[news.eclipse.newcomer] java.lang.IllegalStateException: Workspace is cl

[Bill Winspur <bwinspur@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Background
---------- I have a java project in which I'm developing a package, that 
ends up in .jar file used by several other projects. The package uses 
JAXB, and for the Junit test cases, I have included in the project an 
.xml document that gets marshalled and unmarshalled, plus the XMLSchema 
to which the doc conforms.

Problem
------- In my test cases, I can not get at the document using the 
ResourcePlugin, because the statment

     IWorkspace ws = ResourcesPlugin.getWorskspace();

throws:
     java.lang.IllegalStateException: Workspace is closed.

Google Result
------------- I found this from Alex Blewitt at
http://dev.eclipse.org/newslists/news.eclipse.platform/msg50146.html

'You can't open the workspace unless you're running inside Eclipse. That 
does not include running a Java application with a main method.

If your code is being called from a method like Plugin.start() and it's 
being called from Eclipse, this will work. If the line above this code 
reads 'public static void main(String args[]) then it won't work.'

Questions
--------
1. I'm executing my test classes from their source files in the 
navigator view, using the right button menu 'Run As.. > Ju 2 unit test' 
. Since Junit is a plugin (org.Junit(3.8.1)), why is the workspace 
showing closed ?

2. My ugly workaround is to use POJ File and FileStream to reach into 
the project with an absolute filepath, but is there a way I can use 
project-relative paths to my test files from Junit test cases ?.

Bill.