How do you make linked resources in Eclipse metadata system-independent - eclipse

I use eclipse to develop my project, with git. I use 2 different system : Windows and Linux. Sometimes I work on Win, sometimes on Linux.
In my project I have a linked resources to a Google Drive folder.
On windows, the folder is D:\GoogleDrive and on Linux /mysuer/GDrive.
I configured the linked resources under windows. So in my .project I have a direct reference to D:\GoogleDrive\myfolder.
So, if I commit the .project, when I checkout under linux, I will have the path relative to windows.
I think may be I can ignore the .project but I don't know it is really better. What I risk to lose ?
What do you do yourself ?
Thanks

If you don't generate the project files and do settings that you want the same on all development machines like code style settings and so on, it is perfectly valid to check in the IDE metadata.
You should just leverage the Feature "Path Variables" that is provided by IntelliJ IDEA and now also Eclipse: http://help.eclipse.org/luna/index.jsp?topic=%2Forg.eclipse.platform.doc.user%2Fconcepts%2Fcpathvars.htm
You then just set this path variable in your local Eclipse workspaces and define your linked resource relative to this path variable as the linked doku describes.

Related

What does "Add Variable" mean? and other Eclipse Java Build Path "what does this button do" questions

In the Eclipse Java Build Path wizard, what is the difference between the options given?
It seems as though Add JARs and Add Variable.. do the same thing. What do they do differently and when would you use them?
It would be much appreciated if someone can explain the function of each of the buttons in the wizard, as I have not found any such thing online or in the Eclipse literature surrounding me.
"Add variable" is used to add a JAR or directory at a location relative to a classpath variable that you have configured in your Eclipse preferences. I've used the facility when working with a team of developers sharing a related set of Eclipse projects via source control, where the projects rely on a set of JAR files on a network share that is mounted at a different location for different developers. Everyone sets the same LIB_HOME variable to point to where they have the shared folder mounted on their particular machine (e.g. L:\ on Windows, /Volumes/Libs on Mac, etc.), and the Eclipse projects then point to the required JARs relative to that variable.

Sharing eclipse project over SVN

We want to share an eclipse Qt project via an SVN repository.
Of course we need to share the .pro file of Qt to be able to build the project.
The problem is, that without the project files you can not handle the project in eclipse but we cannot use the same as they contain local references.
Also it would be nice to use the Eclipse SVN plugin to manage this.
I already tried to check out the project and create a Qt project on Checkout but this overwrites the checked-out project file.
Any suggestion would be appreciated.
These are some lines from the .cproject file that are autogenerated, so I can not change the absolute paths:
<storageModule moduleId="org.eclipse.cdt.core.pathentry">
<pathentry base-path="/usr/include/qt4" include="" kind="inc" path="" system="true"/>
<pathentry base-path="/usr/include/qt4" include="QtWebKit" kind="inc" path="" system="true"/>
...
There are 2 rules for Subversion (independent of Eclipse, should be the same all the time):
If the tool will regenerate a file, and you don't have to change it:
==> don't check it in your version management (may it Subversion, Git, CVS, ...).
If the file contains parts that are manually changed by a user
==> it should be checked into version management.
If you have the second case (not clear from your question), you should try to change the paths to be relative, so that others could use your project at the same location.
If you cannot change that, stick to the location in the file system. Every developer has to use an identical setup.
If you have to support different operating systems, and the files generated by the tooling are not compliant (shame on the tool makers), you should hold templates for all operating systems in your version management, and should initially (manually) make a copy, depending on the operating system you are working in.
If you have to change that file for some purpose, you have to change the templates as well and should remember that all developers have to make a new copy after that.
Sorry, I don't know Qt and have never developed in a C-environment on different platforms, so my tips are pretty vague.
Finally I found following solution:
No .cproject .project file in SVN!
Import the code files from SVN (also the .pro file for Qt)
Eclipse will ask you to create a project, so create a Qt Project with the same name (or some else, but you will then have to delete the files)
When the project was created, revert it (right MB on the Project in Project Explorer -> Team -> Revert) to the state of the repo checkout
Done, now you can work with the project

Working on eclipse project in subversion

All,
I have a 20 member dev team working on a development project.
To provide greater control we have created a workspace with necessary projects and configurations (like project preferences, set-ups etc) in IBM RAD.
The idea is to have the pre-configured project in subversion so that when the dev team members checkout the project they get a complete workspace, so that they do not have to configure setups them selves.
However the problem is everytime someone checks out the workspace IBM RAD will also edit the .metadata (and some other folders and properties file) folder that has been checked in.
Idea is the developer should not have to change anything except the source code folders or application specific files.
I think many other teams might have faced situations like this.
Can anybody provide the best practices/process/references on how this is done in development projects?
Thanks
I think svn ignore will solve your problem.
check http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/ch07s02.html
The svn:ignore property contains a
list of file patterns which certain
Subversion operations will ignore.
Perhaps the most commonly used special
property, it works in conjunction with
the global-ignores run-time
configuration option (see the section
called “Config”) to filter unversioned
files and directories out of commands
svn status, svn add, and svn import.
You cannot stop IBM RAD from updating .metadata folder and Eclipse doesn't support splitting workspace folder as it does for the configuration folder.
The best solution would be to setup your build scripts to be able to setup your workspace based on some .zip file(s), where you've captured the required settings for the workspace. This will give the closest thing to automatic workspace setup without having to deal constantly with changed files in .svn.

