Explain how to create the eclipse project.
References: Wizards and Dialogs Eclipse fragment projects - Tutorial

1. New Project Creation Wizards

  • Every plugin, fragment, feature and update site is represented by a single project in the workspace and allow PDE(Plugin Development Environment) to validate their manifest file(s).

  • File > New > Project... > Plug-in Development

  • Use a Plugin Project if we’re building new functionality.

  • Use a Fragment Project if we need to modify an existing plugin without changing its core code.

1.1. Plugin project

  • A plugin project (or “bundle”) is the fundamental building block in an Eclipse-based application.

  • Use-cases:

    • We are developing a primary feature of an application.
    • We need to define new APIs, extension points, or contribute UI components.

  • Manifest for a plugin project (OSGi bundle)

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: Plugin Name
Bundle-SymbolicName: test.plugin.project;singleton:=true       # unique identifier for an plugin, The singleton:=true means only one instance of this plugin can be active in the runtime environment.
Bundle-Version: 1.0.0.qualifier                                # is mandatory and must be of the form major.minor.micro.qualifier
Bundle-Activator: test.plugin.Activator                        # used to control the bundle's life cycle
Bundle-Vendor: Vendor Name
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.swt,                               # lists dependencies on other plugins, this means the current plugin depends on org.eclipse.swt, ... and can use all exported packages from it.
 org.eclipse.jface;bundle-version="[3.205.0,4.0.0)",
 org.eclipse.jdt.annotation;bundle-version="[2.2.0,3.0.0)";resolution:=optional # optional, if the bundle is missing, the plugin must still work without failing.
Import-Package: com.example.utils                              # this means the plugin only depends on specific packages, not the whole bundle.
Automatic-Module-Name: test.plugin.project
Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy                                  # Means the plugin will not be activated until needed
Export-Package: com.example.utils                              # Other plugins can use the classes in com.example.utils
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-21                 # the Java version required to run the plugin.
  • Versioning Rule (Semantic Versioning - SemVer) MAJOR version (X.0.0): Incompatible API changes (breaking changes). MINOR version (X.Y.0): Backward-compatible feature additions. PATCH version (X.Y.Z): Backward-compatible bug fixes.

1.2. Fragment project

  • A fragment is an optional attachment to another plug-in. This other plug-in is called the host plug-in. At runtime the fragment is merged with its host plug-in.

  • Use-cases:

    • Contain test classes: This way, tests can access the internal API of the plugin classes and test it. (Tests can be contained in own their plugin project, but they can only test the external API of the other plugin)
    • Contribute property files for additional translations.
    • Provide native code which is specific to certain operating systems (OS)
    • Contain resources like icon sets or other images

  • Manifest for a fragment project

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: %fragmentName
Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.ui.win32
Bundle-Version: 3.4.300.qualifier # is mandatory and must be of the form major.minor.micro.qualifier
Bundle-ClassPath: .
Bundle-Vendor: %providerName
Fragment-Host: org.eclipse.ui.ide;bundle-version="[3.2.0,4.0.0)"
Bundle-Localization: fragment-win32
Export-Package: org.eclipse.ui.internal.editorsupport.win32;x-internal:=true
Eclipse-PlatformFilter: (osgi.ws=win32)
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-21
Automatic-Module-Name: org.eclipse.ui.win32