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Bug 365294

Summary:	Changes to classes referenced by JSPs do not cause the JSP to be revalidated
Product:	[WebTools] WTP Source Editing	Reporter:	Mauro Molinari <mauromol>
Component:	jst.jsp	Assignee:	jst.jsp <jst.jsp-inbox>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:	Nick Sandonato <nsand.dev>
Severity:	normal
Priority:	P3	CC:	ian, thatnitind
Version:	3.3.1
Target Milestone:	Future
Hardware:	PC
OS:	Windows 7
Whiteboard:

Description Mauro Molinari

2011-12-01 06:01:37 EST

Build Identifier: 20110916-0149

I found a way to reproduce the problem that compile-time errors are not cleared after fixing them in some circumstances.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. repeat steps 1.-5. of bug #365292
2. create a new Server (I'm using Apache Tomcat 6) with New | Other... | Server; do not add any resources to it and hit finish
3. right click on the dynamic web project you created in the previous steps | Properties | Java Build Path | Libraries | Add Library... | Server Runtime | Next | choose the server runtime for Apache Tomcat 6 | Finish | OK
4. you still have the Java editor and the JSP editor open
5. do any change in the JSP (for instance: add a space and remove it), then save
6. the compilation error that was not reported (see bug #365292) is now given for line 5
7. leaving all the editors open, go to the Java editor and change MyClass by adding a new constrcutor with PageContext as a parameter, so that the class becomes:

package test;

import javax.servlet.jsp.PageContext;

public class MyClass {
	public MyClass(PageContext context)
	{
		
	}
}

8. save MyClass, then go back to the open JSP editor
9. the compilation error at line 5 is still there, although it should be fixed now
10. if you do a right click in the editor | Validate, the validation still says there's a problem with your JSP
11. if you close and reopen the JSP, the error is still there
12. change something in the JSP (for instance: add and remove a space), then save: the error disappears

Comment 1 Nick Sandonato

2014-01-08 17:07:07 EST

Things are a little bit better on this front since the defect was reported. Right clicking the JSP and choosing Validate will correctly clean up the problem marker. And actually, the reconciler validation does realize the problem is gone, it just doesn't get rid of the problem marker, which is not specific to JSPs.

So I guess the main thing that's missing now is automatically validating JSPs when  dependency source files change. Which does sound like a pretty nice feature to me. 

Would you be ok with making this an enhancement or lowering the severity, since we don't have to edit the file to remove the validation problem now?

Comment 2 Mauro Molinari

2014-01-09 03:34:44 EST

Hi Nick,
I agree that things are better now and that the bug severity may be lowered, but I do not consider this an enhancement, rather a bug. The user experience is still notably hit by the need to issue a manual validation after you have changed something in the workspace: if you have "Build automatically" enabled, the user is used to see changes happening automatically as he/she types (or at least after saving). This is what the Java editor typically offers and I would expect the same from the JSP editor.

However, considering that, after the great work done by Ian Tewksbury some years (and releases...) ago on the JSP editing/refactoring features, no more progress has been done in this area of WTP and I think there's still much room for improvement, my main concern is that if you lower the severity of this bug (which was almost ignored for two years although being "major") it will be definitively lost...

Comment 3 Nick Sandonato

2014-01-10 11:56:15 EST

(In reply to Mauro Molinari from comment #2)
> Hi Nick,
> I agree that things are better now and that the bug severity may be lowered,
> but I do not consider this an enhancement, rather a bug. The user experience
> is still notably hit by the need to issue a manual validation after you have
> changed something in the workspace: if you have "Build automatically"
> enabled, the user is used to see changes happening automatically as he/she
> types (or at least after saving). This is what the Java editor typically
> offers and I would expect the same from the JSP editor.
> 
> However, considering that, after the great work done by Ian Tewksbury some
> years (and releases...) ago on the JSP editing/refactoring features, no more
> progress has been done in this area of WTP and I think there's still much
> room for improvement, my main concern is that if you lower the severity of
> this bug (which was almost ignored for two years although being "major") it
> will be definitively lost...

Hi Mauro,

I appreciate that you stick around and continue to follow up on defects even as they age. This one is certainly a tough nut to crack, and it's not being ignored. I have a couple ideas to get started.

By lowering the severity, I'm just trying to categorize things properly. It will still be on my radar, and I'd certainly welcome any eager developers coming along with a patch.

Comment 4 Mauro Molinari

2014-01-10 12:31:32 EST

Hi Nick,
thanks for your feedback.
It isn't related to this bug, however I'd like to notify you that there's another long standing WTP bug for which there's also a pull request, but nobody seems to be watching it: bug #323157.

Comment 5 Nick Sandonato

2014-01-10 13:43:48 EST

(In reply to Mauro Molinari from comment #4)
> Hi Nick,
> thanks for your feedback.
> It isn't related to this bug, however I'd like to notify you that there's
> another long standing WTP bug for which there's also a pull request, but
> nobody seems to be watching it: bug #323157.

Sure thing, Mauro. I'll reach out and see if I can get you some feedback on the bug.

Comment 6 Ian Tewksbury

2014-01-10 15:57:05 EST

Mauro,

Thanks for the love after all these years! It is always nice to hear that people appreciate(d) the work you do/did.

Blue Skies,
~Ian