[xwiki-devs] [Discussion] Set virtual=1 by default and deprecate the virtual mode API

Hi devs, According to the Roadmap of 5.0 [1][2] we will be deprecating the virtual mode API and moving to a virtual-by-default mode instead. The idea is that the multiwiki environment should be the default and, anyone wanting to use the single-wiki mode (as XE was doing in the past), will simply not create any subwiki. It is just pointless to have 2 products for such a simple fact and it also confuses users that have downloaded and started to use one product and later on realise that they needed the other. Also, when installing the wiki-manager and/or workspace extension(s) (because you might want to create subwikis/workspaces), there will be no need to stop the wiki, enable-virtual mode and restart it; all will be doable in the browser. Therefore, I`m sending this mail to ask your opinion about this topic, in case you might have something to say against it, and also to brainstorm on the required changes and implications on existing code so that the transition is as smooth and invisible as possible. Proposed changes: - Remove "xwiki.virtual" from xwiki.cfg(.vm) -- remove the usage of the "$xwikiCfgVirtual" maven property from xwiki-platform (, xwiki-enteprise and xwiki-manager) - Deprecate boolean com.xpn.xwiki.XWiki.isVirtualMode() (and the api.XWiki version) -- change its code to ((getVirtualWikisDatabaseNames(context).size() == 1) ? true : false) until it is removed by the deprecation process. Possibly needed changes: - Add main wiki default descriptor to xwiki-enterprise-ui (so that getVirtualWikisDatabaseNames includes the main wiki and also to avoid DNS issues (?) caused by how we handle virtual mode) -- or have it generated programmatically at startup if it does not exist (might be safer this way, since people might be using a different UI than xwiki-enterprise-ui) I will start working on this locally and see if I can spot other issues, but please share your thoughts. Thanks, Eduard ---------- [1] http://markmail.org/message/o6adfbscpidnn7zr [2] http://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-8822