I use eclipse for quite a lot of work, including:
multiple "utility" projects that include code that most of my java work makes use of
various plugin-related projects that I sync and use periodically (eg: the Git plugin)
plugin projects I'm actually developing
the occasional pydev / non-java project
etc...
It is becoming quite difficult to keep all these things straight, particularly since I never need to use them all at once. I've tried using Mylyn (and I'm trying it again) but in the past it has caused eclipse to run extremely slow, and I am notoriously horrible at remembering to tell mylyn that I've switched tasks, so it tends to learn very odd (and largely useless) sets of resources.
I've considered using multiple workspaces, but that is problematic when multiple projects need to exist in multiple workspaces, and when I need to synchronize the eclipse metadata directories across workspaces.
What is the best way to manage complex working environments in eclipse? Other development environments aren't a viable option because there aren't any sane alternatives when it comes to developing eclipse plugins (and that is a requirement).
(I think a very similar question was asked a month or two ago, but I haven't been able to find it...)
It isn't quite clear to me what your need is. But have you tried using working sets in the Package Explorer?
Open the Package Explorer view, open its menu, and Select Working Set. That lets you give a name to a subset of all the projects loaded in your workspace.
Switch working sets using the package Explorer menu. Use working sets to limit the scope of Search, errors, problems, etc.
Define as many working sets as you need to group your projects. A project can be part of any number of working sets.
Here's a screencast about working sets -- this does look like the right answer.
http://www.peterfriese.de/eclipse-working-sets-part-i/
You want to use "Working Sets".
I would recommend using different workspaces, and then adding the common projects to each workspace (you can specify the location of the project to be outside of the workspace). I believe this will work, but I haven't tried it, so I can't be sure.
As #JesperE and #Dennis S suggested, working sets will help you organize your projects, but they may not make eclipse run any faster, since the projects will all still be loaded into the workspace.
Related
I can not prove to the management the futility and even harm of saving IDE specific files and folders in GitHub
There is even a problem in the deliberate mixing of two different issues:
I want to use Eclipse;
If we use Eclipse, then its files should be stored in the repository;
I tried everything:
from "files not related to the project should not be there"
to "every developer knows how to configure their IDE for the project based on the pom.xml"
and "if two programmers use two different IDEs, should their files also be saved?"
and so on... like "specially designed gitignore.io provides recommended gitignore based on what you are using."
What arguments can be given besides “no one does that for a long time because it's obvious”.
PS. I am not going to start another holy war, I need arguments that are clear to the management.
The rule is not do not share IDE-specific files, but as long as tool-specific files are maintained, they should be shared, even if they are not used by everyone.
This applies to specific files of GitHub, Jenkins, FindBugs/SpotBugs, Eclipse and other tools. The presence of these files does not harm (files and folders starting with a dot meant to be hidden). This is well documented (e.g. here for Eclipse) and after all, the tools do not place these files in the project directory for no reason, although it would be possible otherwise, but because they are meant to be shared.
However, there are still people who believe that there should be one Maven-specific pom.xml file only, which is focused on building only. But since none of them is a tool developer and none of them has never convinced the tool developers, it is very unlikely that you will convince your management.
Also be aware that Eclipse-specific files are not specific to the Eclipse IDE, as they are also used by e.g. VS Code. Eclipse-specific are not even IDE-specific, since, for example, the Eclipse compiler for Java (ecj) can be used as a linter inside a build to run on a server.
I have seen, read and thought of different ways of using Workspaces (per project, per application (multi-asseted or not), per program language, per target (web-development, plugins,..), and so on) and I am still doubting what the best approach is.
Can anyone give a detailed, but not a page long insight into this?
This involves a lot of sub-questions, so to speak, and I don't know all the specific sub-questions I should ask, as I am sure I don't know all aspects of Eclipse (and Workspaces), but I'll try to give an example of what I am looking for:
What for?
What did the Eclipse development team expect it to be used for?
What do other/most people think?
What do you think?
... ?
Why?
Are there configuration conflicts vs. sharing merits?
Any filespace reasons?
Performance?
... ?
I am speaking of the minimum use-case for a developer that uses different languages and protocols, not necessarily all of them in one project (E.g. Php, Javascript and XML for some projects, C# for others, Java and SQL for still others, etc..)
Edit 2012-11-27: Don't get me wrong. I don't doubt the use of
Workspaces, I just want to use it as it is meant to be or otherwise if
anyone would think it better. So "what for?" means: What's the best use? And
"why?" actually targets on the "what for?", in other words: tell me the reasons
for your answer.
I'll provide you with my vision of somebody who feels very uncomfortable in the Java world, which I assume is also your case.
What it is
A workspace is a concept of grouping together:
a set of (somehow) related projects
some configuration pertaining to all these projects
some settings for Eclipse itself
This happens by creating a directory and putting inside it (you don't have to do it, it's done for you) files that manage to tell Eclipse these information. All you have to do explicitly is to select the folder where these files will be placed. And this folder doesn't need to be the same where you put your source code - preferentially it won't be.
