http://www.eclipse.org/platform: Common Eclipse Runtime (Eclipse Foundation) 
Copyright (c) 2004, 2006 IBM Corporation and others.
This program and the accompanying materials
are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
Contributors:
    IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2004, 2006 IBM Corporation and others.
 *
 * This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
 * 
 * Contributors:
 *     IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.core.runtime;

import org.osgi.framework.Bundle;


Bundle groups represent a logical collection of plug-ins (aka bundles).  Bundle
groups do not contain their constituents but rather collect them together under
a common label.  The main role of a bundle group is to report to the system
(e.g., the About dialog) what bundles have been installed.  They are not intended
for use in managing the set of bundles they represent.


Since the bulk of the branding related information is specific to the consumer, 
bundle groups also carry an arbitrary set of properties.  The valid set of 
key-value pairs and their interpretation defined by the consumer in the 
target environment.


The Eclipse UI is the typical consumer of bundle groups and defines various 
property keys that it will use, for example, to display About information.  See
org.eclipse.ui.branding.IBundleGroupConstants.



See Also:
  • IBundleGroupProvider
Since:3.0
/**
 * Bundle groups represent a logical collection of plug-ins (aka bundles).  Bundle
 * groups do not contain their constituents but rather collect them together under
 * a common label.  The main role of a bundle group is to report to the system
 * (e.g., the About dialog) what bundles have been installed.  They are not intended
 * for use in managing the set of bundles they represent.
 * <p>
 * Since the bulk of the branding related information is specific to the consumer, 
 * bundle groups also carry an arbitrary set of properties.  The valid set of 
 * key-value pairs and their interpretation defined by the consumer in the 
 * target environment.
 * </p><p>
 * The Eclipse UI is the typical consumer of bundle groups and defines various 
 * property keys that it will use, for example, to display About information.  See
 * <code>org.eclipse.ui.branding.IBundleGroupConstants</code>.
 * </p>
 * @see IBundleGroupProvider
 * @since 3.0
 */
public interface IBundleGroup {

	
Returns the identifier of this bundle group.  Bundle groups are uniquely identified by the combination of
their identifier and their version.

See Also:
  • getVersion()
Returns:the identifier for this bundle group
/**
	 * Returns the identifier of this bundle group.  Bundle groups are uniquely identified by the combination of
	 * their identifier and their version.
	 * 
	 * @see #getVersion()
	 * @return the identifier for this bundle group
	 */
	public String getIdentifier();

	
Returns the human-readable name of this bundle group.

Returns:the human-readable name
/**
	 * Returns the human-readable name of this bundle group.
	 * 
	 * @return the human-readable name
	 */
	public String getName();

	
Returns the version of this bundle group. Bundle group version strings have the same format as 
bundle versions (i.e., major.minor.service.qualifier).  Bundle groups are uniquely identified 
by the combination of their identifier and their version.

See Also:
  • getIdentifier()
Returns:the string form of this bundle group's version
/**
	 * Returns the version of this bundle group. Bundle group version strings have the same format as 
	 * bundle versions (i.e., major.minor.service.qualifier).  Bundle groups are uniquely identified 
	 * by the combination of their identifier and their version.
	 * 
	 * @see #getIdentifier()
	 * @return the string form of this bundle group's version
	 */
	public String getVersion();

	
Returns a text description of this bundle group.

Returns:text description of this bundle group
/**
	 * Returns a text description of this bundle group.
	 * 
	 * @return text description of this bundle group
	 */
	public String getDescription();

	
Returns the name of the provider of this bundle group.

Returns:the name of the provider or null if none
/**
	 * Returns the name of the provider of this bundle group.
	 * 
	 * @return the name of the provider or <code>null</code> if none
	 */
	public String getProviderName();

	
Returns a list of all bundles supplied by this bundle group.  

Returns:the bundles supplied by this bundle group
/**
	 * Returns a list of all bundles supplied by this bundle group.  
	 * 
	 * @return the bundles supplied by this bundle group
	 */
	public Bundle[] getBundles();

	
Returns the property of this bundle group with the given key.
null is returned if there is no such key/value pair.

Params:
  • key – the name of the property to return
Returns:the value associated with the given key or null if none
/**
	 * Returns the property of this bundle group with the given key.
	 * <code>null</code> is returned if there is no such key/value pair.
	 * 
	 * @param key the name of the property to return
	 * @return the value associated with the given key or <code>null</code> if none
	 */
	public String getProperty(String key);
}