Java 2015

[aweso_meme]

Hi all,
I have looked through the internet, however I have not seen anything official put up -- It is all just rumor and speculation. Has a statement been released saying what is new in Java 2015 for FRC or is everything just a guess list?

[Jon Stratis]

Nothing has been officially released yet. Many teams are beta testing, and the changes aren't that drastic. The biggest change is programming in eclipse instead of netbeans... the API is largely staying the same, with just some tweaks and changes to account for the changed hardware. I haven't really seen any big new features or changes that are going to trip teams up.

When we ported over last year's code to the RoboRio, the students were able to do it all in a single 3 hour meeting.

[Bryan Herbst]

Keep in mind that while the API isn't changing this year, Java 8 (SE) will be supported. This is a huge leap forward from what we have now, so there's a lot of extra stuff you can do now.

I would also expect the WPI library to start taking advantage of some of thosee features in future years, though there may not be a whole lot of user facing changes.

[NotInControl]

The RoboRio will run at least Java 8 SE Embedded for the upcoming season, it is Java 8 SE with Graphical Libraries removed, and other optimizations for a headless, embedded device (low memory). This is obviously pending any official rules. However, If a Java 9 is released from now to kickoff (which is highly unlikely, I doubt FIRST will upgrade to the new JRE because it wouldn't have been vetted through any Beta testing). So in my opinion, it is very safe to assume the RoboRio's will run Java 8 SE Embedded for competition.

The WPI API is changing slightly. There is a list of changes that will be released when the software is released, but none of them are major, and most of your pre-existing code should run without a hitch.

Some classes have been renamed for clarity, numbering has been changed to zero based indexing, etc. Simple Robot is removed in order to prevent rookie teams from using it (because it is harder to use then it seems).

Some libraries have been re-written for better efficiency like the CAN library but the API is largely the same.

The JRE we have been running on the RoboRio for Beta testing is directly downloaded from Oracles Website, so it is not modified by FIRST/NI in any way. You can read what features Java 8 SE Embedded supports on oracles website.

Hope this helps,
Kevin

[MJ Miller]

I'm trying to use the latest Eclipse (Mars Milestone 2 (4.5.0M2), jdk1.8.0_25, and FRC Sunspot Plugin 1.0.8.5. On the surface, installation of all items were successful and I can build a simpleRobot program with no errors. However, I can't deploy due to the following error:

Buildfile: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\build.xml
-pre-init:
-do-init:
-post-init:
-warn-jar-file:
init:
-set-selector-for-nonbasestation:
-prim-find-spots:
-checkhasremoteaddress:
-do-find-spots:
-jar-and-deploy:
-pre-init:
-do-init:
-post-init:
-warn-jar-file:
init:
-check-for-manifest:
-set-to-jar-name:
-pre-clean:
-do-clean:
[delete] Deleting directory C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\build
[delete] Deleting directory C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[delete] Deleting directory C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\j2meclasses
-post-clean:
clean:
-pre-compile:
-do-compile:
[mkdir] Created dir: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\build
[javac] Compiling 1 source file to C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\build
[javac] warning: [options] source value 1.3 is obsolete and will be removed in a future release
[javac] warning: [options] target value 1.2 is obsolete and will be removed in a future release
[javac] warning: [options] To suppress warnings about obsolete options, use -Xlint:-options.
[javac] 3 warnings
-post-compile:
compile:
-pre-preverify:
-make-preverify-directory:
[mkdir] Created dir: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\j2meclasses
-unjar-utility-jars:
-do-preverify:
-post-preverify:
preverify:
-pre-jar-app:
-do-jar-app:
[mkdir] Created dir: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[jar] Building jar: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite\Robot_1.0.0.j ar
-post-jar-app:
jar-app:
-set-from-jar-name:
-check-for-jar:
-pre-suite:
-do-suite:
[java] CompilerOracle: exclude com/sun/squawk/Method.getParameterTypes
[java] CompilerOracle: exclude com/sun/squawk/SymbolParser.getSignatureTypeAt
[java] CompilerOracle: exclude com/sun/squawk/SymbolParser.stripMethods
[java] [translating suite image [closed: false, parent: squawk] ...]
[java] ### Excluding compile: com.sun.squawk.SymbolParser::getSignatureTypeAt
[java] ### Excluding compile: com.sun.squawk.Method::getParameterTypes
[java] [Including resource: META-INF/MANIFEST.MF]
[java] Romizer processed 97 classes and generated 4 files.
[unzip] Expanding: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite\Robot_1.0.0.j ar into C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[move] Moving 1 file to C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[move] Moving 1 file to C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[move] Moving 1 file to C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\suite
[delete] Deleting: C:\Users\MJ\workspace\mySimple\image.suite.api
-post-suite:
-prim-find-spots:
-checkhasremoteaddress:
-do-find-spots:
-pre-deploy:
-failIfRemote:
-do-upgrade:
Host OS: Windows 7 6.1, 6.1
Host JVM: Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 25.25-b02
Target IP: 10.49.10.2
Network interfaces on host:
Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 2230: address: 192.168.1.70 netmask: 255.255.255.0
Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller: address: 10.49.10.5 netmask: 255.0.0.0 <--- on robot's subnet
[frcupgrade] Connecting FTP @10.49.10.2