Sharing Eclipse directory on Dropbox between Windows and Mac OS X

This question was close to mine, but not quite.
I have a Windows desktop and a MacBook Pro. I'd like to be able to keep my Eclipse workspace in my Dropbox folder. The problem is that many project settings change between platforms: references to JREs, JDKs, and other libs.
Every discussion I've seen of this problem seems to suggest taking advantage of the source control system's ignore functionality, so that such-and-such file remains local-only and thus able to remain platform-specific. But when you're working with a real single shared folder, that class of solution doesn't apply.
Have you had luck working with a Java Eclipse project living in a single folder shared over the network, cross-platform?
I have my Eclipse workspace inside Dropbox with all my project folders within, but use the new-ish "Selective Sync" feature of Dropbox to make sure that the .metadata folder is not synced.
This means my Mac and Windows machines have their own .metadata folders but the project folders remain in sync.
Seems to be working so far...
Use source control with individual workspaces. By doing it this way you lose the capability of two developers making changes to the same file. You also run a higher risk of people stepping on each other. With Subversion (or others) source control is free and gives you traceability.
Perhaps the way to have less problems is just to share the source folder, neither workspace settings nor bin folder.
Just put your source folder in Dropbox.
Create the project on site1 and then:
Right click over the project, choose properties
--> Java Build path --> Source tab
--> Link source button
Then create a link to your source folder in Dropbox and assign it a name (e.g. src2)
Make the same for site2.
All your source files must be in your share source folder in Dropbox.
Of course you must configure on each site the settings like libraries and other stuff but this task is less frequently and perhaps desirable because you have two different environments.
For anyone else having trouble getting this to work, try File->Import->General->File System. Be sure to select Create links in workspace from the Advanced options. Seems like the cleaner solution and you can keep using your usual workspace.

Which NetBeans projects files should go into source control?

We normally use Eclipse for a particular Java project, but recently I imported the project into NetBeans to use its dialog building features.
Since I'll probably come back to this, I wanted to store the NetBeans project files into version control. However, I don't want to commit files that are "mine" versus "project", i.e., files with my own settings that would conflict with another user's.
NetBeans created the following structure in the top-level project area:
nbbuild
nb-build.xml
nbproject
<various files>
configs
private
Clearly nbbuild is build output, so that won't go in. The nb-build.xml file seems likely, as does most of nbproject. However, nbproject/private suggests it's "mine". Peeking at "configs", it's not clear to me if that's mine or project...
Anyone have some guidelines?
The NetBeans knowledge base article on project files & version control discusses the NetBeans project files, with loose advice about which files are project specific (i.e. can be shared via version control), and which are user specific.
Here is the section on version control:
If the project is checked out of a version control system, the build (or nbbuild), dist (or nbdist), and the nbproject/private folders should not be checked into that version control system.
If the project is under the CVS, Subversion, or Mercurial version control systems, the appropriate "ignore" files are created or updated for these directories when the project is imported.
Though nbproject/private should be ignored, nbproject should be checked into the version control system. nbproject contains project metadata that enables other users to open the project in NetBeans without having to import the project first.
It turns out that both Thomas & Petercardona are correct, in a way. NetBeans recommends that you only import source code and/or documentation. Oh and the nbproject folder but not the *nbproject/private** folders.
From the NetBeans Knowledge Base article on importing Eclipse projects:
Version Control Considerations
If the project is checked out of a
version control system, the build (or
nbbuild), dist (or nbdist), and the
nbproject/private folders should not be checked into that version control
system.
If the project is under the CVS,
Subversion, or Mercurial version
control systems, the appropriate
"ignore" files are created or updated
for these directories when the project
is imported.
Though nbproject/private should be
ignored, nbproject should be checked
into the version control system.
nbproject contains project metadata that enables others users to open the
project in NetBeans without having to
import the project first.
None.
Only source files, build scripts, and documentation that is not automatically generated (e.g. - the output of tools such as JavaDoc and Doxygen) should be checked into a repository. Things like project files, binaries, and generated documentation should not be checked in.
The reason is two-fold. First, you don't want to overwrite another developer's project settings with your own. Second, other developers might not be using the same IDE as you (or even an IDE at all), so don't give them any more than they need to build (the project or its associated documentation) or run the project.
As tested with Netbeans 6.8, only the project.xml, configurations.xml and the main makefile (the customisable one in the parent dir of the 'nbproject' dir, with pre/post target definitions) must be distributed via the repository. All other files will be automatically (re)generated by Netbeans (Makefile-impl.ml, Makefile-variables.ml, all the Makefile-$CONF, Package-$CONF.bash). The 'private' dir should also be ignored, obviously.
You can check also
https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/Global/NetBeans.gitignore
This open source project contains
A collection of useful .gitignore templates
Toptal has a useful tool for developers wanting to find out what should go on a .gitignore file.
https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore
For netbeans, just search Netbeans and it should return a template something like
**/nbproject/private/
**/nbproject/Makefile-*.mk
**/nbproject/Package-*.bash build/
nbbuild/
dist/
nbdist/
.nb-gradle/
Copying and pasting this into a .ignore file on your project's directory should solve your problem.