Re: [platform-ant-dev] Launching external tools with launch configs?

[Jared Burns <jared-eclipse@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ah, that's a very good point.

We should provide a lightweight solution in edition to the "heavy" solution 
that we have today. While it's nice to be able to define a tool and be able 
to configure attributes and have it persisted (the heavy solution), sometimes 
you just want to run something.

Should be doable.

- Jared

On Tuesday 24 September 2002 04:46 pm, you wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
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