1 Packaging and delivering Eclipse based products

2 Define a product l Products and features l Products extension point l Customize a product

3 Products and features l An Eclipse based product »Is a stand-alone program built with the Eclipse platform. »may optionally be packaged and delivered as one or more features, –which are groupings of plug-ins that are managed as a single entity by the Eclipse update mechanisms. l Products include all the code and plug-ins needed to run them. »Including JRE, the Eclipse platform code... »typically installed with a product-specific installation program. »Product providers are free to use any installation tool or program.

4 Products and features l The platform makes it easy to configure labels, about dialogs, graphics, and splash screens, so that the user has no concept of a platform workbench, but instead views the workbench as the main window of the product itself.

5 Directory structure of a typical product acmeweb/ acmeweb.exe(product executable) eclipse/(directory for installed Eclipse files).eclipseproduct(marker file) eclipse.exe startup.jar configuration/ config.ini jre/ features/(installed features if any) com.example.acme.acmefeature_1.0.0/ feature.xml... plugins/ com.example.acme.acmefeature_1.0.0/ plugin.xml, about.ini,,about.html about.mappings,about.properties acme.gif, splash.jpg com.example.acme.acmewebsupport_1.0.0/... links/...

6 defining a product in Eclipse l Two ways of defining a product in Eclipse. »use the products extension point (new to Eclipse 3.0).products extension point –This extension point allows you to define your product and customize branding such as splash screens, window icons, and the like. »uses features, and in particular assumes the existence of a primary feature. (used in old Eclipse 2.1)featuresprimary feature »Eclipse 3.0 uses the products extension point mechanism, but provides compatibility functions that integrate the legacy definitions into the new model if necessary. l Even when the products extension point mechanism is used, features can still be used as a way to group functionality that is delivered by the update manager.

7 Products extension point l The org.eclipse.core.runtime.products extension point is used to define a new product.org.eclipse.core.runtime.products »plug-in need declares the –name and id of its product, as well as –the id of the application extension that should be run when the product is invoked. l is also the technique the Eclipse platform uses to define the Eclipse product.

8 product extension definition found in org.eclipse.platform : <product name="%productName" application="org.eclipse.ui.ide.workbench“ description="%productBlurb"> <property name="windowImages" value="eclipse.gif,eclipse32.gif"/> <property name="preferenceCustomization“ value="plugin_customization.ini"/> declared at next page

9 <extension id="workbench" point="org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications"> l A separate plug-in can define all of the product- specific branding, and then refer to an existing plug-in's application as the application that is actually run when the product is started. l Product customization properties are used to configure the product's branding information.

10 Customizing a product l Customizable aspects of a product: »splash screen, about dialog text, »window icons, etc. »Mostly defined in the contribution to the org.eclipse.core.runtime.products extension point. org.eclipse.core.runtime.products

11 About dialogs