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Build ID: I20090611-1540 Steps To Reproduce: 1. Follow precisely as written the steps for "Installing a minimal stand-alone help system" as described in the Eclipse 3.5 help topic: http://help.eclipse.org/ganymede/index.jsp?topic=/org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv/guide/ua_help_setup_standalone.htm In Step 2, I removed the entire plugins directory. That is, I deleted the whole directory and did not keep an empty "plugins" directory inside location1/eclipse/ 2. After Step 4, when I go into the directory structure of location1/eclipse, I see no plugins directory at all. The File->Export->Deployable Features action failed to create the "plugins" directory. At this point, the steps are not working, as Step 4 does not result in the expected output. More information: I did some iterations to see if I could get anything close to what I could get in 3.4. I also compared the 3.5 org.eclipse.help features's feature.xml file with the one from Eclipse 3.4. Here are some things I observed: Eclipse 3.4 org.eclipse.help feature's feature.xml contains lines to include "org.eclipse.rcp" feature. Eclipse 3.5 org.eclipse.help.feature's feature.xml does not contain an include for org.eclipse.rcp feature. (I think that in some way, the plug-ins from org.eclipse.rcp feature have to be included; otherwise, you miss a whole bunch of plug-ins you need to launch Eclipse.) So, next I tried including the org.eclipse.rcp feature as well as the help feature. After Step 4, I still don't get the File->Export->Deployable Features to create the plugins directory. Next interation: I create an empty plugins directory in advance and tell File->Export->Deployable Features action to export there. This time, I get the following items written into location1/eclipse/plugins: - features directory - plugins directory - artifacts.xml - content.jar OK, so this is a little unexpected (:-), because for some reason the action creates the structure I want, but only if I tell it to write to a subdirectory of location1/eclipse Next iteration: When I copy the plug-ins that got written into location1/eclipse/plugins/plugins to actually be in location1/eclipse/plugins (as I would expect) and try the infocenter startup command, I get the following error message: "The Eclipse executable launcher was unable to locate its companion shared library." Based on my previous experiences with the standalone help system, I copied the directory "org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_..." from location2/eclipse/plugins to location1/eclipse/plugins Now when I try the infocenter startup command, it actually starts without that launcher error (yay!) ****************************** In summary, here are some areas that seem to need attention: - org.eclipse.help feature's "feature.xml" file. Is it identifying all of the necessary plug-ins? - the steps in that help topic about installing a minimal stand-alone help system and any additional steps that the process might need. (For example, if it simply to state that the org.eclipse.rcp feature also needs to be imported/exported). - why doesn't the File->Export->Deployable features seem to write the plugins directory to location1/eclipse as Step 4 did in the Ganymede release? I hope this additional detail helps! --Lee Anne
Oh, one correction: The help topic should point to Galileo's: http://help.eclipse.org/galileo/index.jsp?topic=/org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv/guide/ua_help_setup_standalone.htm (Yes, I really *was* following the Galileo steps, I swear! :-) I just had both open in Firefox and grabbed the wrong URL for the bug submission.) --Lee Anne
I've just gone through the steps in the documentation and I ran into exactly the same issues that you saw. There do seem to be several problems - one is that the export does not work if you try to export into an eclipse installation with the plugins directory removed, another is that the features were refactored so we no longer have the Russian doll model and finally org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_ does not appear to be in any plugin.
Since the architecture is being reviewed I thought I'd mention a feature request that I think will make the standalone documentation and process for running the infocenter standalone simpler. Add a "helpPluginsHome" startup parameter. If this were added, user could start the infocenter pointing it to "helpPluginsHome", which would be the workspace where they keep all their documentation. Please let me know if I should put this in a separate ticket and if there's anything else I could help out with.
Adding a "helpPluginsHome" startup parameter is not so easy to do - the loading of plugins is controlled by the Eclipse launcher, not by the help system. It's probably not worth filing a separate bug report since I don't see it getting implemented unless the code was contributed.
Shoot I was hoping it would be quicky. OK - I'll swing back around once I have some time to study up on the eclipse launcher, etc.
I have updated the documentation page and tested the modified steps using I20100511-0800.
Fixed in 3.6RC1