Exploring each item above:
a set of (somehow) related projects
Eclipse seems to always be opened in association with a particular workspace, i.e., if you are in a workspace A and decide to switch to workspace B (File > Switch Workspaces), Eclipse will close itself and reopen. All projects that were associated with workspace A (and were appearing in the Project Explorer) won't appear anymore and projects associated with workspace B will now appear. So it seems that a project, to be open in Eclipse, MUST be associated to a workspace.
Notice that this doesn't mean that the project source code must be inside the workspace. The workspace will, somehow, have a relation to the physical path of your projects in your disk (anybody knows how? I've looked inside the workspace searching for some file pointing to the projects paths, without success).
This way, a project can be inside more than 1 workspace at a time. So it seems good to keep your workspace and your source code separated.
some configuration pertaining to all these projects
I heard that something, like the Java compiler version (like 1.7, e.g - I don't know if 'version' is the word here), is a workspace-level configuration. If you have several projects inside your workspace, and compile them inside of Eclipse, all of them will be compiled with the same Java compiler.
some settings for Eclipse itself
Some things like your key bindings are stored at a workspace-level, also. So, if you define that ctrl+tab will switch tabs in a smart way (not stacking them), this will only be bound to your current workspace. If you want to use the same key binding in another workspace (and I think you want!), it seems that you have to export/import them between workspaces (if that's true, this IDE was built over some really strange premises). Here is a link on this.
It also seems that workspaces are not necessarily compatible between different Eclipse versions. This article suggests that you name your workspaces containing the name of the Eclipse version.
And, more important, once you pick a folder to be your workspace, don't touch any file inside there or you are in for some trouble.
How I think is a good way to use it
(actually, as I'm writing this, I don't know how to use this in a good way, that's why I was looking for an answer – that I'm trying to assemble here)
Create a folder for your projects:
/projects
Create a folder for each project and group the projects' sub-projects inside of it:
/projects/proj1/subproj1_1
/projects/proj1/subproj1_2
/projects/proj2/subproj2_1
Create a separate folder for your workspaces:
/eclipse-workspaces
Create workspaces for your projects:
/eclipse-workspaces/proj1
/eclipse-workspaces/proj2
The whole point of a workspace is to group a set of related projects together that usually make up an application. The workspace framework comes down to the eclipse.core.resources plugin and it naturally by design makes sense.
Projects have natures, builders are attached to specific projects and as you change resources in one project you can see in real time compile or other issues in projects that are in the same workspace. So the strategy I suggest is have different workspaces for different projects you work on but without a workspace in eclipse there would be no concept of a collection of projects and configurations and after all it's an IDE tool.
If that does not make sense ask how Net Beans or Visual Studio addresses this? It's the same theme. Maven is a good example, checking out a group of related maven projects into a workspace lets you develop and see errors in real time. If not a workspace what else would you suggest? An RCP application can be a different beast depending on what its used for but in the true IDE sense I don't know what would be a better solution than a workspace or context of projects. Just my thoughts. - Duncan
Basically the scope of workspace(s) is divided in two points.
First point (and primary) is the eclipse it self and is related with the settings and metadata configurations (plugin ctr). Each time you create a project, eclipse collects all the configurations and stores them on that workspace and if somehow in the same workspace a conflicting project is present you might loose some functionality or even stability of eclipse it self.
And second (secondary) the point of development strategy one can adopt.
Once the primary scope is met (and mastered) and there's need for further adjustments regarding project relations (as libraries, perspectives ctr) then initiate separate workspace(s) could be appropriate based on development habits or possible language/frameworks "behaviors".
DLTK for examples is a beast that should be contained in a separate cage.
Lots of complains at forums for it stopped working (properly or not at all) and suggested solution was to clean the settings of the equivalent plugin from the current workspace.
Personally, I found myself lean more to language distinction when it comes to separate workspaces which is relevant to known issues that comes with the current state of the plugins are used. Preferably I keep them in the minimum numbers as this is leads to less frustration when the projects are become... plenty and version control is not the only version you keep your projects.
Finally, loading speed and performance is an issue that might come up if lots of (unnecessary) plugins are loaded due to presents of irrelevant projects.
Bottom line; there is no one solution to every one, no master blue print that solves the issue. It's something that grows with experience,
Less is more though!
Although I've used Eclipse for years, this "answer" is only conjecture (which I'm going to try tonight). If it gets down-voted out of existence, then obviously I'm wrong.
Oracle relies on CMake to generate a Visual Studio "Solution" for their MySQL Connector C source code. Within the Solution are "Projects" that can be compiled individually or collectively (by the Solution). Each Project has its own makefile, compiling its portion of the Solution with settings that are different than the other Projects.
Similarly, I'm hoping an Eclipse Workspace can hold my related makefile Projects (Eclipse), with a master Project whose dependencies compile the various unique-makefile Projects as pre-requesites to building its "Solution". (My folder structure would be as #Rafael describes).
So I'm hoping a good way to use Workspaces is to emulate Visual Studio's ability to combine dissimilar Projects into a Solution.
It's just a feature for structuring projects.
