How To Install Eclipse Feature

Building a plug-in is the fun part: You get to write code and create thetool you want. That plug-in can then be used in an Eclipse run-timeenvironment by simply copying the plug-in into an existing pluginsdirectory for Eclipse or an Eclipse-based product. When Eclipse islaunched, the plug-in will be found, and if it passes platform startupprocessing, it will be available in the run-time configuration.But who knows or cares that your plug-in joined the party? Will usersunderstand what your tool has to offer? Will they be able to use Eclipseto disable, service, or otherwise manage your contribution? A plug-in on its own is just a plug-in, not a tool contribution fullyintegrated with the Eclipse Platform.

Features package plug-insA plug-in gets unruly without a feature. Or, to use the common parlance, aplug-in without a feature is an unmanaged plug-in. EclipsePlatform startup includes a configuration step.

If a new plug-in is copiedinto the plugins directory or otherwise made known to Eclipse at startup,the configuration step notices, but only lets you know by flashing thesplash image twice. Eclipse notices the new plug-in because theconfiguration check sum stored in the.metadata.configplatform.cfg filefor the current workspace is different.

A splash-flash is allEclipse can do since you have not provided a feature with which theplatform can guide the user through a configuration modification. So, if you see a dialog like this, it is because you, an install programyou ran, or someone else has modified the Eclipse installation so new orupdated features are available. If the entries can be selected, you canadd the change to the current configuration. If the entries are disabled,there is a configuration problem blocking the addition of the new feature.The Error Details button provides information on theconfiguration issue.Configuration management notes:.

Just because there are changes pending does not mean you have toaccept them now. You can leave the changes as pending for quite sometime. Just deselect the entry and click Finish. Toadd them later, use the menu option Help Software Updates Pending Changes.

To open the dialog again. Changes that have been accepted can later be disabled. Open theInstall/Update perspective, then select the feature in the InstallConfiguration view and select Disable in the Previewview.

Disabled features can be enabled again later using the sameprocess. To see disabled features in the Install Configuration view,select the Show Disabled Features toggle.Feature branding identifiesyour contributions at run timeEclipse allows branding for the active product and optionally for eachfeature included in the run-time configuration. Features do not need to bebranded, and you may choose to not brand all of your features, but youshould brand at least one. Branding definitions— The job of a plug-inThe trick for adding branding is knowing where to place the definitions.You brand features, but the branding content is provided by a plug-in.This is either the plug-in with the same ID as the feature (defaultprocessing) or the plug-in identified in the feature definition (option inEclipse V2.1.1). A feature definition in Eclipse V2.1 can define analternate plug-in using the plugin=. Attribute in thefeature.xml file.The plug-in contains both the files used to define and provide brandingcontent. Overview of branding contentThe about.ini control file defines branding content for both product- andfeature-level branding.

For product branding, two things must be true:. The feature must be defined as a possible primary feature. This meansthat it contains primary='true' in the feature.xmldefinition. The feature must be identified as the active primary feature. This istypically done in a product using the entry in the install.ini file inthe eclipse directory. The primary feature can also be defined atruntime using the -feature featureId startupparameter.The easiest way to understand feature branding is to see what elements aredefined in the about.ini control file and where they go in a brandedproduct or feature (see Figure 2).

Branding contentavailable in the Eclipse perspective. These entries apply only to product branding:. windowImage. appName. aboutImageThe remaining entries are used during both product and feature branding.Values preceded by a percent sign (%) are resolved in theabout.properties file. The text defined using the aboutTextkey is available on the About product dialogwhen the feature is the active primary feature. This text is also shownfor any feature when selected in the About Featuresdialog that can be opened using the Feature Detailsbutton.The welcomePage identified by the welcomePage entry is openedwhen the feature is initially added to the run-time configuration and canalways be found later using the Welcome selection dialogopened using the Help Welcome.

