[news.eclipse.newcomer] Re: workspace setup

[wegener@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Wegener)]

Andrew Younge wrote:

> that diagram is pretty much correct, except for the naming of the labx 
> files.  it would look something like this:

> CS1:
>     -labs
>         -lab1
>         -lab2
>         -lab3 
>         ...
>     -lec
>         -lec1
>         -lec2
>         ...
>     -proj
>         -proj1
>         -proj2

> what i need is for every labx, lecx, and projx to be a seperate eclipse 
> project, and to keep that directory structure.  im currently trying to use 
> the import project thing in eclipse, however this is proving to be a pain. 
>  even if eclipse just listed like labsx, lecx and projx and didnt show the 
> path or whatever that would be fine, as long as behind the scenes it knew 
> and worked by the correct directory stucture.

I can see a couple of options.  As you said, make each labx, lecx, and 
projx a seperate project.  You can do this in a couple of ways.  Perform 
New Project.  Check Create Project at External Location on the project 
definition page, select Browse, and navigate to the labx etc directory for 
the project you are creating.  This will leave the source and other 
resources in the directory structure.  

A second way is to create the project in the default location and add a 
link to each labx etc directory.  After creating the project go to the 
Java Build Path property page and select the Source tab.  Click Add Folder 
then Create New Folder.  Click Advanced, give the the folder a name 
(lab1), and check the link to folder in file system.  If the directory 
location is going to be in the same place for everyone, you can simply 
Browse to the location.  If the directory can be in a different location 
on each workstation, define a variable that can be pointed to a root 
location.  This method allows you to include directories from different 
locations in the file system.  For example, it would allow you to include 
labx and lecx directories in the same project.

You could also use Source Folders to manage what is included in a project 
at any given point in time.  Create 3 projects: labs, lecs, projs.  
Specify External Location for each of them and point to the labs, lec, and 
proj directories as their location.  The directories to be included at any 
point in time would then be managed off of the Java Build Path->Source 
tab.  This method allows the student to keep as many labs, lecs, and projs 
active in their workspace as they want.

Keep in mind that compiler errors in one assignment don't prevent you from 
working on a different project.  You can configure the problems view to 
filter out problems that you aren't currently interested in by setting a 
filter to only show problems for selected element or selected element and 
all children.  You can also define a working set that narrows the scope of 
elements displayed in the package explorer.  Working sets are defined 
using the upside down triangle at the top of the package explorer or 
project explorer.

A project can have more than one main class, you can have a main class in 
each lab.  You can run each main class seperately without having to have 
all files in the project free of compiler errors.