Possible to have several instances of Eclipse open simultaneously?

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eclipse
java

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117

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+1 Q:

Possible to have several instances of Eclipse open simultaneously?

I'd like to know if it's possible to have several instances of Eclipse open at the same time. I'm using it for Java development. I know I can have several files from different projects open at the same time (at least that's what it seems to me), but whenever I try to open a second instance it shows me the following message:

alt text

Is there any easy way to have several instances of Eclipse open, each one with a different project?

Thanks

+10 A:

Either create multiple workspaces (Preferences / Startup, tickbox to ask which on every startup)

Or more likely, I think Window / New Window will open a second eclipse viewing window on the same workspace.

DaveC 2010-02-28 17:14:43

But doesn't that mean that each project from now on will be associated with the workspace in which it was created? Or will I have to make a workspace for each project I want, then? I don't want to have several projects associated between them , I want all of them to be independent.

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 17:16:24

What do you mean by independent? A workspace is a collection of projects in that they are all in the same sub-folder and are using (mostly) the same eclipse config. I don't see how having them in the same workspace makes them dependent on eachother?

DaveC 2010-02-28 17:27:12

Well, my problem is that every time I create a new project, Eclipse is adding it my Package Explorer, instead of closing the old project in which I was working and only showing me the new one.

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 17:31:24

Package explorer will show all the projects in the Workspace. So you can work on as many or few as you want (till you run out of memory).You can right click on any project in the Package explorer and choose Close Project which will make it inactive till you double click or Open Project (i.e. OpenType etc will not look in that project).Or you can go with creating one workspace per project, which imho is a bad idea unless you have a good reason.

DaveC 2010-02-28 17:34:47

Yes but how do I make so that I don't have several projects on the Package Explorer? I just want to have one. Will I have to create one Workspace per project? I need to have different Workspaces as it seems I must have one per Eclipse instance..

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 17:48:25

I don't really understand why you want to only see a single project on the explorer view. I am starting to think this is just to feed your habit ;-)Eclipse is not VisualStudio.

DaveC 2010-02-28 20:56:44

I use different ecipse installations with different workspaces for different (unrelated) projects because they require different (incompatible) eclipse plugins. I'm often required to reopen a long dormant project and need the eclipse environment to "just work" without worrying that I may have broken it in some way working on a new project. In this case, wasting a few meg of disk space saves hours or sometimes days of reconfiguring the environment.

Chris Nava 2010-03-01 02:36:18

+6 A:

yes, each on a different wokspace.

Projects and Workspaces in Eclipse are different. A workspace has a set of global settings and then it has a set of projects.

There are two kinds of project. Projects in the workspace and projects outside the workspace. If you use in the workspace projects (for example, by telling eclipse to make a project via a source control checkout), then it can only be in that workspace.

If you create projects outside the workspace, then you can import each one into as many workspaces as you like.

You can make as many workspaces as you like. Each workspace can be open in only one instance of eclipse.

bmargulies 2010-02-28 17:15:21

So, let me see if I get it: each workspace is like if it was a different project?

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 17:19:14

+3 A:

You may want to use Working sets.

A common problem in Eclipse is that your data in your workspace grows and therefore your workspace is not well structured anymore. You can use working sets to organize your displayed projects / data. To setup your working set select in the Package Explorer -> Show -> Working Sets.

Desintegr 2010-02-28 17:16:25

If you want multiple Eclipse instances open on the same workspace (with the same projects) then you want to use 'Window > New Window'. This will even let you drag views from one window to another.

If you want to display different sets of projects in each Eclipse Window then I'd suggest you use set up a 'Working Set' for each combination of projects you want to work with. You can then select a specific working set from within the Package Explorer. You can create working sets using 'File > New > Java Working Set'.

Something else to consider is that a Workspace is more than just a group of projects - preferences are all stored at the Workspace level. This means that it is quite easy for your preferences to get out of sync if you work with multiple Workspaces.

Richard Miskin 2010-02-28 17:22:31

I think people are not getting my point. I don't care for workspaces or anything (i.e, a behaviour similar to Visual Studio's). I just want to have each project open on a different instance. I find this workspace thing clumsy. Is there a way to only see the current project I have open in my Package Explorer instead of having several?

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 17:27:29

I'd bet that Eclipse's insatiable appetite for RAM would make this impossible on a 32 bit machine. After all, you've got to have some left for the operating system.

duffymo 2010-02-28 18:02:50

@devoured elysium: the fact is we don't really understand why you would like to do that. What would you win by launching various instances ?

Valentin Rocher 2010-02-28 18:32:04

If I understand well, your problem is that you would like not to see the other projects while working on one. What you could do is close the projects you're not working on, and then in the package explorer, choose filters > closed projects. This way the closed projects no longer appear in the package explorer.

Valentin Rocher 2010-02-28 18:22:34

Ok, that seems a good start. Now I still have the problem of Eclipse only allowing me to use one Workspace at a time. Can't I automatically make it associate a workspace with a project, so I can freely open as many instances as I want?

devoured elysium 2010-02-28 19:49:12

There's still the same problem : why do you want multiple workspaces ? A workspace is just a way to have your current Eclipse settings, that's all. I don't really see why you really want to have multiple workspaces.

Valentin Rocher 2010-02-28 23:24:28

I NEED multiple workspaces as I can only have multiple eclipse instances open if I have multiple workspaces.

devoured elysium 2010-03-01 21:54:13

+1 A:

A better answer to have only the resources from certain project in the new Window is by right clicking the project and select "Open in New Window"

nanda 2010-03-01 12:42:48

Still in the Problems tab, I can see the errors related to other projects than my current project :(

devoured elysium 2010-03-01 21:56:19

It's easy... just go to Problems view and select the Menu. Click on `Show -> Errors/Warnings on Project` instead of `All Errors`.

nanda 2010-03-02 01:33:10

ansaurus

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Possible to have several instances of Eclipse open simultaneously?

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