Last modified by Richard Kreissig on 2023/09/14 09:08
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uru 4.1 1 Welcome to this tutorial! We will walk you through the process of starting Eclipse for the first time, importing existing plug-ins, and creating a simple plugin yourself.
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3 = Preliminaries =
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5 There's a few things to do before we dive into the tutorial itself. For example, to do Eclipse programming, you will have to get your hands on an Eclipse installation first. Read through the following sections to get ready for the tutorial tasks.
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7 == Required Software ==
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9 Install [[Eclipse>>url:http://eclipse.org/downloads||rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="external-link"]]. For what we do, we recommend installing the Eclipse Modeling Tools.
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11 == Finding Documentation ==
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Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten 21.1 13 [[doc:KIELER.Development.Tutorials.Other.Finding Documentation.WebHome]]
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Richard Kreissig 22.1 16
uru 4.1 17 = First Steps with Eclipse =
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19 == Starting Eclipse ==
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uru 4.1 21 1. Eclipse uses workspaces to store, for instance, user preferences. Upon the first start of Eclipse you will be asked to specify a location. Select one as you like.
uru 3.1 22 [[image:attach:workspace.jpg]]
23 1. Switch to the workbench, you should see something like this
24 [[image:attach:wb.jpg]]
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26 == Importing Existing Plug-ins ==
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nbw 14.1 28 1. [[Download >>url:https://git.rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/plugins/servlet/archive/projects/MISC/repos/tutorials?at=refs/heads/plugins||shape="rect"]]the zip file with an example plug-in from our Stash. Unzip the file.
uru 3.1 29 1. Open the context menu within the //Package-Explorer// (on the very left, right-click the empty space).
30 1. Select //Import//. Then chose //General > Existing Projects into Workspace//.
Richard Kreissig 22.1 31 1. Browse to the location where you unzipped the downloaded plug-in. Click open. Check the checkbox in front of the {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.plugins.shouter{{/code}} plug-in and press [[image:/bin/download/KIELER/Development/Tutorials/Eclipse/Eclipse%20Plug-ins%20and%20Extension%20Points/WebHome/import.jpg?rev=1.2||alt="import.jpg"]][[image:/bin/download/KIELER/Development/Tutorials/Eclipse/Eclipse%20Plug-ins%20and%20Extension%20Points/WebHome/import.jpg?rev=1.2||alt="import.jpg"]]//Finish.
uru 4.1 32 [[image:attach:import.jpg]]//
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uru 4.1 34 == Running Eclipse ==
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36 In Eclipse, we develop plug-ins that extend the basic functionality of Eclipse itself. As we do not always want to run Eclipse with all the functionality there is, we can use //Run Configurations// to precisely specify the functionality we want.
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cds 9.1 38 1. Click //Run// > //Run Configurations...//
uru 4.1 39 1. Right-click //Eclipse Application// and click //New//. Set the configuration's name to {{code language="none"}}Eclipse Test{{/code}}.
Richard Kreissig 22.1 40 1. On the //Plug-ins// tab, set //Launch with// to //plug-ins selected below only//.
uru 4.1 41 11. Click //Deselect All//.
42 11. Check the //Workspace// item in the tree.
43 11. Check the{{code language="none"}} org.eclipse.ui.ide.application{{/code}} plugins under //Target Platform//
44 11. Click //Add Required Plug-ins//. Press it twice (just to be sure!).
ima 10.1 45 1. Click //Apply// to save your changes and then //Run// to start an Eclipse instance to test with.
uru 4.1 46 1. In the newly started Eclipse, open the context menu of the Project Explorer.
47 1. You should see a //Hello Shouter// entry which shouts out //Hello// if you press it.
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ima 10.1 49 Note that you can run your configuration also by using the debug button in the main menu. In that case you will be able to use debug features and code changes will be directly active in your Eclipse instance after saving. In the rather rare cases where this is impossible you will be notified.
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uru 3.1 51 == Creating Your First Plug-in ==
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53 1. Open the context menu within the //Package-Explorer// (on the very left, right-click the empty space).
54 1. //New// -> //Project...//
55 1. In the project wizard, choose //Plug-in Project// and click //Next//.
uru 4.1 56 1. As the project name, enter {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.myshouter{{/code}}. Click //Next//.
57 1. As the name, enter {{code language="none"}}Simple Shouter{{/code}}. Uncheck all checkboxes. Click //Finish//. (Eclipse might ask you whether you want to switch to the //Plug-in Development Perspective//, which configures Eclipse to provide the views that are important for plug-in development. Choose //Yes//. Or //No//. It won't have a big influence on your future...)
58 1. Eclipse has now created your new plug-in and was nice enough to open the //Plug-in Manifest Editor//, which allows you to graphically edit two important files of your plugin: {{code language="none"}}plugin.xml{{/code}} (which has not been created yet) and {{code language="none"}}META-INF/MANIFEST.MF{{/code}}. Basically, those two files provide information that tell Eclipse what other plug-ins your plug-in needs and how it works together with other plug-ins by providing extensions and extension points. Our new plug-in will depend on the previously imported plug-in, so switch to the //Dependencies// tab of the editor and add a dependency to {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.plugins.shouter{{/code}}. Save the editor and close it. (You can always reopen it by opening one of the two mentioned files from the //Package Explorer//.)
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uru 4.1 60 == Extending Functionality ==
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62 We will now use the extension point mechanism of Eclipse to add some behavior to the {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.plugins.shouter{{/code}} plugin. An //extension point// is basically a well-defined point where other plug-ins can register to add functionality. The extension point is basically defined by an XML Schema file that defines an interface; other plug-ins may access this interface using XML code in their {{code language="none"}}plugin.xml{{/code}} file, so-called //extensions//.
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64 The {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.plugins.shouter{{/code}} plug-in defines such an extension point to register //Shouters//. A shouter is a Java class that implements the following interface.
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66 {{code language="java"}}
67 public interface IShouter {
68 String getShoutString();
69 }
70 {{/code}}
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72 1. In your previously created plugin ({{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.myshouter{{/code}}) create a new class {{code language="none"}}MyShouter{{/code}} that implements the {{code language="none"}}IShouter{{/code}} interface.
73 11. From the Package Explorer context menu select //New > Class//.
74 1. Open the{{code language="none"}} MANIFEST.MF{{/code}} of your plugin and navigate to the //Extensions// tab.
75 1. Press //Add// and select the {{code language="none"}}de.cau.cs.kieler.tutorials.plugins.shouters{{/code}} extension point. Press //Finish//.
76 [[image:attach:extension.jpg]]
77 1. Give it a name and using the //Browse// button select your previously created class implementing the {{code language="none"}}IShouter{{/code}} interface.
78 1. Start your Eclipse instance again using the created run configuration and test your very own shouter.