The plugin was created for:

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details)!

One more thing you should do:

Photon includes ANT > 1.10. This version requires Java 8. In order to use Java 6, you have to download ANT 1.9.x. Simply download ANT and set the ANT Home to your version, via

If you try to use the bundled ANT with JRE 6, it will fail with an Exception.

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

More Details: Eclipse Photon with ANT and JRE6.

The plugin was created for:

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details)!

One more thing you should do:

Photon includes ANT > 1.10. This version requires Java 8. In order to use Java 6, you have to download ANT 1.9.x. Simply download ANT and set the ANT Home to your version, via

If you try to use the bundled ANT with JRE 6, it will fail with an Exception.

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

More Details: Eclipse Oxygen.2 with ANT and JRE6.

This is a follow-up post for: Eclipse NEON with ANT and JRE6

The plugin was created for:

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details)!

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

For more details about the installation, read this article.

New Eclipse version, same problem. We have an updated ant plugin for you.
The plugin was created for:

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details).

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

Some days ago we played around with JavaFXPorts Eclipse plugin. This plugin requires Eclipse Mars. So far so good. We made some tests with Mars, and everything was fine. We installed all required plugins for our internal and customer projects and configured a first workspace....
After everything was done, we tried to work with Eclipse Mars - no problems... BUT we have many projects with Java 6 compatibility.

Why Java 6?

Some big legacy projects/applications and Oracle Forms compatibility. There are more reasons, but it's not unusual to be backwards compatible, especially for frameworks and libraries!

Long story, short: It's not possible to start an ANT task with Java 6, because Java 7 is required. A nice error message appears:

BUT it's still possible to choose any JRE in Runtime configuration dialog.
Why shouldn't it be possible to start ANT with "any" JRE?

We tried to find help in the world wide web and found some postings about our problem:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31052878/run-eclipse-mars-with-java-1-6
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31808102/eclipse-mars-ant-doesnt-support-jdk-1-6-anymore

And two bug database entries:

https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=474386
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=461031

It's absolutely incomprehensible why the first ticket is in state: RESOLVED INVALID and the
second one: VERIFIED FIXED.
OK, the second one was for a different requirement, but the first one explains the problem.

Why did the developer ignore the user requirement?

It's possible to call ANT with "any" JRE, without Eclipse and other IDEs don't have such crazy limitations! We didn't plan to use another IDE just for building our software!

I can't live with recommended workarounds because suggested steps were not usuable with big projects!
So, we tried to solve the problem for us. The source code of the ANT plugin is available here, so it shouldn't be a problem to "fix" the problem.

After reading source code, we found that the only reason why it's not possible to use JREs < version 7, is Java 7 Syntax:

• Diamond operator, e.g. List<MyObject> list = new ArrayList<>();
• try-with-resources, e.g. try (InputStream stream = createInputStream()) { ...}

And of course, the plugin was configured for execution environment JavaSE-1.7.

Our solution: Removed Java version check in class org.eclipse.ant.internal.launching.launchConfigurations.AntLaunchDelegate, method launch:

We set the execution environment for org.eclipse.ant.launching, org.eclipse.ant.core and org.eclipse.ant.ui to JavaSE-1.6 and made the source code compatible with Java 6 syntax.

After we built the required jar files, we had problems with Eclipse, because there was something like a plugin cache (not sure what exactly). We made a test with -clean command line parameter and were happy. It was possible to start ANT tasks - with JRE 6 - without modifications, directly via Eclipse.

It's not difficult to create your own ANT plugin, but here are our jar files.
The libs were built for

The tag-id of the ANT plugin source code: I20150430-1445.

Installation?

• Download the zip archive, extract the content to <eclipse_dir>/plugins.
• Start eclipse with parameter -clean (only once)
• Configure JRE6 for your ANT task, via Externals Tool configuration...

Feel free to use our changed files but we don't guarantee that it doesn't destroy your Eclipse Mars installation
We didn't have any problems so far, but send us your impressions.

We didn't publish the changed source code right now, but let us know if you need it - it's still under EPL.

We had some experience with their NetBeans plugin but our preferred IDE was Eclipse. So, an Eclipse plugin was good for us
The NetBeans version worked without bigger problems and we expected the same quality for the Eclipse plugin.

We followed the official installation instructions and didn't have any problem. But the problems started after we tried to create Android or iOS specific code. It wasn't possible to access javafxports, android or robovm classes, because the jar files weren't found. The classpath with NetBeans had references to all libraries, but the Eclipse project didn't have such references.

