Version 7.0.0.beta1 built on 2012-09-14.

Release Notes for Vaadin Framework 7.0.0.beta1

Overview

Vaadin is a Java framework for building modern web applications that look great, perform well and make you and your users happy. Vaadin and is available under the Apache 2 license (see license.html).

The easiest ways to install Vaadin are:

It is also available as a ZIP package downloadable from Vaadin Download page.

Package Contents

Inside the ZIP installation package you will find:

See the README.TXT in the installation package for detailed information about the package contents. Book of Vaadin (for Vaadin 7) will give more detailed instructions; it is not yet up-to-date at the time of this release, but will be updated soon after.

For server-side development, copy the vaadin-server, vaadin-client-compiled, vaadin-shared, vaadin-theme-compiler, and vaadin-themes from the main folder and the dependencies from the lib folder to the WEB-INF/lib folder of your Vaadin project. (The vaadin-client-compiled is necessary if you do not wish to compile the widget set by your own, which you need to do if you use almost any add-on components.)

For pure client-side development, you only need the vaadin-client and vaadin-client-compiler JARs, which should be put to a non-deployed project library folder, such as lib. You also need them if you compile the widget set for any reason, such as using Vaadin add-ons, or create new server-side components integrated with client-side widgets.

Enhancements in Vaadin 7.0

7.0 is the first beta release release of the upcoming Version 7 of the Vaadin Framework. It introduces the final major set of new features in Vaadin 7, for the purpose of receiving feedback about the changes.

The major new changes in this first beta release are:

The following major changes were first introduced in the alpha releases:

There are many other enhancements. Most of them are described in more detail in the mini-tutorials in the Vaadin Wiki.

Please see the release notes for alpha1, alpha2, and alpha3 for the lists of where the major enhancements were introduced.

ChangeLog

For a complete list of changes in this release, please see the list of closed tickets.

Migrating from Vaadin 6

All Vaadin 6 applications need some changes when migrating to Vaadin 7. The most obvious changes are in the application/window API and require extending either UI or UI.LegacyApplication instead of Application. A detailed list of migration changes are given in the Vaadin 7 Migration Guide.

Any custom client-side widgets need to be ported to use the new client-server communication API, or the Vaadin 6 compatibility API.

Vaadin 6 add-ons (ones that contain widgets) do not work in Vaadin 7 - please check the add-ons in Vaadin Directory for Vaadin 7 support.

Vaadin 7.0.0.beta1 Dependencies

Dependencies Included in Installation package

The Vaadin ZIP installation package includes the following dependencies in the lib subfolder:

Bean Validation

If you want to use the bean validation feature in Vaadin 7, you need a Bean Validation API implementation. You need to install the JAR in the WEB-INF/lib directory.

Upgrading to Vaadin 7.0

Upgrading the Eclipse Plugin

This release requires that you use the experimental Vaadin Plugin for Eclipse. Its update site is http://vaadin.com/eclipse/experimental. Please see the installation instructions for more details.

General Upgrading Instructions

When upgrading from an earlier Vaadin version, you must:

Remember also to refresh the project in your IDE to ensure that the new version of everything is in use.

By using the "?debug" URL parameter, you can verify that the version of the servlet, the theme, and the widget set all match.

Eclipse users should always check if there is a new version of the Eclipse Plug-in available. The Eclipse Plug-in can be used to update the Vaadin version in the project (Project properties » Vaadin).

Maven users should update the Vaadin dependency version in the pom.xml unless it is defined as LATEST . You must also ensure that the GWT dependency uses the correct version and recompile your project and your widget set.

Liferay and other portal users must install the Vaadin libraries in ROOT/WEB-INF/lib/ in the portal (and remove a possibly obsolete older vaadin.jar). Additionally, the contents of the vaadin-client-compiled and vaadin-themes must be extracted to the ROOT/html/VAADIN directory in the Liferay installation. If your portal uses custom widgets, install the latest version of Vaadin Control Panel for Liferay for easy widget set compilation - when it is available - the add-on is not compatible with Vaadin 7.0.0.beta1 at the time of this Vaadin release.

Notes and Limitations for Google App Engine

The following instructions and limitations apply when you run a Vaadin application under the Google App Engine.

For other known problems, see open tickets at developer site dev.vaadin.com.

Supported Technologies

Vaadin 7 is compatible with Java 6 and with most operating systems supporting the Java 6 or newer. Vaadin 7 is especially supported on the following operating systems:

Vaadin 7 requires Java Servlet API 2.4 but also supports later versions and should work with any Java application server that conforms to the standard. The following application servers are supported:

Vaadin 7 supports the JSR-286 Portlet specification. All portals that implement either of the portlet specifications should work. The following portals are supported:

Vaadin also supports Google App Engine.

Vaadin supports the following desktop browsers:

Additionally, Vaadin supports the built-in browsers in the following mobile operating systems:

Vaadin on the Web