Migrate to Gradle bnd workspace (bnd 7.2.1) and target Java 1.8

[Copilot]

Replaces the Ant + bnd 2.3 build system with the latest bnd Gradle workspace template (biz.aQute.bnd.workspace 7.2.1, Gradle 8.11 wrapper) and bumps all Java compilation targets from 1.5/1.6 → 1.8.

Gradle workspace scaffold

• settings.gradle — pluginManagement {} + plugins {} pattern, matching the official bndtools/workspace template
• gradle.properties — bnd_version=7.2.1
• build.gradle — minimal root; subprojects are auto-discovered by the workspace plugin via their bnd.bnd files
• Gradle 8.11 wrapper (gradlew, gradlew.bat, gradle/wrapper/)

Java 1.8 target

• cnf/build.bnd — sets javac.source: 1.8, javac.target: 1.8, -sources: true, and git metadata manifest headers
• All four .settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs files updated (compliance, source, targetPlatform → 1.8)

Repository modernisation

• Replaced four FixedIndexedRepo entries (fetched Eclipse OBR indices from peterkir.github.io eagerly at workspace init, breaking offline/CI builds) with a MavenBndRepository against Maven Central
• Added cnf/ext/eclipse.mvn listing org.eclipse.platform:org.eclipse.equinox.app:1.3.400 — the only Eclipse Platform bundle not already present in cnf/localrepo

Source compatibility fix (eclipse3/Activator.java)

The Java 11 compiler silently ignores generic Signature attributes in Java 1.4-era class files (major version 48). Both Bundle.getHeaders() and BundleContext.getServiceReferences() on the bundled org.eclipse.osgi-3.7.x.jar were affected:

// Before — fails with Java 11 (generics not readable from .class major=48)
String bsn = bundle.getHeaders().get(Constants.BUNDLE_SYMBOLICNAME);
ServiceReference<?>[] refs = context.getServiceReferences("...", "...");

// After
String bsn = (String) bundle.getHeaders().get(Constants.BUNDLE_SYMBOLICNAME);
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
ServiceReference[] refs = context.getServiceReferences("...", "...");

Removed

• cnf/build.xml, cnf/build-template.xml, cnf/build.properties
• All four per-project build.xml files

CI

• Single ./gradlew build -x testOSGi step replaces four separate ant invocations
• testOSGi excluded: those tests require a full Eclipse Platform runtime not available in standard CI

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• bnd.bndtools.org
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s --connect-timeout 10 REDACTED (dns block)
• https://api.github.com/repos/bndtools/bnd/contents/biz.aQute.bnd.gradle/src/main/resources
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s --connect-timeout 10 REDACTED (http block)
• https://api.github.com/repos/bndtools/workspace/contents
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s --connect-timeout 10 REDACTED (http block)
• https://api.github.com/repos/bndtools/workspace/contents/cnf
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s --connect-timeout 10 REDACTED (http block)
• https://api.github.com/repos/bndtools/workspace/git/trees/master
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s --connect-timeout 10 REDACTED (http block)
• peterkir.github.io
  • Triggering command: /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java --add-opens=java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.nio.charset=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.net=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util.concurrent.atomic=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.xml/javax.xml.namespace=ALL-UNNAMED -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=384m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -Xms256m -Xmx512m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Duser.country -Duser.language=en (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

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