Spring Tools broke Maven in Eclipse - spring-tool-suite

I have Eclipse 2019-12 (4.14.0) and installed STS 3.9.13.RELEASE from the marketplace. Since then I've not been able to import Maven projects (This is an issue.) Additinoally I don't have the ability to create a new Spring anything in it. I have uninstalled STS and reverted and I still can't get any options available for Maven. M2e is still installed and has been updated, reverted, and updated and all throughout there I'm not able to see anything.
Does anyone know how STS removed the support for Maven so I can recover my IDE?

In case you really need the STS 3.9.x versions of the Spring Tools and not the Spring Tools 4 Edition, I would recommend to try the latest Eclipse release (2021-03) and install the latest STS3 components into it (instructions are here: https://github.com/spring-projects/toolsuite-distribution/wiki/Spring-Tool-Suite-3).
That wiki page also provides ready-to-use distributions of the STS3 components with the latest Eclipse, which also contains m2e pre-installed.
But I would like to emphasize that the STS3 components have reached their EOL and receive only minimal maintenance updates, so I would strongly recommend to update to the Spring Tools 4.
In case you are missing an important feature of STS3 in the Spring Tools 4, please raise an enhancement request at https://github.com/spring-projects/sts4/issues and explain what you would like to see in the Spring Tools 4 - and why. The "why" is interesting for us to understand your use case in more detail, so any details there would be highly welcome.

Related

spring development - with or without eclipse + checking eclipse version

Several tutorials mention that you can download spring in a tarball
and install it on your computer but when I go to the springsource
site all I can see is that you can download Spring Tool Suite
which is an eclipse plugin. So my questions are:
What if I wanted to work from the command line or an IDE other than eclipse?
The packages are available for Juno 3.8.2 or Juno 3.4.2, but how can I find
out my eclipse version? I've downloaded the most frequently downloaded version
of eclipse which is the one for Java EE developers but when I click on the Help
-> About entry I get:
Version: Juno Service Release 2
Build id: 20130225-0426
which does not match the eclipse versions on the springsource site 3.8.2 or 3.4.2,
so how do I know which plugin I need?
Thanks.
You can find out your Eclipse version by going to Help -> About Eclipse...
In the dialog that pops up, you will see something like:
Version 4.2.2
or
Version 3.8.2
If you downloaded the most commonly downloaded version, then you most likely have 4.2.2. The "Juno" release actually has distributions built for both 3.8.x and 4.2.x (a little complicated and confusing, I know). So, you should be able to install the Juno version of STS and be fine no matter what which version of Juno Eclipse you have.
EDIT
Your question is not very clear. I thought you were asking about how to install STS, but maybe you are asking about whether or not Eclipse is necessary at all. The answer is that of course, Eclipse is not necessary for Spring development, but it really is the easiest way to develop your spring apps (disclaimer, I am on the STS dev team).
There is no single way to just "downlaod the SpringFramework" because the framework is really just a very large set of jar files and their dependencies. Any single project typically only requires a subset of them as well as requiring other third party dependencies. For this reason, most people prefer working with a build tool like gradle or maven.
Probably the easiest way to get started w/o STS is to clone one of the sample projects from github. A list of the templates are available here: http://dist.springsource.com/release/STS/help/descriptors-3.0.xml which is obvioulsy meant to be consumed from inside of STS. But, you can use the file to grab links to the various github projects.
The Springsource Tool Suite (STS) is not required for developing with Spring. If the question is how you would install the STS, that's actually very easy. In Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo) or 3.8, 4.2 (Juno), click on the Help menu and select Eclipse Marketplace. If its not in the inital screen, use the find box type spring and click go which should bring up the the STS with the version of eclipse it is for in the title. Click install and the correct version and its dependencies will be installed for you. Try to use the eclipse marketplace for all the plugins you install, if possible. It makes things much simpler

