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Re: [platform-ant-dev] Launching external tools with launch configs?
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I can see your argument too... it's possible our decision was weighted by
the fact that we *weren't* on the debug team and thus didn't know what was
involved in creating a launch configuration. I guess if you add the ability
to debug Ant scripts the distinction blurs even further.
My actual problem with the current external tools presentation is that it's
already too much like launch configurations. That is, it's a lengthy
process to configure and run an external tool that involves several dialogs
and lots of tabs and/or button clicks. My initial prototype was exactly
like the Windows "Run" dialog, but then there was an "Advanced" button for
more complicated configurations (such as ant targets, refresh options,
etc). Contrast the steps involved with launching a random batch file:
Using windows "Run" dialog:
- Hit Window Key + R to open run dialog
- type name of batch file (append arguments if needed)
- hit enter
Total keys pressed: 3 + file name
Using Eclipse external tools:
- Alt-R to open run menu
- navigate to External Tools -> Configure...
- click New...
- give a name for the script
- tab over and enter the location of the script
- tab over and enter the arguments, if any
- hit enter to dismiss "new" dialog
- tab over and hit enter to dismiss external tools configuration dialog
- hit Alt-R to open run menu again
- navigate to menu item for new external tool
- hit enter to run tool
Total keys pressed: about 20 + file name
Just some more food for thought...
Jared Burns
<jared-eclipse@xxxxxxxx To: platform-ant-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx
m> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Re: [platform-ant-dev] Launching external tools with
platform-ant-dev-admin@ launch configs?
eclipse.org
09/24/2002 04:47 PM
Please respond to
platform-ant-dev
The "separate concepts" argument is an interesting one, but I'm not sure I
agree. It's just as easy to say that the launch config framework is for
launching programs from Eclipse. From this perspective, launching Ant
scripts
or external tools fits into the launching framework.
Some of the suggestions I've heard for improving our Ant support center
around integrating it into the debugger. Specifically, we've (Simon and I)
discussed adding Ant "launches" to the debug view and making Ant use the
debugger console. This would allow users to keep old launches and view
their
output after the fact. The current support only allows the user to see the
output from the last script they ran. People would also like to debug Ant
scripts, which would require further integration.
Launch configuration types have the option of supporting both run and debug
mode, but they don't have to. For example, "Remote Java Applications" only
support debug mode. Ant and "program" configurations would only support run
mode today, but in the future we'd like to add debug mode support to Ant.
As it stands, having the external tools in a separate place doesn't feel
intuitive to me. I'm not sure if that's because I work on the debugger or
not. If we make these enhancements, though, I think the separation of the
external tools/ant support from the rest of the launching framework will
become even more confusing for the user. After running an Ant script, why
doesn't it show up in the Run history? I'll give this some more thought as
I
become more familiar with the code.
Thanks for the feedback,
- Jared
