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inspect element in java swing application

In web applications that run with Tomcat from Eclipse, for example, we can right-click on an element in the page and inspect it (with Firebug, for example), and we can see the element's ID, class, etc. If we have a JAVA Swing application that we run from Eclipse (right-click project ==> debug as ==> eclipse application), can we do the same thing so that we can see which method, for example handles that element, or whatever? Can we inspect a JAVA Swing element as it runs (from Eclipse)? I already checked swing-inspector, but I do not want it.
Thank you

I am sorry that I can not offer you a solution for Eclipse. If you can use Netbeans it includes a Visual Debugger feature. It is simple to use and it is integrated in Netbeans by default.

eclipse unable to generate design view from java source

I have the following situation
I have one swt class which displays a simple window in one project. In this project i am able to see the design view and code view separately. Now in another project i am copying and pasting the class that i developed in previous project (same IDE at a same time). As a result it is not able to show the design view for the swt class.
Another scenario of the problem is that when one swt class is designed on one machine and if i import that project in my IDE from other machine using external media then also it is not able to show me the designer view for the swt class.
How can i solve this problem? Is there any standard solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance.

Well, after being familiar with eclipse one day i come to know that we can do Open With -> GWT Designer to view the design part of the SWT form in eclipse.

maybe this is a stupid question, but did you try to do right click, and open with a visual Editor, or something like that?
Or maybe you copy only the code in a not-visual class...

Eclipse PDT plugin gives me trouble

Editor of PDT plugin jumbles the code and doesn't take responses in. I tried many things but didn't help at all. I was wondering what you guys are using to develop PHP applications for I am new to PHP. And I am a Java Programmer so I am more experience with Eclipse that is why I need to fix this issue.Below are few things I tried out
Reinstall PDT Plugin
Checked if Java editor works (it works perfectly)
I am out of solutions now and only think that I can think of is that Eclipse version is giving me trouble. I am using
Version: Indigo Release
Build id: 20110615-0604
OS : Ubuntu 11.04
PDT Version : PHP Development Tools (PDT) All-In-One SDK 3.0.0.v20110516-1100-77
I am going to include few screenshots too. The screenshots were taken when I clicked in different places of the screen. And sometimes what I type is not displaying at all. Another thing I want to mention is that I also have Aptana plugin installed and the PHP is not working properly in it too. So PDT plugin might not necessarily be the cause for it. Will removing Aptana for PHP help me?
I have asked this question on AskUbuntu at here I hope you don't mind the cross posting...

From your screenshot, it looks like you are using the PDT editor, and not the Aptana Editor.
What you need to do is to change the File Association and the Content Types to have the Aptana PHP Editor handle the PHP files in your project (you can do so from the preferences).
Also, since you have both PDT and Aptana installed, you need to make sure that your project was created using the right wizard. That is... if you want to use PDT, create the project using the PDT PHP project wizard, and if you want to use Aptana - Use Aptana PHP project wizard.
Basically, what happens behind the scenes when you create a project is a setup for the project 'nature' and 'builders' that each plugin looks at in order to function correctly. So, although you can install both on the same eclipse environment, you better of sticking to one from the start.
Note: Since you have Aptana installed, you can also change the nature after the project was created. Go to the project properties (right click the project and select properties) and then click the 'Project Natures' item. If you want Aptana, select the items that display 'PHP' and 'Web' (those items should have icons next to them. make PHP as primary.)
If you want the PDT, select the item that show 'org.eclipse.php...' (if I'm not mistaken), and make it primary.
Hope that helps.

This probably is not be the answer you are looking for, but I never liked the PDT plugin (and Aptana stopped supporting their own PHP editor several years ago, which was far better.)
For editing PHP, I switched to NetBeans. They have excellent PHP support, including refactoring, code completion with support for dynamic properties and methods, and more. Plus, you can simply download the PHP version of NetBeans and get started without much other configuration.
(I've since switched to IntelliJ IDEA because I am developing Grails apps, but it is also really awesome for PHP. However, the JetBrains products are not free.)