We tried to find some information in the documentation and found the NFC example application. The build file had additional dependencies for android and javafxports. We changed the build file of our Eclipse project:

and after some Gradle/Refresh Dependencies, Refresh All clicks, all Errors were fixed!
It was horrible, because after clicking Refresh Dependencies, nothing happened and after some more clicks, all errors were gone. Not sure if this was a Gradle project problem, or Gluon plugin problem.

Our full build script (without robovm):

• Enable developer options for your Android device
• Show log messages from your Android device: \platform-tools\adb logcat

Changes (Pro and VisionX)

• Completion for resources is now more reliable
• Sped up the time it takes for VisionX to reload a file if a change was made in Eclipse
• MetaData changes are now properly handled
• When selecting from VisionX to Eclipse it will be made sure that the server and client class both show up
• Added the "Checkl File (EPlug)" command, which allows to easily re-run all checks on the current file
• The hyperlinks for server calls/actions are now "fuzzy", which means that if there is no function with that signature, the next best function will be the target
• Improved the error messages if there was a problem when checking databooks
• Added completion for generic resources, which means you now can get completion for any resource in your project
• The call to UIImage.getImage(String) is now checked at compile time if the resource exists
• By default, databooks are now checked while you're typing for instant feedback. This can be disabled in the project properties
• Added a view that displays all databooks in the current file, including column name and type
• Added support for the constructor of UIEditor
• Dramatically increased the speed of compile time checks

Eclipse Mars

Also we have tested and developed EPlug with Eclipse Mars, which means that you can use it in the latest and greatest Eclipse release version. Of course we haven't dropped support for older versions, EPlug should continue to work even on Eclipse Juno.

Download

You can install EPlug directly from the Eclipse Marketplace.

Trial

We offer a free trial period so that you can test EPlug without any problems. The first time you start Eclipse with EPlug you will be asked if you'd like to only test EPlug, or if you'd like to select an already purchased Pro license.

When clicking the Trial button, a new trial license will be issued and you'll be able to evaluate EPlug with all features for 30 days.

'First Run' Wizard

One of the biggest usability improvements compared to previous versions is discoverability of how to use and activate EPlug. With the new version we have added a "First Run Wizard" which allows to directly activate EPlug on selected projects.

Usage

EPlug integrates seamlessly into Eclipse, but to use most of its features it has to be activated on each project you want to use it with. This can be done in the previously shown First Run Wizard, or by right-clicking a project and selecting "Activate EPlug" under "Configure".

From there on you will be able to use code completion, compile time checks and all the other features on this project.

Better and extended commands

A handful of commands are added by EPlug, which make it faster to navigate in JVx projects.

Go to complement class

It's often the case that you want to go from the server to the client class, or from the client to the server class. Most of the time in Eclipse this involves expanding trees and looking for the correct class in the Package Explorer. That is why we've implement the command "Go to complement class", which enables you to quickly jump from the server to client, or the other way round.

As you can see the command is available from the context menu, but you can also bind it to a key in the "Keys" preferences.

Open Declaration

The "Open Declaration" command, sometimes known by its key binding "F3", allows you to jump to the declaration of whatever is currently under the cursor. We've extended this command with the possibility to jump to the declaration of event handlers (actions), server methods and storage's. If the item underneath the cursor is not handled by our extension, the default "Open Declaration" command will be invoked.

The declaration:

Because we've extended the "Open Declaration" command, you can bind the "Open Declaration (EPlug)" command also to "F3" and enjoy faster navigating in your JVx files without any downsides.

DataBooks

The biggest and most important feature of EPlug is its support for data books. EPlug offers code completion, compile time checks and more for column names on remote and local data books.

Code completion

Everytime you want to get or set a value, or wire up an editor you will receive code completion suggestions with all column names that are in the databook, it doesn't matter if those are remote or added locally.

Compile time checks

Of course we also added compile time checks, which means that you can never mistype a column name ever again.

With the newest version, these compile time checks are even active while you type!

Text hovers

When hovering above a column name, a simple text hover will inform you about the type of the column.

Storage support

RemoteDataBooks require to have the correct name set so that the server side storage is found, of course we do also offer code completion, compile time checks, text hovers and hyperlinks for this.

The DataBook View

And last but for sure not least, with the newest version a feature has been added which I've been looking forward to for quite some time: The DataBook View. A view similar to the Outline view, which displays all databooks in the current file and all of its columns.

Actions/Events and server calls

Support for actions, events and server calls is the second big EPlug feature. For events and actions we support a very Lambda-like system that uses reflection and strings. Obviously the compiler was never able to understand this system and provide feedback or support for it, but with EPlug this has changed.

Code Completion

Whenever you want to wire up an event, you'll now receive code completion for all fitting methods in the used class.

Action methods:

Remote calls:

As you can see in upper image, we also provide a fast and convenient way to create methods if necessary.