Boostrapping new Eclipse machines with all the Plugins

Bootstrapping Eclipse on new machines is such a time consuming process, you wind up asking yourself whether you really need each plugin. But there all handy, and help develop consistent habits.
Eclipse bootstrapping problems include:
Explaining / documenting what needs to happen
The actual time pasting in the right URLs and downloading
Version compatibility and dependencies
Eclipse likes to restart after each one
The changeover to the Eclipse Marketplace means that some plugins and instructions you find on the web tend to be inconsistent, depending on when they were written.
The Licenses... over and over and over... yes, yes, yes... I understand that the person installing needs to be aware of it, and have a chance to review them, but there's got to be a better way.
It'd be nice to have "patch file" (either binary or meta) that spells out what I want to add on top of stock Eclipse installation. I'd really like to find (or create) a 1 or 2 step process that sets up Eclipse, plus a favorite batch of plugins:
subclipse
m2eclipse
jetty support like runjettyrun
android sdk and plugin (or at least just the plugin)
aspectj
Web Objects / WOLiops
python, other langs
JVM Monitor, maybe EclEmma
probably a git plugin pretty soon.
Does command line maven help with any of this? It seems like its repository management would fit at least part of the functionality.
On a machine with an Eclipse installation matching your needs use File -> Export -> Install -> Installed software items to file. Import the generated file using the same menu on all other machines.
As Scott says, a good approach is to simply package a fully prepared Eclipse installation once all the plugins you need are installed. The downside is that you have to update most plugins afterwards.
Another option is to use Yoxos. With it, you can create a profile and configure it with all the plugins you need (and apparently Yoxos can do more than that).
Finally, this page might interest you concerning the configuration side of things.
Solution 1 is too search for more advanced Eclipse distributions.
For example, STS (Spring Tool Suite) comes with
AspectJ
EGit
m2e
(and of course) Spring IDE
One small trick can be done with m2e-android - Android Configurator for M2E Maven Integration. If installing it on clean Eclipse, it will also automatically resolve to install :
m2e
Android Developer Tools (ADT)

STS vs. Eclipse for Grails?

I understand that SpringSource Tool Suite is based on Eclipse.
I am coding Grails. STS is often pissing me off. I was thinking of installing Eclipse instead with a Grails plugin - will it just be the same?
What's better? STS or Eclipse?
Have you considered IntelliJ, it has excellent Grails and Groovy support. I had been a eclipse guy for years but I am loving IntelliJ now.
IntelliJ Grails Features
I believe STS incorporated the original Groovy plugin so you're honestly better off with STS than you are trying to hack together Eclipse with the old plugin.
That said, other IDEs with good Groovy/Grails support are:
IntelliJ IDEA: http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/groovy_grails.html
NetBeans: http://netbeans.org/features/groovy/ (but development on Grails support appears to have stopped since 6.8.0)
I've personally tried IntelliJ and I liked it for Grails. I have not tried NetBeans but I've heard it is good.
STS has better Groovy n Grails support. The latest version i.e. 2.5.0 has better features and bug fixes. I would suggest you stick to STS rather than Eclipse. I have been using it for last couple of months and it is very stable. The latest version has much better features and is more stable than previous versions.
I found Eclipse with the Grails plugin easier to configure than STS, so I started out down that route. STS seems overly clunky and too specialized - if your app is anything over than a very vanilla grails app I'd say Eclipse is better.
Having said all of that, I tried IntelliJ IDEA and fell in love with it. I even forked out the $200 for a personal licence when my company said no to buying a license!
STS is an Eclipse distribution packaged by SpringSource, who also own Grails project. You should bring your specific issue to the vendor or at least describe them in your question.
I think you should definitely opt for STS - the integration of the Groovy resp. the Grails plugin is much better than in Eclipse.
On the other hand, the question is hard to answer without getting religious subjective; what are the issues you encoutered in STS and what makes you think they won't occur or even be more annoying in the main Eclipse distribution with no native Groovy/Grails support?
I have been unsuccessful trying to use the Grails plugin on Eclipse. After a lot of work finding the right repositories for missing dependencies, the Grails plugin practically took over Eclipse, it became a quasi STS Eclipse. Even the home window became the STS window!
I guess the producers of STS are basically trying to convince you to switch to STS, instead of using their almost worthless plugin, and going through the pain of getting the plugin working, and getting at the end a STS clone.
You are better off just using STS, but it angers me that people who like Eclipse or MyEclipse have to be forced to use STS' specific version of Eclipse.

what is the correct version of Eclipse for Coldfusion?