Questions about IntelliJ to Eclipse transition

I just started using eclipse for some personal projects and am finding the transition from IntelliJ (what I use at work) kind of annoying. I hope it's kosher to ask a few different questions in the same thread. Here goes:
1) How do I get "views" (I'm not sure if this is the term. I mean windows such as Project Explorer, Servers, Console, etc) to stay expanded and on top even after I've clicked back on the editor or another view. I'm pretty sure that right now all of these tabs are "quick views" that I have minimized and then docked, so I may not be doing this right to begin with. In IntelliJ, I would simply just pin the tab.
2) How can I open a file (for instance, an ant build.xml) without having to make it part of an eclipse project? I want the syntax highlighting and Ctrl-click ability that the IDE will give me (not to mention being able to use eclipse's built-in ant), but I don't need to associate the file with any others and so don't see the point of having to make it a part of a project.
3) Is it just me (wouldn't be surprised) or does eclipse have a bug with parsing empty html tags within the body of html tags of the same type. I've only tested this in a JSP, and it doesn't happen with JSF tags. For example: <div id="foo"><div id="bar"/></div>. Eclipse will give a warning saying the first div tag has no end tag. This is with the most recent version of eclipse for Java EE, no plugins have been installed.
4) Finally, a general question: Any best practices or resources to look at for organizing the eclipse interface and perspectives/views? What about workspaces/projects? Is there some tutorial out there that would be really informative that I could read through in less than an hour?
I appreciate any answers and tips/tricks.

First of all, please acknowledge that there are different people in the world and there are people who don't work the "Eclipse way". Even if I was paid for it (and I am), I couldn't work with IDEA. So if Eclipse rubs you the wrong way, it may not be for you. That out of the way, your answers:
In Eclipse, you open a view and let it stay where it is. In IDEA, the view changes all the time, things pop up and go away. Eclipse is static unless you specifically move things around. There are two ways to move things: You can minimize a part (a part is something which contains tabbed views). This moves the part into the closest border. Or you can maximize the current part (Ctrl-M). This pushes all other parts out of the way. Another Ctrl-M will restore the view.
This is a good place to show the difference between IDEA and Eclipse. IDEA tries to anticipate what you're doing and to be helpful. For me, this means it always gets in my way. It will start to format source as I type, things move, etc. That freaks me out. Eclipse is like a toolbox. Everything is there but you have to pick it up. A toolbox doesn't move on its own accord and it doesn't try to be smart.
Eclipse is based on the idea of a workspace. The workspace is the universe and nothing outside exists. If you need to go outside, you must first create a file or folder. In the "New File/Folder" wizard, you can open the advanced options (at the bottom) and link this resource to a real file/folder in the file system. May sound like a lot of effort but it allows Eclipse to display virtually anything in the explorer since it just shows "resources" in there, not actually files.
Smells like a bug. Please report it at https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/
I'm not aware of anything.
[EDIT] 3. As cletus pointed out, is not valid HTML. So that might cause the warning.

An Eclipse Perspective is a collection Views and their position. You can customize or create new perspectives, but the existing ones are good enough for a start (Java, J2EE, Java Browsing etc.). I recommend to stick with the default layout for a while until you've managed to use the quick view feature (which, personally, i find quite annoying). On small screens, i simply like to use Ctrl-M to switch the Editor to fullscreen mode and back, without the need of minimizing single views or move them around.
Yes, you can run external build scripts as well and it's called External Tool in Eclipse. Go to Run > External Tools > External Tools Configurations. Create either a new Ant-based config or a native executable (Program). The location of the build script or executable can either be workspace-relative (Browse Workspace) or absolute on the file system (Browse File System)

Can you save groups of tabs in Eclipse so you can open them later?

I have several different processes within a single project that I work on. I am constantly opening and closing tabs(java files) in the code editor for that particular process. Each process almost always uses the same java files.
I was wondering if it is possible to save what files are opened as part of the working set so I can select what working set I want and have all the java files open that I will need to work with. Currently the working set just sets the tree to these files, but I am looking to also have it open the files I need.
I hope this makes sense...

