Visual Swing

I found a nice Swing Designer for Eclipse called Visual Swing:

Eclipse Zone: Visual Swing for Eclipse

This is a project hosted on Google Code.  So far, it has worked pretty nice.  It is by no means a commercial solution, but it definitely gets the job done.

I had a little trouble installing it from the Update Site.  The first time, I just downloaded the files and manually placed them in my Eclipse Home directory.  But, today I figured out how to get the update site to work.

Here is the update site I had to use:

http://visualswing4eclipse.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/vs4e

Then, in the install window, I had to uncheck “Group items by category”.  Otherwise, it would say “There are no categorized items”.  Finally, the install window seems to have a refresh problem.  It was loading the items in the list, but it was not painting them.  I had to give it some time to load, then I had to resize the install window to make it repaint the list.

There is an outstanding bug on the Update Site: Issue #119.

Adding Eclipse Project to Git

I did an earlier post where I did this, but I felt like it was sloppy.  Also, I did not add files to be ignored.  So, here is how to add an existing Eclipse project to Git:

Step 1:  In a terminal, change directories to your Eclipse workspace and project (assuming it is called my-project)

cd ~/workspace/my-project

Step 2: intialize the repository

git init

Step 3: add any files you want to ignore — consider any test data that might contain real production data and also consider connection information

vi .git/info/exclude

Assuming you have an Apache Derby database called db, you would exclude all of the database and the log with the following two lines:

db
derby.log

If you want to exclude Eclipse specific files, you may choose to add the following two lines:

.classpath
.project

Step 4: Add your files to your new Git repository

git add .

Step 5: Commit your files to the repository

git commit -m "My-Project inital code"

Step 6: Tag your code with a version

git tag v1.0

Update: You may want to tag this way so other developers see your tag (thanks Dominic):

git tag -a -m "GIT v1.0" v1.0

Now, your git repository is created and contains the code from your Eclipse project.

Resources

• Everyday Git with 20 Commands or So
• gitignore
• Update: git tag

Eclipse Keyboard

Link Eclipse Keyboard Shortcuts

Java FX Links

Here is a tutorial for using Java FX with Eclipse:

Java FX for Eclipse

I was able to install it on Linux using the update site listed here:

Java FX Plugin for Eclipse Wiki

Java + Compiz

I have been having trouble with getting blank Windows with my Java programs.  The problem first appeared in programs I was working on in Eclipse, but then I found other programs I had downloaded from SourceForge also had the same problem.  Apparently, the problem comes from a conflict with Compiz-Fusion and Java.

Here is the solution:

Add the following line to /etc/environment –

AWT_TOOLKIT="MToolkit"

You possibly need to reboot for this change to take effect.

When I did this I got this error:

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: Can't load library: /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/jre/lib/i386

The problem appears to be caused by using OpenJDK.  The solution was to use Sun’s JDK.  This post will not go into detail about how to switch, but here are some things to consider:

• Install Sun’s JDK with Add/Remove Programs, apt-get, etc.
• Use update-alternatives to point the OS to the correct Java Home
• Run java -version to check that the correct version is in use
• Update the installed JVMs in the Eclipse preferences to make sure that Eclipse is lauching programs with the correct JVM

Resources

• puzzling compiz fusion problem
• FrostWire not Working

Writing Eclipse Plugins

I found an excellent article about writing Eclipse plugins and publishing them on SourceForge.  I hope to work on a project like this soon.

Plugging into SourceForge.net

Oracle on Eclipse

I saw the new release today of Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse.

I found this quote on Oracle’s website:

Eclipse is one of several open source communities (Apache, PHP, and Glassfish are other examples) in which Oracle invests significant development resources. A Strategic Developer and Board Member of the Eclipse Foundation, Oracle is a leading participant in the Eclipse Web Tools Platform and Technology projects.

It is just interesting to me since I work with Oracle’s PeopleSoft software.  I waiting for Eclipse to be used with PeopleSoft!