Menu option inEclipse.The quickest way to build a working branded feature is to clone theentries found in Eclipse itself. The feature and plug-in with the IDorg.eclipse.platform provides feature and plug-in branding. Astep-by-step guide is also included in 'Chapter 34, Exercise 7 of TheJava Developer's Guide to Eclipse.You can find additional detail on branding on Eclipse.org in thedevelopment resources for the Update Manager subproject (see ). Strategies forbuilding features using the PDEThe build process is covered in the chapters on feature development inThe Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse and the Eclipse.orgarticle 'PDE Does Plug-ins', but there are some other considerations, aswell. Once you understand how to use the PDE to build features and theirreferenced plug-ins, you can automate the process. Ant targets implemented bythe PDELet’s begin with a summary of the function provided by the PDE.

The PDEwill generate build.xml files for a plugin.xml or feature.xml file. Thebuild.xml is an Ant script that can perform different types of tasksrequired to prepare a plug-in or feature for the run-time platform. PDEbuild processing allows you to perform one or more of the following buildtargets for a feature or plug-in.Feature build targets of interest:. build.jars calls the build.jars task in the build.xmlfile for each referenced plug-in. build.update.jar calls the build.update.jar task inthe build.xml file for each referenced plug-in.

It also creates anUpdate JAR for the feature. This is the default target for the Antscript. build.sources calls the build.sources task in thebuild.xml file for each referenced plug-in. zip.distribution creates a ZIP file of all the filesrequired for the feature and referenced plug-ins. refresh tells Eclipse to refresh the feature projectand the project for any referenced plug-in.Plug-in build targets of interest:. build.jars calls a number of targets in the build.xmlfile for each run-time JAR defined for the plug-in.

The called targetnames are the same as run-time JAR file names. These targets compilethe Java code and create the JAR file that includes any resources keptin the source folder.

build.update.jar zips all the files required in therun-time plug-in directory into a file namedplugin.id version.jar, where plugin.idand version are from the plugin.xml file. This is the defaulttarget for the Ant script.

build.sources creates a ZIP file of the Java sourcebased on the source folders defined for a given run-time JAR file. zip.plugin creates a ZIP file containing all theelements for the plug-in. refresh tells Eclipse to refresh the plug-in project.Note: In feature and plug-in Ant processing, the filespackaged during update JAR or ZIP processing are those required in therun-time environment. These are described in the bin.includesor bin.excludes entries in the build.properties file for thefeature or plug-in and the runtime JAR files for each plug-in as definedin the plugin.xml.To build a plug-in, you might sayclean, build.sources, build.jars, zip.plugin, refresh. Tobuild a feature, you could sayclean, build.sources, build.jars, zip.distribution, refresh.You want to start with clean to force all parts to berecreated. This is often required.

While Ant processing will rerun many ofthe required steps based on changes in the input, some changes do nottrigger all the required processing. Testing shows that if you change oneJava source file, the corresponding source ZIP will be updated, but theclass will not be compiled and the run-time JAR will not be updated. Thissuggests that it is safer to clean the build outputs first so you know youare using the run-time version of the current source. Discussion scenarioFor discussion purposes, let’s describe the content for just one featureand plug-in that is necessary in the run-time configuration.

Contribution structureexample Contribution typeFilesFeaturefeature.xmlfeatureimage.jpg/license/license.html/license/license.pdf/plan/project-plan.docPlug-inplugin.xml/images/action.gif/images/editor.gif/src/co/pkg/id/action.java/src/co/pkg/id/editor.java/design-docs/plug-in.doc/design-docs/editor.docAs you can see by the files names, while most belong in the run-timeenvironment, others probably should not be included in what you share withothers (for example, your design documents). Include strategy —Identify the required bitsThe easiest approach, at least initially, is to just list everything youwant to package during build processing as part of your feature or plug-inin the run-time configuration. The build.properties file for each is shownbelow: Table 2. Build.properties content Componentbuild.properties file contentFeaturebin.includes = feature.xml,license/Plug-insource.runtime.jar = src/bin.includes= plugin.xml,images/Exclude strategy —Identify the bits that are not required or privateAn alternative approach is to list what you don't want to package as partof the feature or plug-in during build processing.

