This plugin automatically creates Eclipse project configuration files when a new project is created in the workspace. These files are essential for importing bnd projects into the Eclipse IDE.

How It Works

When a new project is created, the Eclipse plugin will:

  1. Create a .project file (Eclipse project descriptor)
  2. Create a .classpath file (Eclipse classpath configuration)

If either file already exists, the plugin will not overwrite it.

Custom Templates

The plugin looks for custom templates in the workspace configuration:

  • Custom .project template: cnf/eclipse/project.tmpl
  • Custom .classpath template: cnf/eclipse/classpath.tmpl

If custom templates exist, they will be used. Otherwise, default templates are used.

Template Processing

Before writing the template files to disk, they are processed by the project’s variable replacer. This allows you to use project variables within your custom templates.

For example, in your template, you can use:

  • ${project.name} - the project name
  • ${basedir} - the base directory
  • Any other project properties defined in the project’s bnd.bnd file

Initialization

The Eclipse plugin also runs during workspace initialization, ensuring that:

  • The workspace cnf project has the required .project and .classpath files
  • All existing projects in the workspace get updated Eclipse files if they’re missing

Usage in build.bnd

The Eclipse plugin is typically enabled automatically in bnd workspaces. If you need to explicitly enable it, add the following to your cnf/build.bnd:

-plugin.Eclipse: \
  aQute.bnd.plugin.eclipse.EclipsePlugin

Example Workspace Setup

To create custom Eclipse templates:

  1. Create a custom .project template at cnf/eclipse/project.tmpl:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<projectDescription>
  <name>${project.name}</name>
  <comment>Custom Eclipse project for ${project.name}</comment>
  <projects>
  </projects>
  <buildSpec>
    <buildCommand>
      <name>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javabuilder</name>
      <arguments>
      </arguments>
    </buildCommand>
  </buildSpec>
  <natures>
    <nature>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javanature</nature>
  </natures>
</projectDescription>
  1. Create a custom .classpath template at cnf/eclipse/classpath.tmpl:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<classpath>
  <classpathentry kind="src" path="src"/>
  <classpathentry kind="output" path="bin"/>
  <classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER"/>
</classpath>

These templates will be used for all new projects created in the workspace.

TODO Needs review - AI Generated content