[ANNOUNCE] Apache VelocityTools 2.0 release

[Nathan Bubna <nb...@apache.org>]

The Apache Velocity project is pleased to announce the release of
VelocityTools 2.0.

Downloads are available here:
  http://velocity.apache.org/download.cgi

This should be useable as a drop in replacement for Tools 2.0-beta4 or
Tools 1.4, with a few minor exceptions.  The 2.x series of
VelocityTools requires Velocity 1.5+ and JDK 1.5+.

For those new to Tools 2, here's an overview of the work done since 1.4:
    * More convention over configuration and smart defaults
    * New configuration formats (more concise/flexible/powerful xml,
properties, java)
    * Provision of default and auto-loaded configurations
    * Entirely new core infrastructure (lazy-loading tools, easier
access, standalone support etc)
    * Added VelocityViewTag for JSP integration
    * Added DisplayTool, ConversionTool, ClassTool, LoopTool,
FieldTool, a generic version of LinkTool and more
    * Refactored and enhanced a number of existing tools
    * Improved documentation
    * Deprecated many outdated things
    * Legacy support for almost all Tools 1.4 configurations and extensions
    * Better integration of $application, $session and $request scope
control objects
    * and lots more...

For those following the betas, here's the notable changes since 2.0-beta4:
    * Added a 'readOnly' config option to allow write operations on
ValueParser and ParameterTool (when set to false)
    * Added a beta-quality UiDependencyTool (included in
velocity-view, but not in default tools.xml)
    * Added an alpha-quality MarkupTool (included in generic tools,
but not in default tools.xml)
    * Fixed (as much as possible) some significant last-iteration
LoopTool problems, and added a $loop.this property to serve as a more
reliable workaround in nested loops. See
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/VELTOOLS-124
    * VelocityLayoutServlet now checks request attributes for
non-default layouts.
    * The velocity-view.tld is now valid.
    * VelocityView[Servlet] has improved exception and http management
(particularly for ResourceNotFoundExceptions).
    * Miscellaneous documentation and build.xml improvements

The Velocity developers are very interested in all feedback regarding
Tools 2.0, especially regarding backwards compatibility with apps
designed for Tools 1.4 or earlier. We aim to enable a smooth,
incremental transition for developers and their applications.