This must include notonly what you don't want to share but also the files and directoriescreated by build processing (some of which are temporary). Thebuild.properties file for this approach are shown below: Table 3. The EditorList.link file would contain either of these entries (notboth):path=D:/Eclipse-2.1.1/CoolTools/EditorListpath=D:Eclipse-2.1.1CoolToolsEditorListThe slash is either one ( /) or two ( )depending on direction.Be sure that the entry does not end with a space as this causes it to beignored by Eclipse — it took me several hours to determine this thefirst time I used link files.If you start Eclipse with a new workspace, all of Eclipse and the featuresand plug-ins found via link files will be available. If you were to add alink file and restart Eclipse using an existing workspace, theConfiguration Changes dialog would be shown. If you remove a link file (aseasy as moving it over to links-out), the configuration change will benoted, but all you will see is a splash-flash.You don't really have to move link files in and out to control theconfiguration; a better way is to just adjust the configuration using theInstall/Update perspective. Of course, this assumes you have features forthe plug-ins (see, another reason for features).

Making configurationadjustments using Eclipse is discussed next. Making configurationmodifications using the Install/Update perspectiveRoot features and any feature defined as optional can be disabled in thecurrent configuration. Once disabled, the features are still known to theplatform; they are just not included in the current run-timeconfiguration.Previously, we discussed adding the Eclipse Examples to the activeconfiguration. Once there, we can choose to disable them using theInstall/Update perspective.

If you were to open the Install/Updateperspective for an Eclipse configuration that included the EclipseExamples, you would see something like Figure 4. Eclipse Examples featurein Install/Update perspective.

By selecting the Disable Now button in the Preview view,you can temporarily remove the Eclipse Examples feature from the run-timeconfiguration. When selected, Eclipse will prompt you to restart thePlatform to process the configuration modification.The Eclipse Examples feature will no longer be visible (or active) in thecurrent configuration. To see the feature so that you can enable it again,you need to select the Show Disabled Features toggle inthe Install Configuration view (see Figure 5).

Disabled EclipseExamples feature in Install/Update perspective. This works for the Eclipse Example feature because it is a root feature.If you explore the other features in the Eclipse SDK, you will see thatthey do not include a Disable Now button in the Previewview. This is because they are defined as required.If you are using the Eclipse SDK, you have the Platform, the JDT, and thePDE configured by default.

If you do some plug-in development, but youdon't need the PDE — or for that matter, you don't need the JDT allthe time — you could disable these features if you made a smallmodification to Eclipse. Open the feature.xml file for theorg.eclipse.platform.sdk.win32 feature and change these linesto include the optional='true' attribute: Listing 1. Disabling the PDE andJDT You can now select these features in the Install Configuration view anddisable them.

If all of those defined optional above were disabled, thePlatform still runs. And remember, you can always enable them again.Figure 6 shows the Install Configuration view showing which features aredisabled. Multiple disabledEclipse features. These disable/enable decisions are local to the current workspace. Youcould have other workspaces active that include some or all of thedisabled features.This simple example should demonstrate the advantages of having features(they can be disabled) and the value of adding all possible features toyour configuration using link files.

You disable what you don't need for agiven workspace and therefore optimize the current configuration. Defining yourown global preferencesEclipse is good, but like any tool, it will not be perfect for you untilyou customize it a bit. Tools contribute preference pages that allow youto change the behavior or visual display of a tool. At last count therewere 62 preference pages in Eclipse.

