Terminology
Library
A library in the reporting space is a independent, self-contained and widely reusable code.
A library can depend on other libraries, but must not have any dependencies on the reporting-engine itself. A library can depend on other libraries, which in itself must not depend direct or indirect on this library. (Or in other words: No circular dependencies of any kind are allowed.)
If a library is so specialized in its domain that it cannot be used anywhere except in a single project, it probably should not be a library at all. Exception to the rule: If the library can be reasonably anticipated to be used independently or if the code of the library is independent and not expected to change anymore, it may be a reasonable thing to create a "drop-and-forget" library for it to reduce the overall maintenance of the main project.
A library cannot depend on one of the Main-projects. If it does, then it does not belong into the library space and should be a extension-project instead.
Main project
A main project is one of the releasable top-level libraries or applications. For the reporting domain, this is the
- Classic Engine
- Flow Engine
- Report-Designer
- Report-Design-Wizard
Main projects can depend on libraries or other main-projects and their extensions. However, circular dependencies are not allowed.
Extension project
A Extension project is a plugin or extension-library that depends on one of the main-projects and extends its functionality. Extension projects can depend on libraries, the main project for which they are a declared extension and other main-projects and their extensions. Circular dependencies are not allowed.
Examples for extension projects are Data-Source plugins or the Demo projects of the reporting engines.
Repository Structure
- svn://source.pentaho.org/pentaho-reporting/libraries/
Contains all subprojects that qualify as libraries.
- svn://source.pentaho.org/pentaho-reporting/engines/classic/
Contains the Classic-Engine and all Classic-Engine Extension projects.
- svn://source.pentaho.org/pentaho-reporting/engines/flow/
Contains the Flow-Engine and all Flow-Engine Extension projects.
- svn://source.pentaho.org/pentaho-reporting/tools/wizard/
Contains the Report-Desig-Wizard and all Wizard-Plugin projects.
- svn://source.pentaho.org/pentaho-reporting/tools/designer/
Contains the Report-Designer and all Designer-Plugin projects.