[Announce] Apache Forrest 0.7

Ferdinand Soethe Ferdinand Soethe <ferdinand@apache.org>
Fri Jun 24 09:54:01 2005


Apache Forrest is pleased to release the new version: apache-forrest-0.7
http://forrest.apache.org/mirrors.cgi

Apache Forrest is a publishing framework that transforms
input from various sources into a unified presentation
in one or more output formats. The modular and extensible
plugin architecture is based on Apache Cocoon and relevant
standards, which separates presentation from content.
Forrest can generate static documents, or be used as a
dynamic server, or be deployed by its automated facility.

New features in this version include
------------------------------------

  * An architecture for Plugins which enables a smaller Forrest
    core and the ability to add new features in a modular way.

Important Changes Code Base
---------------------------

  * [Icon: add] Added org.apache.forrest.plugin.input.dtdx plugin by moving
    functionality out of the core. Generates DTD documentation using a
    custom Cocoon Generator. (DC) Fixes FOR-389 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-389].
  * [Icon: add] Added a plugin to handle input documents from Microsoft
    Excel. (RDG) Thanks to Johannes Schaefer. Fixes FOR-373 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-373].
  * [Icon: add] Added external plugin POD-input to allow Plain Old
    Documentation (POD) files to be included in a Forrest site. (RDG)
    Thanks to Ron Blaschke.
  * [Icon: add] Moved POD output from the common skin to its own plugin.
    (RFT)
  * [Icon: add] Added a text-output plugin. (RFT) Fixes FOR-125 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-125].
  * [Icon: add] Added photoGallery plugin. (RDG) Thanks to Jörg Werner.
    Fixes FOR-387 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-387].
  * [Icon: add] Enable sitemap plugins. Plugins allow Forrest to have
    functionality added through the addition of small code blocks
    (plugins). Plugins are downloaded automatically when a site that
    requires them is built. See Extending Forrest with Plugins [Link:
    pluginDocs/plugins_0_80/usingPlugins.html]. (RDG)
  * [Icon: add] The brokenlinks file now contains referer information.
    Upgraded lib/core/cocoon.jar and added attribute "show-referrers" to
    the Cocoon cli.xconf (DC) Thanks to Upayavira. Fixes FOR-204 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-204].
  * [Icon: remove] Merge xdocs and raw files in the same directory
    src/document/content/xdocs (JJP)
  * [Icon: update] Enhanced the Message of the Day (MOTD) facility. See
    skinconf.xml from a "seed" site for configuration details. Append a
    small text string after html title. Add text to a panel on the page.
    Select different messages depending on the URI string pattern. To use
    it, declare skinconfig-v07-1.dtd in your skinconf.xml file. (DC)
  * [Icon: update] Reinstate error reporting for broken "site:" and "ext:"
    links which are due to missing entries in site.xml or typos in site:
    links. The text "error:" is also prepended. This is a workaround for
    bug FOR-284 "link rewriting broken when linking to xml source views
    which contain site: links". This latter issue is handled by the core.
    However, if your project uses a Cocoon cli.xconf [Link:
    docs_0_70/faq.html#cli-xconf] then you will need add the same "exclude"
    entries. (DC) Fixes FOR-284 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-284].
  * [Icon: update] Moved status "changes" and "todo" page generation to the
    org.apache.forrest.plugin.input.projectInfo plugin. (RDG)
  * [Icon: update] Java 1.4 is required [Link:
    docs_0_70/faq.html#requirements] starting with Forrest-0.7-dev (DC)

Important Changes Documentation
-------------------------------

  * [Icon: add] Added How to customize processing of html source [Link:
    docs_0_70/howto/howto-custom-html-source.html] (DC) Thanks to Ferdinand
    Soethe. Fixes FOR-446 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-446].
  * [Icon: add] Added How-To Run Forrest from Maven [Link:
    docs_0_70/howto/howto-forrest-from-maven.html]. (RDG) Thanks to Ian P.
    Springer. Fixes FOR-369 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-369].
  * [Icon: add] Added How-To Build a plugin [Link:
    docs_0_70/howto/howto-buildPlugin.html]. (RDG)
  * [Icon: add] Added HowTo about editing CSS [Link:
    docs_0_70/howto/howto-editcss.html] in a WYSIWYG fashion using Mozilla
    Firefox and its Edit-CSS plugin. (RDG) Thanks to Ferdinand Soethe.
  * [Icon: update] Rewrote example of raw content in fresh-site to
    correctly document the behaviour in 0.7. (RDG) Fixes FOR-470 [Link:
    http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/buglist.cgi?bug_id=FOR-470].
  * [Icon: update] Removed ihtml example from fresh-site and replaced with
    an example of embedded HTML. The use of ihtml is now deprecated in
    favour of embedded HTML. (RDG)
  * [Icon: update] Updated How-To: How to create a PDF document for each
    tab [Link: docs_0_70/howto/howto-pdf-tab.html] to create
    subject-specific aggregated documents. (TS)

Full list of changes: http://forrest.apache.org/docs_0_70/changes.html

Upgrade guide: http://forrest.apache.org/docs_0_70/upgrading_07.html

Thanks for your interest, from the Apache Forrest community.


--
Ferdinand Soethe