Compile time checks

During compilation the actions, events and server calls are checked for their correctness, and if there is a problem it'll be reported to you.

You can also see the quick fixes for this problem, which do not only offer to create the missing method, but also suggesting methods with similar names in case a typo happened.

Text hovers, hyperlinks and refactoring support

Additionally EPlug provides text hover and hyperlink support, that means that you can now jump to the methods by using your mouse (Ctrl+Left Click) or the "Open Declaration (EPlug)" command. Refactoring support has also been added, which means that you can now rename action/event handlers without having to manually search for all uses and change those.

Resources

Dealing with resources can often be a pain in the neck, especially if you constantly have to look up the path and check if you're now using the correct image. Because we also felt these pains, we've added functionality to EPlug to make sure that working with resources becomes easy and painless.

Support for UIImage

Whenever you use UIImage methods, you can now enjoy code completion, previews of the images and compile time checks.

Preview:

Compile checks:

Generic resource completion

For all other resources, we do only offer a "generic" code completion system and no preview. Still, this is a huge help.

Comments

One of the more simple and not so obvious features of EPlug is that it allows to have code completion of the current class in comments, and also provides the JVx category separators.

Separator:

Action/call completion in comments:

VisionX support

Now we've arrive at the big final, support for VisionX. For all of you who do not know VisionX, it is our product for rapidly building applications from scratch or migrating already existing systems. It allows to build GUIs and the respective database backend within a matter of minutes. Even though VisionX allows you to build whole applications, from time to time you'll want to do something by hand and this is the great thing about VisionX, all projects and applications are automatically and by design already Eclipse projects. So all you need to do is import the project into Eclipse and start working on it. To improve this workflow further EPlug does offer various features.

Selection synchronization

The selection in Eclipse and VisionX can be automatically synchronized, so that whatever you're working on in the one application is also visible and selected in the other

Automatic applying of changes

VisionX will also automatically refresh its current view if you change a sourcefile in Eclipse, allowing to rapidly and verify changes in a workscreen without the need to manually reload the workscreen.

How and where to get it?

EPlug comes in two flavors, EPlug for JVx and EPlug for VisionX, both are available from the Eclipse Marketplace and can be installed and used freely for 30 days. Afterwards a license is necessary to keep using all features.

Our team is working very hard to reach the goals. The result will be an Eclipse plugin that connects to VisionX and allows bidirectional communication. We won't embedd VisionX in Eclipse because it makes no sense for us, but we'll use the whole power of the IDE.

What will be supported?

• Event links (Eclipse)

  A click on an event action string will jump to the right method.

  databook.eventValuesChanged().addListener(this, "doValuesChanged");

  The click on doValuesChanged will jump to the method in the work-screen.

• Call links (Eclipse)

  A click on an action/object call will jump to the right method, in the right life-cycle object.

  getConnection().callAction("getLicenseInformation");

  The click on getLicenseInformation will jump to the method in the life-cycle object.

• DataBook links (Eclipse)

  A click on the name of a databook will jump to the storage definition, in the life-cycle object.

  RemoteDataBook rdb = new RemoteDataBook();
  rdb.setDataSource(dataSource);
  rdb.setName("users");
  rdb.open();

  The click on users will jump to the DBStorage definition, in the the life-cycle object.

• Auto completion (Eclipse)

  We'll offer auto completion for table columns, event methods, action/object calls, ...

  databook.getRowDefinition().getColumnDefinition("DESCRIPTION").getDataType().setCellEditor(VisionXUtil.MULTILINE_EDITOR);

  It'll be possible to get a list of all available columns, like DESCRIPTION.

• Column checks (Eclipse)

  We'll check if all column names are valid and will show compiler warnings/errors.

• Jump to Eclipse

  It'll be possible, with VisionX, to jump to the source code of e.g. actions, component definitions or databooks in Eclipse. We'll introduce some new Buttons in VisionX, for that feature.

  

  VisionX E-Plug

• Jump to VisionX

  It'll be possible, with Eclipse, to highlight selected GUI components directly in VisionX.

No worries, we have more features for you!

The IDE integration will be available as optional VisionX module.

Last friday at Eclipse DemoCamp Vienna, I discussed with CodeCop about AST and JDT and the missing documentation

I wrote a simple class for class/superclass/package/javadoc manipulation some months ago. It is included in VisionX and is not free, but no matter. Here is the source code:

Important imports:

The class contains references to other classes like CommonUtil, FileUtil, StringUtil. These classes are included in JVx. There are two classes (JavaSource, ClassUtil) that are not free, but you should find out how it works without these classes.

If you'll set a new superclass, the superclass and its import, if available, will be updated. If you'll set a new classname, all constructors will be updated.

And once again: The best documentation is the source code