Is it possible to create a command line JDT application?

Question

I want to create a command line application which does analysis of Java code. The Eclipse JDT seems like the right tool for the job, however every tutorial I can find on the JDT starts up the JDT as an Eclipse plugin.

I would expect something like this:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 IWorkspace workspace = ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace();
 ...
}

to get started. However getWorkspace() throws an exception that the service is not started.

Answer 1

You want to make sure you have started Eclipse first. Use the EclipseStarter class to get things running and then you can use the methods on ResourcesPlugin.

Answer 2

If you want to leverage JDT you have to start eclipse. You can use the extension point "org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications" to create a minimal application that starts from the command line.

1. Create a new Plugin-Project.
2. Add "org.eclipse.core.runtime" and "org.eclipse.core.resources" to the dependencies.
3. Create an extension for "org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications".
4. Create a class that implements "org.eclipse.equinox.app.IApplication" and reference it in your extension.

My plugin.xml looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?eclipse version="3.4"?>
<plugin>
   <extension
         id="id2"
         point="org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications">
      <application
            cardinality="singleton-global"
            thread="main"
            visible="true">
         <run class="testapplication.Application1">
         </run>
      </application>
   </extension>
</plugin>

MANIFEST.MF:

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: TestApplication
Bundle-SymbolicName: TestApplication;singleton:=true
Bundle-Version: 1.0.0.qualifier
Bundle-Activator: testapplication.Activator
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.core.runtime,
 org.eclipse.core.resources
Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.6

Application1.java:

package testapplication;

import org.eclipse.core.resources.ResourcesPlugin;
import org.eclipse.equinox.app.IApplication;
import org.eclipse.equinox.app.IApplicationContext;

public class Application1 implements IApplication {

    @Override
    public Object start(IApplicationContext context) throws Exception {
     System.out.println("Hello eclipse at "
                + ResourcesPlugin.getWorkspace().getRoot().getRawLocation());
     return IApplication.EXIT_OK;
    }

    @Override
    public void stop() {
     // nothing to do at the moment
    }

}

Output is:

Hello eclipse at D:/Arne/workspaces/runtime-TestApplication.id2