Custom about dialogs in Eclipse applications - java

I have an Eclipse workbench application composed of many plugins. I'd like to set the about text of the app to reflect the build number.
There seems to be a couple of places to do this:
- Inside the application's .product file (setting text here doesn't seem to do anything?)
- Inside the plugin.xml file of the main plugin (this does seem to work).
I have two questions:
What is the best way to achieve this? via plugin.xml?
Why is the text I set in the product file ignored?

It (text and picture of an about dialog) should be in the about.ini of a feature or product plugin.
Note: for the picture, this blog entry "How Can I Give My Eclipse Blob An Icon In The Flippin’ About Dialog?" is quite nice.
Notebis: with the latest 3.5Mx releases, the about box is even more configurable.

Related

Changing the default icon in Netbeans' native deployment feature for Java apps

I know the question is very long, but in a nutshell it's just that. As you know Netbeans has a feature with the help of inno setup that allows the creation of .exe installers of Java applications. The problem is that I would like to change the default icon it has (a grey java icon) for a custom one.
I have searched a lot through both Stack and Google and I haven't found anything. The closest it got is to change it via Launch4j. The thing is if it is possible to do it within Netbeans.
Furthermore, I was wondering if there is a possibility to add several languages to the installer and some other features like the creation of a desktop icon. I guess if the option exists it would be in the same place as the change-icon... but I am completely lost regarding this issue.

Eclipse preference page with multiple arrays

I tried to search the internet for examples for doing that, but can not find a good one. Also I checking eclipse IDE source code, but it's a bit too big to filter out what I need for an example.
What I would need is something similar to Eclipse File Association page below.
My plan is later to replace File types list with a combo and add more values/controls per combo selection.
I would be very thankful for an example or a link to an example that does that or has a same concept with working preference store.
Thank you!
You can take a look at the Google Eclipse plugin source code. I had to achieve something similar to your needs, and inspired myself from there. It is properly designed. You can take a look at the repository right here.
In my case, I needed checkboxes instead of combos, and used a CheckboxTableViewer from the JFace library, there are plenty of example onlines (e.g: JFace snippets).
As Alex said, first, works on Eclipse preferences concept... when you got it, it will just stay some pure UI tasks.
Well, I think that it is nothing more then simple preferences page with two Lists which just represents conformity between file types and editors.
The example how to implement your own preferences page is here: Eclipse Preferences - Tutorial
If you want to have Combo - there is no problem - you just replace upper ListEditor woth your ComboFieldEditor and proceed with adding more conrols. The file associations are stored in Eclipse preferences and you can access them whenever you try to open some file to retrieve corresponding editor.

IntelliJ git integration tips and tricks

I actually ignored the git integration that IntelliJ has and I was recently frustrated with the diff tools that git comes with by default, I noticed how intellij has a very nice way of seeing the history for a given file, and comparing previous versions etc.
What are some cool/useful git integration tips and tricks you like with IntelliJ?
I would like to see some keyboard shortcuts, like if I am on a file, I want to quicky open up the history view or compare with the last commigted file.
Is it possible to compare commits? (not just a single file)
BTW, what diff tool does IntelliJ use by default, it's pretty good!
You can view IntelliJ IDEA's default keymap reference card to see what's available starting out.
I don't believe there is a default keyboard shortcut assigned to showing the current file history, but you can specifically assign a shortcut to show file history:
Settings → Keymap → (in the search box on the right type: "history" to narrow the options) → assign your desired keyboard shortcut to "Git: Show History"
While it is definitely possible to compare various revisions of a file from different commits, I'm not sure what else you would want to do to compare commits beyond the scope of a single file, but when reviewing commits, you can view all of the changes in the commit, showing all the diffs, one file at a time.
As far as their diff tool is concerned, I believe it was internally developed and is part of their version control featureset.

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.

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