Dan Kehn

I added the code below to the editor's init(IEditorSite, IEditorInput) method:
fStatusLineItem = new StatusLineContributionItem ("MssEditorContributionItem"); IActionBars actionBars = getEditorSite().getActionBars(); IStatusLineManager manager = actionBars.getStatusLineManager(); manager.add(fStatusLineItem); actionBars.updateActionBars();
Then called fStatusLineItem.setText(...) when I wanted to update the status line. Is this what you had in mind?

It is a big book that covers a lot of material but it covers it clearly and with plenty of examples. If you buy one Eclipse book, this should be it.

Thanks Sheriff for taking the time to read both editions and your kind words!

FYI, we've recently created The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse preview website. It describes all the chapters and examples on the CD-ROM so potential readers will have a firm idea of what's inside. Finally, we're monitoring [email protected] for questions about the book or corrections for the errata.

Originally posted by Thomas Paul:
Woo Hoo! Send me the book and we'll see if you earned that rave review!

Just read your review on amazon.com. Let me tell you, it made our day!

The first edition of this book was excellent for plug-in developers and helpful, although not vital, to all others. Two things make this new edition even better than the first edition. First, plug-in development in Eclipse is now so easy and so well explained in this book that there is no reason why anyone shouldn't be doing it. Have you ever worked with an IDE and thought, "why isn't this function available in the pop-up menu" or "why doesn't it have this feature"? Developing a plug-in will allow you to customize the functionality of Eclipse to provide the missing feature and this book will clearly explain exactly how to do that. Second, the section of the book that deals with developing with Eclipse has been improved with detailed chapters on team development including using CVS as well as an excellent example of integrating with Tomcat to develop an E-Commerce application.

The book is divided into two sections. The first 200 pages deal with using Eclipse and cover everything from the basics to complex team development issues. The next 600 pages cover everything you need to know about extending the functionality of Eclipse. The book ends with 200 pages of exercises that give detailed, step-by-step examples. Five exercises deal with using Eclipse while the rest show examples of extending Eclipse. It is a big book that covers a lot of material but it covers it clearly and with plenty of examples. If you buy one Eclipse book, this should be it.

Eclipse plug-in development = an architected means of extending the Eclipse environment, whether it be the IDE itself, or an application based on Eclipse (also known as "rich client platform" applications).

The eclipse whitepaper is a good introduction to the whys and what-fors of plug-in development.

-- Dan

Did somebody say shameless promotion? Oh, oh let me try!

Eclipse's community resources lists a number of public courses, among them (here it comes...) The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse 3.0 Plug-in Development. Despite what the schedule may suggest, most of the courses are by request at the customers' location. Usually the course is taught by one of my co-authors (Pat, Jim, or Scott).

Sheriff, no problem! Send me your snail mail and I'll get a copy right out.

Originally posted by Thomas Paul:
If your book had just gone a little further and looked at installing the Tomcat plug-in or showed how to integrate Eclipse with an application server, I would probably have raved about the first section of the book. I just felt that this was such a huge hole since so many of us are doing server side development. The back of the book says that your book, "is the definitive Eclipse companion." I just thought that was over stating things a bit.

Sheriff, what a difference a year can make! Your point was well taken and we updated the second edition to include just what you proposed by adding Exercise 4, Developing a Simple Web Commerce Site with Eclipse.

While I've never mentioned it publically until now, your comments weighed heavily in our topic choices for Part I and we are grateful for your feedback. Thanks.

Something is very very wrong. My machine (935MHz P3 / 512M RAM) is not nearly as fast as yours and Eclipse starts up in 16 seconds cold and 9 seconds warm. I wonder if you're inadvertently doing some network access; the delays you mention sound suspiciously like default IP connection timeout values.

-- Dan

To improve performance, Eclipse 3.0 no longer checks the timestamps of the plugin.xml files under the assumption that most users won't be changing them. As a plug-in developer, you now have to explicitly tell the Platform Runtime by specifying -clean on startup (one time only). Deleting all the subdirectories in the configuration directory will have a similar effect.

This missed the online documentation; you can see the PDE specifies it by checking out the parameters passed to Eclipse when launching the Run-time Workbench in the debugger.

-- Dan

Originally posted by Shalu Ban:
What do you think is the best version to use?? i will download that and use it.

I suggest Eclipse v2.1.3 if stability is your #1 concern. It won't have the bells and whistles of the new release, but won't hang either. If you really want simplicity, download WebSphere Studio Workbench from PartnerWorld. It is the IBM branded version of Eclipse and includes the JRE, already installed and ready to go -- no fuss, no muss. That's what the IBM products like WebSphere Studio Application Developer are based on.
-- Dan

I don't use Windows ME, but Eclipse runs comfortably in 80M. It is even more comfortable in 128M.
-- Dan

Originally posted by Shal Ban:
I checked out the .metadata/log file. It has this content :
!MESSAGE Unable to locate application extension: org.eclipse.ui.ide.workbench

Yes, that sounds familiar. It didn't register you were getting 3.0 when I read your post the first time. I've seen that problem in early drivers (M6) and when one tries to reuse a workspace from a previous installation. Configuration information is recorded in the workspace and not taking into account the restructuring that is part of the new release.
You may want to pick up M8 and verify you're installing fresh. Problems related to the current release are best posted to the Eclipse newsgroups. I searched on "Unable to locate application extension" and found Eclipse M6 freezes on startup (you must register to view this URL). That reminded me of when I had tripped on this same problem.
Note that Eclipse 3.0 is still very much a work in progress. The M8 build hasn't proven exceptionally stable for my own work, i.e., keep in mind it's not production level code yet.
-- Dan

It's my guess that it is going "boom" early and going down hard. More often than not, the JRE version (or lack of a JRE) is the cause. A couple suggestions:

Explicitly specify the JRE with the -vm option (e.g., eclipse -vm d:\jre1.3.1\jre\bin\javaw.exe)

Specify the -debug -consolelog command line options. This will open a second command line window and you'll see all sorts of interesting startup messages. If there is an early failure, it will usually be self-evident why after reading this output.

Be especially cautious of the JRE that comes with Windows (found in the \windows\system32 directory). It is woefully backlevel. If this doesn't help, repost with the contents of your .metadata\.log file.
-- Dan
PS: If you really don't want to worry about JRE levels, you can download the IBM WebSphere Workbench from PartnerWorld. It's the IBM branded version of Eclipse and has everything preconfigured, including its J9 JRE (hot swap, memory stats, etc). You have to register to download, other than that, it's free.

Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:

Sorry Dan, I guess that does sound cruel, especially after you answered an Eclipse question for me once. I did say that your book was "excellent" however.

No sweat, I was joking, really. Remember, I was the one who called out the Sheriff; I don't mind taking a little heat if there's something to be learned from it.
We recognize that our book is *ahem*... large. We prefer to say "impressively comprehensive," but no matter, we accept that the number of topics Eclipse offers isn't going down. Realizing how the sheer volume can become overwhelming, we're interested in ways of making it more accessible. If you have concrete suggestions, please feel free to join and contribute to our JDG2E group. Thanks!
-- Dan

Originally posted by karthik Guru:
Hope 3.0 is not a rewrite.

There is a considerable number of new topics and refinements in 3.0, but not too many that invalidate previous references. I don't believe it it worth waiting for a new edition of whatever book you are considering, plus the online docs are starting to shape up for 3.0. Now is as good as any time to start learning.
-- Dan