Policies/Java Usage

Policy for the usage of Java in the OpenOffice.org project.

The current Apache OpenOffice Java policy, as of the upcoming 4.2.0 release, is:

1. the Java baseline is 1.7
2. The minimum Apache Ant version is at least version 1.9.1
3. Java is a fundamental build requirement - Apache OpenOffice should not be expected to build without a JDK. (Historically the build code does check for SOLAR_JAVA and skips building and packaging the Java parts when its absent, but new code should should neither check it nor rely on it to be set, Java should always be assumed to be present.)
4. only official Java APIs are allowed to be used

The historical OpenOffice.org project had a different policy: This policy is intended to specify how Java can be used in the OpenOffice.org project. The following points outline the policy:

1. the Java baseline is 1.5
2. only official Java APIs are allowed to be used
3. Java JRE interested parties provide the support code and take care of QA, bugs etc.
4. OOo Java implementations must be encapsulated with well specified APIs
5. OOo Java implementations must not check against Java versions or vendors, with the only exception of workarounding bugs
6. OOo Java implementations must not use swing, either because no free swing implementation is available or because it makes the user interface inconsistent, this rule might be relativated with respect to 4.

For more details see the archive of the list jdk@tools.openoffice.org.