Almost every time you visit a newone, you find an option you might like to change. But when you use morethan one workspace, or work in a team environment where some options mayhave to be coordinated, this presents a challenge for how to best manageyour choices across workspaces and with others.Eclipse does offer an export/import option for preferences. On any page inthe Preferences dialog, you can export preferences to an.epf file. Thisfile can be imported when using another workspace or shared with others.You might even add it to a project shared with teammates so that everyonehas access to the standard preference choices.But this can get tedious, and if you forget, burdensome. There is anothertechnique for defining global preferences that you should be aware of whenusing Eclipse or any Eclipse-based product. You can customize the defaultvalues for preferences by modifying the plugincustomization.ini fileassociated to the primary feature.You find the primary feature by looking at the install.ini file in theeclipse directory. For example, the install.ini content in a standardEclipse unzip looks like this: Listing 2.

How To Install Eclipse Feature System

Install.ini content in a standardEclipse unzip# install.ini# java.io.Properties file (ISO 8859-1 with ' escapes)# This file does not need to be translated.# Required property 'feature.default.id' contains the id of the primary feature# (the primary feature controls product branding,splash screens, and plug-in customization)feature.default.id=org.eclipse.platform# Required property 'feature.default.application' contains id of the core# application that gets controlon startup. For products with a UI, this# is always org.eclipse.ui.workbench; for 'headless'products, this is product-specific.feature.default.application=org.eclipse.ui.workbenchThe feature.default.id=. Entry identifies the defaultprimary feature. Note that another feature could be declared as primaryusing the -feature option when starting Eclipse.As with much of the feature control and branding process, the actual workis done in the plug-in associated with the feature. For Eclipse, this isthe plug-in with the same id as the feature, theorg.eclipse.platform plug-in.

If you look in this plug-in,which is the branding plug-in for the primary feature, you will find afile named plugincustomization.ini. This file can contain entries similarto those found in an exported preference file. The file is read whenEclipse starts to identify any default preference values that should beused instead of those defined by the plug-ins themselves. This allowsproducts, or you, to change plug-in behavior. The defaultplugincustomization.ini file contains only one entry: Listing 3. Related topics. The Eclipse.org article ' offers an alternative description of howto use the PDE to build plug-ins.

Download the described in thisarticle. Additional detail on branding is on Eclipse.org in the for the Update Managersub-project. ' walks though a simple 'Hello,World' plug-in creation.

Check out the '.' . Download from the EclipseFoundation. Browse all the on developerWorks.

Expand your Eclipse skills by checking out IBMdeveloperWorks'. For an introduction to the Eclipse platform, see '.'

InstallationEclEmma ships as a small set of Eclipse plug-ins under the. The overall size of theseven plug-ins is about 1 MByte. Like for all standard Eclipse plug-ins thereare different installation options. Using the marketplace or update site isthe recommended procedure.PrerequisitesEclEmma requires Eclipse 3.8 or higher and Java 1.5 or higher.It has no dependencies on a particular operating system. Of course yourEclipse installation needs to contain the Java development tools (JDT) whichis included in the default SDK installation.Option 1: Install from Eclipse Marketplace ClientSince Eclipse 3.6 theallows direct installation of EclEmma from within Eclipse.

Follow the stepsbelow or drag and drop the button above into a running Indigo workspace.1. From your Eclipse menu select Help → Eclipse Marketplace.2. Search for 'EclEmma'.3. Hit Install for the entry 'EclEmma Java Code Coverage'.4.

How To Install Eclipse In Windows 10

Follow the steps in the installation wizard. Option 2: Installation from Update SiteThe update site for EclEmma is Perform thefollowing steps to install EclEmma from the update site:1. From your Eclipse menu select Help → Install New Software.2. In the Install dialog enter at theWork with field.3. Check the latest EclEmma version and press Next4. Follow the steps in the installation wizard. Option 3: Manual Download and InstallationFor manual installation please the latestEclEmma release.

Eclipse Download

Unzip the archive into dropins folder of yourEclipse installation and restart Eclipse:/+- dropins/+- eclemma-x.y.z/+- plugins/ +.+- feature/+.VerificationThe installation was successful if you can see the coverage launcher in thetoolbar of the Java perspective:© 2006, 2017 Mountainminds GmbH & Co. KG and ContributorsValidate/ Last Modifiedin Commit.