Usually when one wants to create a new file in the Eclipse IDE , Java, Javascript, Colsdfusion PHP etc are provided as the options for the new files.
I recently downloaded Eclipse for Coldfusion 8 and excecuted the file "software/dw/java/europa/J2EE-SDK-Europa-33-win32.zip" .
Now when I want to create a New File "only JAVA " option is available. There is no coldfusion or HTML!
So can any one provide me the Exact/correct link for Codfusion related Eclipse?
(On the Eclipse website there are many Eclipse related downloads but I am not sure which one is specific for Coldfusion.)
There's CFEclipse, a free, open-source Eclipse plug-in for working with CFML. And of course there's Adobe's ColdFusion Builder, a commercial product that works as either a plug-in for an existing Eclipse installation, or as a full stand-alone product (with Eclipse already baked in).
CFEclipse 1.3.6, the current stable version, works with Eclipse 3.4.x or 3.5.x. Here's the CFEclipse wiki.
The stated Eclipse versions required for ColdFusion Builder are 3.4.2 or 3.5. Here's Adobe's requirements page.
If you're using one of these as a plug-in and you don't need a lot of the other Eclipse features, the J2EE version of Eclipse is probably overkill (it's the biggest package). You can try out a more minimal Eclipse install, then update and add plug-ins as you need them. Try the Eclipse Platform Binary, for example.
There's also Adobe's ColdFusion Builder IDE specially created for this purpose. It proposes some features not available in CFEclipse, but not free (though there's a trial version available).
In addition to Ken's answer please note that you can already use preview builds of CFEclipse with latest Eclipse 3.6 Helios. I am using this configuration on daily basis and it is pretty stable and more efficient than previous version for me.
If you will expierience problems with preview builds, feel free to post them into the CFEclipse groups, developers usually react pretty quickly.
One more hint for you. Sometimes after installing the plugin via Add Sofware further updates do not work correcly. I've experienced this issue few times so it can be useful to know the solution.
To fix this check the Preferences > Install/Update > Available Software Sites. If needed entry missing -- create it manually using the same update URL as for installation.
Also there's an Eclipse-based version of Adobe CF manual available, see this help page for details.
Hope this helps.

Installing eclipse Web Tools Platform (WTP) - update site does not work?

I'm trying to install the WTP (web platform tools) to my Eclipse installation so I can get the XSL transformations working. The base Eclipse they installed for me here was the plain Java IDE (the splash screen says "Ganymede" if that means anything). Looking at this site, the URL to get the download should be here: http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/updates/ ...But when I give that URL to the Eclipse update manager, I get an error telling me: "No repository found at http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/updates/"
Anyone else had this problem? Anyone know what might be up? Anyone know how to get the xsl-transform plugin installed?
EDIT:
I should have mentioned before that I want to find a way to do this without installing any new instances of Eclipse. This process will eventually be sent to several other developers who already have Eclipse (same version that I'm testing with) and I'd rather just do an in-place upgrade rather than have everyone go and install a new product.
UPDATE:
I found another plugin, Xcarecrows 4 XML which can also do XSL transforms. The interface is ugly and seems more than a little quirky, but it's also a small download, and at least it runs and transforms. Unless I can find an easy way to get WTP working, I'll probably just stick with this.
You can try and install WTP through the main Ganymede update site:
http://download.eclipse.org/releases/ganymede/
Or you can download the latest Java EE bundle and use that instead of your current Eclipse
(do NOT unpack it on top of your current Eclipse, but unpack it elsewhere, to test that second installation: it will come with WTP inside)
Note: check then "How do I start Eclipse" to point to your existing workspace in order to see all your previous project in your new Eclipse installation.
As mentioned in your link, XSL Tools is now part of WTP (for Eclipse 3.5 Galileo), and that may explain why your Eclipse Ganymede (3.4) might not interpret correctly the P2 update site for WTP (P2 being the new Eclipse provisioning mechanism introduced late in the 3.4 release cycle)
For Eclipse 3.5, you have an XSL Tools installation illustrated here:
But Eclipse3.4 is more likely to be compatible with XSLT0.5 and you will need a separate installation, because "XSL Tools" wasn't yet part of WTP.
I am not sure, however, where to find such an installation package within the Eclipse projects.
Use the following update site :
For Juno :
http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/repository/juno/
For Indigo :
http://download.eclipse.org/webtools/repository/indigo/
I'm assuming you don't have any firewall exceptions for Eclipse right?
The site for the WTP update is indeed the one you've listed. Maybe post a screenshot? You've added it specifically to your remote update site list?
Either way try a manual update which should be more reliable and get you up and running for now.
All-In-One Update (Eclipse IDE included):
Go to the Eclipse Download site.
Grab the all-in-one package: Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers
Install, have a coffee and enjoy. (WTP is included)
Manual Update your existing installation of Eclipse:
Download the applicable WTP source package to your desktop
Shutdown Eclipse
Extract the package to your Eclipse installation directory
Startup Eclipse. (WTP is now available)
Follow the steps in the FAQ at http://wiki.eclipse.org/WTP_FAQ#How_do_I_install_WTP.3F .
Are you behind a proxy? If so, you need to make sure you configure your proxy settings in Eclipse.
Window > Preferences
General > Network Connections
Ok, I can probably get it working if I do a clean install of Eclipse. I can do that on my machine, but not the other team members' machines (at least not without going through many emails and paper work) so I'm going to say that XCarecrows 4 XML is the solution. It is able to do XSL transformations in Eclipse 3.4 and doesn't require anything else to be installed. Since XSLT is all I need, the plugin will do.
you can use the marketplace:
https://marketplace.eclipse.org/content/eclipse-java-ee-developer-tools-0
like the site says:
Drag to Install!Drag to your running Eclipse Workspace.