Thanks for your previous posts about link directories. I find them a must when trying to manage anything but the base OpenEdge Architect Installation.
I wanted to make sure beginners and experts have a few resources to read to help form a best practice for manage your growing array of cool plugins. Please post your best techniques here.
If you've already played with links you might want to read the EXTRA EXTRA section first or google ".eclipseextension" http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-21,GGLR:en&q=%2eeclipseextension
USING ECLIPSE LINKS
If you are starting out at the newly released 10.1B and choose to use your own Eclipse installation, or want to use 3rd Party plugins, I have included some simple instructions below to setup .link files.
This will help you to manage version changes to manage 3rd party plugins and keep your base eclipse installation "unpoluted".
10.1B makes it easy to LINK your eclipse environment to the OpenEdge Architect Features and Plugins without copying them from OpenEdge Installation directory.
Here are the steps to link your own Eclipse installation to the OpenEdge Architect Plugins from 10.1B.
Step 1 : Close your own installed version of Eclipse
Step 2 : Create a new directory called "links" under your eclipse installation root directory eg C:\E32\eclipse\links
It should be at the same level as plugins and features eg
C:\E32\eclipse\features
C:\E32\eclipse\links
C:\E32\eclipse\plugins
Step 3: Using Notepad or other text editor create an empty oeide101B.link file under the new link directory eg C:\E32\eclipse\links\oeide101B.link with the following text
path=C:/OE101B/oeide/architect
Replace "C:/OE101B" with the installation directory of your OpenEdge 10.1B
NOTE the use of a all single forward slashes. Or you can use all "
". **
Save it and ensure the extension is still .link
Step 4: Start up your own Eclipse installation with -clean. Enjoy
EXTRA -
You can use this technique to manage any other sets of 3rd Party plugins.
All you need to do is create a directory structure that is equivalent to eclipse eg
C:\3rdPartyPlugins\eclipse
C:\3rdPartyPlugins\eclipse\features
C:\3rdPartyPlugins\eclipse\plugins
Also copy the .eclipseextension file from the OpenEdge Architect directory eg
C:\<install-dir>\oeide\architect\.eclipseextension to your 3rdPartyPlugins directory ie C:\3rdPartyPlugins\eclipse and blank the contents or modify it to suit
Now follow the steps to create a new 3rdParty.link file and set the path text to be
path=C:/3rdPartyPlugins
You can have as many .link files and directories as you need/desire to simplify the management of all the versions of your plugins.
WARNING: The Eclipse install from Progress is minimal and may not have all the dependant eclipse plugins needed to run 3rd Party plugins. So be aware that creating a links directory under the Progress Eclipse installation may not be optimal.
EXTRA EXTRA - Here is some further advise "Managing your Eclipse Environment" see
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/os-ecl-manage/
And for you experts, take a look at http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-ecfeat/ for more advanced tips and tricks.
Regards
Paul Petersen
There is also a second way this can be done that follows with the EXTRA point. In 10.1B, the .eclipseextension file was added to the installation in order to make this easier to import the OEA into existing Eclipse workspaces. The base Eclipse installation was also separated out from the rest of the OpenEdge Architect plugins to make them easier to find.
You can use the Configuration Manager in Eclipse to import the OpenEdge Architect plugins directly into your Eclipse environment.
From your main Eclipse workbench window select Help->Software Updates->Manage Configuration.
Then right-click on the top level node of the treeview and select Add->Extension Location.
Browse to the directory that holds the OpenEdge Architect plugins. e.g. c:\progress\openedge101b\oeide\architect\eclipse
You'll be prompted to restart your Eclipse workbench. After the restart the OpenEdge Architect plugins will be enabled in your Eclipse environment.
If at some point you decide that you don't want the plugins in the current workspace, you can go back into the Configuration Manager and disable the OpenEdge Architect feature.