Obviously Eclipse designers tried to avoid having global settings for Eclipse and decided to put them into workspace.
Each Eclipse app depends on each workspace settings.
Is it a good decision? I think it's not so.
It lacks flexibility. It was naive to expect that global settings can be avoided.
It doesn't allow you to have single projects (it can be a surprise for Eclipse designers but it happens quite often).
But it still works.
Many people use it. Sometimes they suffer but more frequently everything is ok.
Let's say I use Eclipse classic and add the php, python and java functionality. Is it recommended to use a workspace for every language, or is it no problem to have a workspace for them all? Some years ago I read, there would be conflicts, and I want to get my doubts out of my way.
You can have only one workspace for all environment, since it will manage the different perspectives involved with each languages.
That being said, since Eclipse introduced the "switch workspace" feature, you could define several workspaces, but that will close/relaunch your Eclipse.
If you are working closely on sources including all three languages, one workspace is your best choice.
I'm just starting to use Eclipse and I feel like I'm missing something in the workspace concept.
From what I can glean a workspace is just an assemblage of pieces/parts of the IDE that can be arranged in different ways. For instance one might have a Java workspace and a Python workspace that had different elements available and organized in different arrangements.
Is that a good working understanding? If I'm most likely going to have a single set of working components that I use across projects is one central workspace logical? Folks that have been using Eclipse for a while, do you generally have a single workspace, or do you have different ones for different groups of projects? If the latter, what dictates the desire for an additional workspace?
Thanks in advance!
I'm going to assume that you by "workbench" are referring to an Eclipse "installation", i.e. the program itself. When you are referring to "pieces/parts/components/elements", I assume that you are actually referring to "plugins" and "features".
I would guess that most people have a single Eclipse workbench, and they install the plugins they want to use into that workbench. Perspectives are typically used for different workflows, i.e. writing Java-code, writing XML-code, synchronizing with Subversion, debugging code, etc.
The typical use-case of the workspace is that you have a single workspace with all your projects in. For example, the workspace contains all of your personal preferences, so with multiple workspaces, you need to maintain multiple preference settings. (Compare this with how a "solution" works in Visual Studio.) To organize your workspace you can use working sets, which allows you to (among other things) control which projects you want to see in your project explorer. There are cases where you want to have separate workspaces, but usually you can do without.
I'm doing Plug-in development (Java) and C/C++ development (CDT), and I have them both in a single Eclipse workbench and in a single workspace.
Workbench is a general name for the working table, that is a running instance of eclipse. for different arrengments you have the 'workspace" and/or "perspective".
Its also worth mentioning that one workbench may have few workspaces. one workspace will have few perspectives.
My personal preference is using one workspace with few perspectives that a suits for a different use cases.
For my current project, every time I set up a new workspace, I need to import hundreds of existing projects scattered in 20+ different directories. Is there a way to automate this step in Eclipse?
These projects are all checked into ClearCase.
This answer shows how to import an arbitrary set of projects into Eclipse using a custom plugin.
If I understand your question correctly, you would simply need to specify the paths of all the projects to import in the newprojects.txt file in the workspace root. You may want to remove the part that deletes existing projects though.
Could you import them all into a SCCS and then check them out all at once? You might try this as an experiment using cvs, not because you want to start using cvs in 2009, but because it has the best Eclipse support. If cvs can't do it, the others probably can't either.
For snapshot views, we have a "template" workspace which reference the .project and .classpath files in a "standard" way:
c:\ccviews\projectA\vob1\path\...
c:\ccviews\projectB\vob1\path\...
c:\ccviews\projectC\vob2\path\...
So by copying that workspace, we are able to quickly setup the projects for a new member of the team.
Each colleague will define their own snapshot views with:
a unique name (
colleague1_projectA_snap,
colleague1_projectB_snap,
...)
the same root directory for each view referring to a given project
(c:\ccviews\projectA for:
colleague1_projectA_snap or
colleague2_projectA_snap or
colleague3_projectA_snap...)
Since a snapshot view can be located anywhere you like on your disk, you can:
define a standard path
scale that to a large number of snapshot views.
Of course, that would not be possible with dynamic views, since their paths would by:
m:\aUniqueName\vob1\path
You could ask for each user to associate a view to a drive letter, but that do not scale for a large number of views.
Anyway, dynamic views are great for accessing and consulting data, not for compilation (the time needed to access any large jar or dll through the network is just too important)
Eclipse as the concept of project sets, but I'm pretty sure that's tied to using CVS. My team used this feature and it's how we shared the set of projects between us.
Another 2 alternatives I know of:
Buckminster
It's an Eclipse project which does component assembly, and one part of that is projects. Documentation was a bit crappy last time I played with it, but it does work. No idea if they have support for ClearCase, though it is extensible.
Jazz
Costs money and is also built on Eclipse. Covers similar ground to Buckminster but goes a whole lot further in team-orientated stuff.
I have created some scripts to do this for SVN. Currently, the scripts are run from Vagrant, but you could run them standalone. The process for clearcase should be similar.
See the answer here, which provides links to the source code: https://stackoverflow.com/a/21229397/1033422