Mylyn should be your answer here.
Mylyn is a task-focused interface for Eclipse that makes working with very large workspaces as easy as working with small ones.
Mylyn extends Eclipse with mechanisms for keeping track of the tasks that you work on.
Mylyn monitors your work activity on those tasks to identify information relevant to the task-at-hand. Mylyn monitors Eclipse and captures your interaction in a task context.
System artifacts such as files, types, methods, and fields get assigned a degree-of-interest based on how recently and frequently you interact with them.
This results in uninteresting elements being filtered from view within Eclipse, allowing you to focus in on what is important.
Following Saheed's answer, don't miss CodeKiller's comment:
You can
Activate the task to reopen all files and
Deactivate the task to close all the files.
Bookmarks (mentioned here by user1039663) is a valable alternative.

Eclipse provides multiple ways of structuring the IDE desktop:
Perspectives: Customization of the positions of open and closed views and editors. You can copy and rename existing perspectives like the Java perspective and suit them to your needs by customizing them. See the Window menu or right-click on the perspective icon in the upper right corner
Task Management Tools like Mylyn: see answer by VonC
Multiple Windows: You can open new windows and move them to your second monitor. Select Window > New Window to open a new window. Each window keeps track of its own open editors.
Multiple Instances of Eclipse: You can always use multiple workspaces and multiple instances of Eclipse. However, this is only recommended when working on different projects, as both instances would overwrite each others files when rebuilding.
Hotkeys: By using shortcuts like Ctrl-T and Alt-Left/Alt-Right and Ctrl-Q you can quickly jump to previous locations where you have edited source files. This is a great help in navigating the open workspace.

Extended VS Presentation provides capabilities to save sessions.
Unluckily, it only works with Eclipse 3.1 to 3.8:
Project page at Eclipse Marketplace

The accepted answer tells us which tool could be used but does not provide a quick and dirty explanation on how to use it.
In my case, I hadn't finished researching a large code base but I needed to save my progress so I could return to it later hence the need to save all open tabs using Mylyn.
If you already have Mylyn installed, navigate to Window -> Show View -> Task List to view the list of tasks. If you've never used it before, the list will be empty.
Right-click inside the Task List view then New -> Category to create a new category. Right-click again New -> Task to create a new task.
Double-click on the task you just created then click on the Context tab at the bottom left of the view.
Now navigate to each tab which you would like Mylyn to save by clicking on the tab name. Notice how an entry for the source file for that tab is added in Context tab of the Task List view.
Once you've cycled through all the tabs you'd like to save, you can confirm they were saved by closing each one and double-clicking the source file in the Task List to restore the tab.

I've edited this answer as per below comment (include essential parts of answer in this post).
Yes, you can save off groups of tabs in Eclipse by installing this Session Manager plug-in.
I've wanted this functionality in Eclipse as well. I recently wrote a feature and have been successfully using it for a few months now. It is a new OSGi type extension and works with Eclipse Neon and above.
Here's how to install it.
In Eclipse, go to Help → Install New Software
Click “Add”, enter a name like “Editor Sessions” and the following URL.
http://spillikinaerospace.com/eclipseInstall/
Unckeck “Group items by category” to see the feature.
Check the box that says “Editor Sessions Manager” and click Next.
Read and agree to the short license agreement.
Click the remaining install buttons.
Allow Eclipse to restart.
Full set of instructions are here: http://chrishull.com/projects/eclipse/
Please give it a try and send comments. I've found it a very useful tool as I work with several Eclipse projects at once and need to recall file groups.
Hope you enjoy it;
-Chris

In addition to all mentioned... Did you try Bookmarks? You can save multiple bookmarks into one set, there are bookmark sets management option and you can add descriptions with prefixes to group bookmarks on the same set. Finally and more important: you can select multiple bookmarks, select goto and multiple editors will be opened at once.

You need a Macro. Searching using this term at Eclipse plugin sites like eclipseplugincentral.com and so on must yield enough suggestions, for example Practically Macro. Good luck.