What is the GSF?

The GSF:

1. Provides application configuration capabilities for WebCenter Sites
2. Extends WebCenter Sites' controller infrastructure, leveraging clean, reusable code and productivity
3. Provides streamlined APIs optimized for efficient page rendering, built upon supported Oracle APIs
4. Clearly defines extension points
5. Avoids imposing any design / data model requirements whilst encouraging the use of design patterns, optimal coding and best practices.
6. Is suitable for use "out of the box" for a large number of sites

This is the first GSF release built for WCS 12c's features and rendering practices. The main goals of this release are to:

• Provide a fresh library optimized for WCS 12c projects
• Move to a distinct namespace for current code that does not clash with Oracle's namespaces, thus simplifying debugging and removing ambiguity pertaining to support (moved from com.fatwire.gst.foundation.* to tools.gsf.*)
• Provide the means for 11g GSF clients to reuse as much of their existing code as possible when upgrading from WCS 11.x to WCS 12c,
• Simplify installation / deployment to the utmost, making it as agile and CI-friendly as possible, and
• Encourage GSF users and potential adopters to benefit from GSF's optimized code whilst leveraging better encapsulation, cleaner design and more intuitive, simpler usage and deployment.

Many of the GSF's existing features have become partially or totally unnecessary due to WCS 12c (and 11.x) offering a native equivalent. Such features are therefore deprecated in this release and, in some cases, physically removed from the codebase. Those classes / components which are still valid and/or useful and/or expected to become building blocks for NEW features to be implemented in future releases of the GSF have been left untouched -- or adjusted specifically for WCS 12c.

Deprecated features will be physically removed from the GSF project's codebase in future major releases. We still aim at keeping the GSF's code - and footprint - as clean and minimal as possible!

The GSF was initiated in 2010 by Tony Field, Dolf Dijkstra, Michael Sullivan and Suzanne Bourdeaux.

Developers and Architects are encouraged to build upon and extend this framework with the long-term goal of folding in such enhancements into future versions of the GST Site Foundation.

October, 2016.