Working with Projects - Tips and Tricks

FAQ

Questions answered in this FAQ cover such topics as:

Plugin development – Pitfalls
SAP UI Toolkit

If you have questions you believe should go in here, let us know and we'll try to get them answered. Please submit it to Java IDE Core group.

Table of Contents

Plug-in Development

How do I synchronize project dependencies with changes made in my plugin.xml ?

When do I run into trouble using external JARs (instead of projects) ?

Creating UI for Plug-ins

What is the SAP UI Toolkit ?

What are the benefits when using toolkit ?

Where is the source code for the UI Toolkit ?

Can I join Toolkit components with SWT / JFace ?

When do I use the SimplePane ?

Can I use SAP standard icons in my plugin ?

Plug-in Development

Q: How do I synchronize project dependencies with changes made in my plugin.xml ?

If you have added or deleted required plugins (or changed their names) in your plugin.xml, you need to synchronize the corresponding Java Build Path for your project. Perform this task following these steps:

Procedure

Change the dependencies in the plugin.xml file and save the contents.
In the packages view, select your project and choose Update Classpath … from the context menu.

Result

Eclipse adds new project dependencies according to the required plugins in the plugin.xml definition to your plugin project.

Q: When do I run into trouble using external JARs (instead of projects) ?

Unlike in JBuilder you can use both JAR files and individual projects in Eclipse when specifying project dependencies. However, you can run into trouble using JARs instead of projects .

If you assign JARs for Java Build Path, you should consider the following error situation.

Whenever you perform the Update Classpath function, Eclipse removes all JARs from Java Build Path.

For this reason, we recommend specifying the project dependencies using the individual projects and not using JARs (as is common in JBuilder).

Creating UI for Plug-ins

Q: What is the SAP UI Toolkit ?

The SAP UI Toolkit forms a convenient layer in the UI programming model for plug-ins in Eclipse provided by SAP. This toolkit, which forms a layer on top of SWT and JFace, was created with the aim of simplifying the basic steps you perform to create user interfaces – in comparison with native programming.

Q: What are the benefits when using toolkit ?

Shallow learning curve: You can create complex, ambitious user interfaces without spending a lot of time learning how to use SWT and JFace.

Less code, fewer bugs: Your source code will be shorter, more compact and easier to read. You can often generate and define complex interface elements with a single line of code. Moreover, the shorter source code potentially contains fewer bugs.

An ability to think about the future now: You can start thinking now about how to contribute to reducing the level of support required later. It is to be expected that we will all benefit from compact, standardized source code.

Q: Where is the source code for the UI Toolkit ?

If you have got a user for the perforce:4002 server, you only need to synch the com.tssap.util project to get the up-to-date sources.

Q: Can I join Toolkit components with SWT / JFace ?

The UI toolkit provides an open approach, which does not attempt to replace the SWT and JFace. In addition, you can use components and widgets from the UI toolkit, the SWT, and JFace in one and the same User Interface.

However, we advise you to use the features in the UI toolkit first before you turn to native programming offered by the SWT and JFace.

Q: When do I use the SimplePane ?

The SimplePane is a toolkit container for creation of composites.

Composites enable an interaction between the UI toolkit objects on the one hand and the SWT and JFace on the other .

The following source code shows you how to access a composite object from SimplePane:

ISimplePane myPane = parentPane.addSimplePane(

parentPane.createGridLayoutData(…);

Composite myComposite = myPane.getComposite();

Q: Can I use SAP standard icons in my plugin ?

Yes. There is a set of SAP icons available for plugin development. For more information see Using Images