
                        C   O   C   O   O   N

                               1.8.2

**************************************************************************
*   Please read the file INSTALLING, it contains important information   *
**************************************************************************


Contents

* What is it?
* Where is it?
* Requirements
* Release Notes for Cocoon 1.8.2 and previous versions
* Licensing and Legal Issues


  What is it?
  -----------

  Cocoon is a 100% pure Java publishing framework that relies on 
  new W3C technologies (such as XML and XSL) to provide web content.

  The Cocoon project aims to change the way web information is created, 
  rendered and delivered. This new paradigm is based on fact that document 
  content, style and logic are often created by different individuals or 
  working groups.
  
  Cocoon aims to a complete separation of the three layers, allowing the 
  three layers to be indipendently designed, created and managed, reducing 
  management overhead, increasing work reuse and reducing time to market.


  Where is it?
  ------------

  The home page for the Cocoon project can be found in the Apache XML Project 
  web site (http://xml.apache.org/cocoon/). There you also find information
  on how to download the latest release as well as all the other information
  you might need regarding this project.


  Requirements
  ------------

  Cocoon is implemented both as a Java servlet and a Java command line
  application. The following requirements exist for installing it:
  
   o  A Java 1.1 or later compatible virtual machine for your operating system.

   o  Server API 2.x Servlet Engine (optional for command line operation).
   

  Installation Instructions and Documentation
  -------------------------------------------

  The documentation available as of the date of this release is
  included in the "docs/" directory (unless you got this from CVS,
  in which case you need to run build docs, which generates documentation
  in the build/docs directory).

  Look for the most updated documentation on the Cocoon web site under
  the Apache XML Project (http://xml.apache.org/cocoon/).


  Release Notes for Cocoon 1.8.2
  ------------------------------

  This is a minor bugfix release. Among other things, Cocoon works on JDK1.1 again,
  as it should, and the XInclude processor should work correctly at any stage in the
  pipeline (previously it would do nothing if invoked after certain processors).

  Also, in the last two versions, optional connectors for XT, JNDI etc. were left out by
  mistake from the build. This has now been fixed.


  Release Notes for Cocoon 1.8.1
  ------------------------------

  This is mainly a bugfix release - a large number of fixes and updates
  have been made.

  As usual, changes since previous releases are documented in docs/changes.html

  Major improvements include:

  * First official release of the esql logicsheet for database access in Cocoon.
    Esql, which was previously an undocumented experimental feature, supports
    features like integration with other logicsheets, prepared statements, and
    multiple encodings. Esql now supercedes both the sql taglib and the sql 
    processor. IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the esql syntax has changed since Cocoon 1.8
    (see the documentation), it is now expected to be fairly stable.

  * The much-maligned Internet Explorer PDF bug, which caused so much gnashing of
    teeth, has finally been "fixed" in Cocoon! (We think.)
    See the FAQ for full details - see also samples/fo for practical examples.

  * Updated installation instructions for a number of servlet engines, including Tomcat.
    Cocoon now comes with walk-through installation instructions for a greater range of
    platforms than ever before! This is very useful because Cocoon is a complex servlet
    and therefore quite complicated to install.

  * Support for FOP 0.15 (though not later versions).
    Unfortunately this is rather inefficient - Cocoon 2 will address this.
    FOP is an XML-to-PDF converter based at xml.apache.org. FOP 0.15 supports more 
    features and fixes many bugs, but it is based on a newer XSL:FO 
    specification than FOP 0.13, so some pages may need changing. FOP Samples 
    have been updated accordingly.

  Other highlights include:

  * New LinkEncodingProcessor to encode all links on a page
    - no more messing about with response.encodeUrl all over the place
    or unportable XSLT extensions!
  * sax-bugfix.jar that allows you to see line numbers in parsing errors. See Installing.
  * Documentation has been tweaked and improved in many places.
  * Of interest to JServ users - You can now override options in cocoon.properties, 
    in web.xml or zone.properties.
  * User-agent support for command-line mode.
  * Slightly better encoding and CLASSPATH support for XSP.
  * More informative error information in places.
  * Numerous other bugfixes, including a workaround for a Websphere bug that prevented
    Cocoon from working.

  Also new since the last release is a Bug Database and a Patch Queue on the Cocoon website.
  If you've posted us a bugfix and it hasn't been acted on yet, please feel free to file
  a bug report - it helps us keep track! (To file a report you need to first
  register, and then login.) Of course, we would like to see as much information
  as possible in bug reports, as this aids in tracking down bugs and testing bugfixes.

  As usual, if upgrading from an earlier release, you need to replace your
  cocoon.properties file with the one supplied in
  src/org/apache/cocoon/cocoon.properties,
  (then make any site-specific adjustments if you have any),
  or Cocoon will very likely not work at all.

  Again, it may cause errors if you use old samples with a new Cocoon.
  If you use the ESQL taglib, the syntax has changed between Cocoon 1.8 and Cocoon 1.8.1.
  See the documentation for more details.


  Release Notes for Cocoon 1.8
  ----------------------------

  There are no reported major issues with this release.

  As usual, if upgrading from an earlier release, you need to replace your
  cocoon.properties file with the one supplied in
  src/org/apache/cocoon/cocoon.properties,
  (then make any site-specific adjustments if you have any),
  or Cocoon will very likely not work at all.

  *** IMPORTANT ***
  If you get an error message about ProducerFromRequest, this means
  that you forgot to do the above. See the FAQ for more details.

  Note also that you need an additional library, new to 1.8,
  turbine-pool.jar, which is in the /lib directory, to be visible
  to the servlet engine. See the installation instructions.

  As usual, changes since previous releases are documented in docs/changes.html
  Highlights include:

  * Database connection pooling
  * Numerous bugfixes, including better Servlet 2.0 compatibility
  * Increased performance for heavy load conditions
  * Also increased speed for some XSP pages which include complex Nodes
  * New ESQL logicsheet allowing easy post-processing of resultsets in XSP
  * Improved documentation, with new expanded FAQ
  * More installation instructions for more different servlet engines
  * Experimental FP taglib for form-handling and other tasks
  * Jikes support for faster XSP page compilation


  Licensing and legal issues
  --------------------------

  For legal and licensing issues, please read the LICENSE file.


  Thanks for using Cocoon.

                                           The Apache XML Project
                                           http://xml.apache.org/                                         
                                           
  
