration Engine now includes a Message Manager to handle text messages in a topic. You can use it, for example, for subscribing to incoming messages and submitting new messages programmatically. The manager can also be configured to persist messages to a custom backend, such as a database, so that the messages are restored when the application restarts. It provides a flexible way to manage messages in a topic and helps create custom components with collaborative messaging features.

The following example shows how to create a new MessageManager instance and receive messages for a given topic:

UserInfo localUser = new UserInfo("john");
String topicId = "notifications";

MessageManager messageManager = new MessageManager(this, localUser, topicId); 

messageManager.setMessageHandler(context -> { 
    CollaborationMessage message = context.getMessage();
    UserInfo user = message.getUser();
    String text = message.getText();

    Notification.show(user.getName() + ": " + text);
});

System Connection Context

The new SystemConnectionContext is a connection context that is always active. This context is intended to be used in situations that are not directly associated with a UI, such as from a background thread or when integrating with external services.

You can acquire an instance with SystemConnectionContext.getInstance() after a VaadinService is initialized. In other situations, you can use CollaborationEngine.getSystemContext() or create a new context instance using the constructor.

SystemConnectionContext context = collaborationEngine.getSystemContext();

Connection scoped entries

By default values will be stored in the Topic until explicitly removed. Starting with 4.0, you can use methods accepting a scope parameter and use EntryScope.CONNECTION to have the entry removed when the connection is deactivated. For example:

collaborationEngine.openTopicConnection(context, user, topic, connection -> {
    CollaborationList list = connection.getNamedList("my-list");
    list.append("foo", EntryScope.CONNECTION); // <- this entry will be removed when the connection is deactivated
});

Other changes

No relevant changes since 4.0.0.beta1

Collaboration Engine 4.0.0.beta1

This is the first beta release of Collaboration Engine 4.0, which will bring a whole set of new features for collaboration in Vaadin apps:

• MessageManager to handle message data in at topic without using a the high-level UI component. It makes it possible to submit messages to a topic and set a handler to react when a new message has been submitted.
• SystemConnectionContext, a ConnectionContext implementation that is always active. It allows integrating with other systems or parts of the application where a UI is not available.
• Entries in CollaborationMap and CollaborationList can be scoped to the connection that create the entry. Such entires are automatically removed when the connection is no longer active.

Changes since 4.0.0.alpha3

• Breaking Changes:

  • Disallow topic data access during connection deactivation

• New Features:

  • Add entry scope to collaboration-list entries
  • Add PresenceManager constructor with ConnectionContext parameter

• Fixes:

  • Avoid race condition in connection deactivation

Collaboration Engine 4.0.0.alpha3

Vaadin 22 support

This version of collaboration engine supports Vaadin 22 web-components. Due to changes in the web-components implementation, this version of Collaboration Engine is not compatible with previous Vaadin versions, including Vaadin 14.