Eclipse Build Path Problem

[Mark Reyes]

Hi Guyz,

Good Day!!

I was given a user id to a CVS Server and was able to download multiple projects from the server but I am getting this error in my eclipse IDE 'A cycle was detected in the build path of the project...'

What does this error mean? I tried checking the build path of each project and majority of the project is referencing the JAR files of one project (looks like main project..). The main project on the other hand has the other project configured in its Build Path.

I am not familiar with eclipse and be glad to hear pointers on how to work around this one. Thanks.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Mark,
The main project refers to another project. Does the other project refer to the main project?

Note that errors on circular build paths are an option. You can turn off this setting until you fix the problem.

[Mark Reyes]

Hi Jeanne,

Does the other project refer to the main project?

The other project just use the jar files of the main project. The jar files of the main project is configured in the build path of the other project. I am not sure of this but this might cause the error in cyclic dependency.

But I did google on this problem and found an answer by turning the cyclic dependency into just a warning instead of an error prompt in the Preferences path. The project compiles and runs though I am not sure yet what effect may it have. Thanks for responding to my query..

[Gowri Chandrasekaran]

I tried the same way and it worked for me. Thanks a lot. Would like to know will that lead to any problem???

[Tim Holloway]

The original "cycle" problem is the old riddle: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?".

I've had my fair share of cyclic projects over the years, but I don't like them. The problem is that they're usually hard to get going initially when moved to a new machine - especially when you're trying to build from scratch, and because they feed each other, you may have to do a couple of passes before the builds stabilize and you get what you really want.

Usually out of the two mutually-dependent projects you an extract a third project that both depend on and eliminate the cyclic nature of the build process.

Sometimes you can construct a bootstrap project that's non-cyclic but can be used to get the cycles rolling. It may be a simplified version of one of the other 2 projects or a simplified consolidation of the 2.

Best bet, however, is to try and remove the cyclic nature, since - as I mentioned - cyclic projects are hard to get going, as well as hard to get going again if the process breaks. And they're harder for maintainers to understand.