Status of the CKEditor integration

Question

The CKEditor component from the Incubator (as per the RAP 2.3 release) feels like a proof of concept and lacks certain features.
config.js is hard-coded in the jar, I'd like to disable some buttons
the UI language is hard-coded in config.js and can't be set from outside, I need it to be localized
most plugins are disabled, I need the link plugin to add links
when I enable the link plugin - the dialogs look different (no relation to RAP themes) and don't seem to work properly as it seems RAP is catching the clicks, I need to turn most parts of the link dialog off, I need the remaining controls to work and I need the look and feel to be halfway similar to the rest of the application
widget.setEnabled doesn't do anything - I'd like a way to turn ckeditor into a viewer, so that the HTML content looks the same
In older conversations I found a number of references to the missing functionality and to plans for the future:
enhancement request for a Modify Listener
https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=804953&goto=1415615&#msg_1415615
bug related to resizing
https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=711045&goto=1312132&#msg_1312132
public API for making custom widgets themable - after Luna
https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=637173&goto=1231814&#msg_1231814
update to ckeditor 4.x that "may come later this year" (2014)
https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=812699&goto=1424724&#msg_1424724
Is there a roadmap? Is this component intended to be a full-blown rich text editing solution for RAP at some point in time? Is it just a quick-and-dirty proof-of-concept to show that it's possible, but if I have different requirements - I need to write my own version of that widget and use the one in git as an inspiration, because exposing all the configurability of CKeditor in a generic project-independent Java API would be too complex.
What way forward would you suggest?

Answer 1

Hi.
So, as you mostly guessed, the CKEditor widget was mainly implemented as
an RAP Custom Widget example. However, it's in productive use also, so
it's not like it's unusable.
Right now, if you need to customize the CKEditor config you need to
check out the source and manipulate it yourself. The readme has some
hints also[1]. Right now I can't comment on the dialogs.
We just did RAP 3.0 and will need some time to plan ahead for 3.1. Since
there seems to be some interest in the CKEditor there's a chance that it
will part of that, especially now that there is a similar Nebula
widget[2]. We may consider updating to CKEditor 4, make it Nebula
compatible, and/or enable customization. Integration into RAP theming or
Modify listener don't seem very likely for technical reasons.
If you can list some features that would absolutely need (as opposed to
"nice to have"), we might include them in our planning.
So in regard to the question what way forward I would suggest, it
depends on your time frame. We may decide on the fate of the CKEditor in
the next few weeks, but even then we may not commit to any specific
date. So if you need results soon, you may have work on it yourself. We
would certainly welcome contributions to the Incubator repository, if it
matches the projects coding conventions.
If you can wait a few months, wait until we publish a plan for RAP 3.1
Greetings,
Tim
[1]
http://git.eclipse.org/c/rap/incubator/org.eclipse.rap.incubator.richtext.git/tree/README.md
[2] https://eclipse.org/nebula/widgets/richtext/richtext.php
Am 22.06.2015 um 18:30 schrieb Antoni Mylka:
> The CKEditor component from the Incubator (as per the RAP 2.3 release)
> feels like a proof of concept and lacks certain features.
>
>
> config.js is hard-coded in the jar, I'd like to disable some buttons
> the UI language is hard-coded in config.js and can't be set from
> outside, I need it to be localized
> most plugins are disabled, I need the link plugin to add links
> when I enable the link plugin - the dialogs look different (no relation
> to RAP themes) and don't seem to work properly as it seems RAP is
> catching the clicks, I need to turn most parts of the link dialog off, I
> need the remaining controls to work and I need the look and feel to be
> halfway similar to the rest of the application
> widget.setEnabled doesn't do anything - I'd like a way to turn ckeditor
> into a viewer, so that the HTML content looks the same
>
>
> In older conversations I found a number of references to the missing
> functionality and to plans for the future:
>
> enhancement request for a Modify Listener
> https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=804953&goto=1415615&#msg_1415615
>
>
> bug related to resizing
> https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=711045&goto=1312132&#msg_1312132
>
>
> public API for making custom widgets themable - after Luna
> https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=637173&goto=1231814&#msg_1231814
>
>
> update to ckeditor 4.x that "may come later this year" (2014)
> https://www.eclipse.org/forums/index.php?t=msg&th=812699&goto=1424724&#msg_1424724
>
>
> Is there a roadmap? Is this component intended to be a full-blown rich
> text editing solution for RAP at some point in time? Is it just a
> quick-and-dirty proof-of-concept to show that it's possible, but if I
> have different requirements - I need to write my own version of that
> widget and use the one in git as an inspiration, because exposing all
> the configurability of CKeditor in a generic project-independent Java
> API would be too complex.
> What way forward would you suggest?
Tim Buschtöns
Twitter: @EclipseRAP
Blog: http://eclipsesource.com/blogs/
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