BUILD FAILED
C:\Users\MJ\sunspotfrcsdk\build.xml:96: The following error occurred while executing this line:
C:\Users\MJ\sunspotfrcsdk\ant\upgrade.xml:40: java.lang.NullPointerException

Total time: 7 seconds[/font][/font][/font][/font]

The error points to upgrade.xml:40 and suggests some configuration problem exists. I have followed 3 different sets of instructions from WPI and teams with all yielding the same error above. What configuration step have I missed?

build.xml:95-97
<target name="-jar-and-deploy" unless="from.jar.file">
<antcall target="-do-jar-and-deploy" />
</target>

ant/upgrade.xml:29-42
<target name="-do-upgrade">
<frcupgrade
remoteaddress = "${remoteaddress}"
localotaserverfile="${sunspot.home}/cRIO/FRC_UserProgram.out"
remoteotaserverfilepath="/ni-rt/system/FRC_JavaVM.out"
localvmfile = "${sunspot.home}/cRIO/squawk.out"
remotevmfilepath="/ni-rt/system/squawk.out"
localsuitefile = "${sunspot.home}/cRIO/squawk.suite"
remotesuitefilepath = "/ni-rt/system/squawk.suite"
remoteversionfilepath = "/FRC_ImageVersion.ini"
versionfailuremessage = "Go to http://first.wpi.edu/FRC/frcjava.html to get latest software update"
>
<version name="Name" value="FRC_2012_v43.zip;"/>
<version name="Language" value='"Java;"'/>


Also, I noticed the wpilibj that gets installed with the plugin is missing some items namely Talon.class and LiveWindow.class and some others. Perhaps this version of wpilibj is dated. The getting started with Java manual lists a procedure for building a custom library using Netbeans. I have the wpilibj.project.zip archive, but there is no project file to open as the procedure instructs. I don't really need a custom library, but just looking for a way to get this setup working.

[NotInControl]

The offiical eclipse plugins for the Roborio have not been released yet.

There are no official eclipse plugins for the cRio. It sounds lile you installed an old beta eclipse plugin released in 2011 by first that was never maintained or updated (thats why all of the classes ypu mentioned are missing).

If you are trying to use eclipse with the cRio and 2014 java wpilibj, I suggest you start over and follow my previous guide on how to do that. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=110420

The link is for 2013, but it is exactly the same for 2014, just need to steal the 2014 jars from either netbeans or our download page.

If you are wishing to find the 2015 plugins, for the Roborio, you will have to wait until kickoff for that to be released... only beta teams have early access to the 2015 eclipse plugins for testing purposes.

Regards,
Kevin

[MJ Miller]

Thanks Kevin! I appreciate it.

MJ