Eclipse: detach package explorer, outline panels?

Question

I'm in a constant battle with Eclipse to free up more screen real estate for code instead of decoration. I can maximize the code window by double clicking on it, getting rid of the package explorer, outline, and other panels, but I do use the other panels on occasion, particularly the package explorer for SVN integration.

Is there a way to detach the various panels and have them pop up based on hotkeys? I'm imagining having the code window maximized all the time, with a hotkey to bring forward the package explorer as a separate pop-up window when needed, with the pop-up going into the background as a normal window when I click on the code window to go back to editing.

Answer 1

Minimize the package explorer, then use: Alt-Shift-Q then P.

This will "Show View (Package Explorer)" as a fast view.

As discovered using Shift-Ctl-L to show keyboard short cuts.

Answer 2

This is the closest I could come to what you want:

Under Window->Preferences->General->Perspectives, change the second setting "Open a new view" to "As a fast view". Then, close Package Explorer view. The next time it comes up, it (and any other newly opened view) will be a fast view: it'll disappear when it loses focus.

As another answerer mentioned, the PE has a keyboard shortcut. I find its default a little unfriendly so I'd recommend changing it under Window->Preferences->General->Keys. The Package Explorer command is under "Show View (View: Package Explorer)". Ctrl+Shift+P seems like a good option. Then, you can just hit Ctrl+Shift+P, do something in PE, click back in the code window, and watch PE disappear. Note: My new keyboard shortcut stopped working sporadically if I changed the "As a fast view" setting first. Re-entering the keyboard shortcut seemed to fix this.

You can change a fast view to the normal type of view by repositioning it via dragging.

Answer 3

Well, I just code on the J2EE Perspective with all stuff gone. When I want to do something else I change to other perspective

Answer 4

You could access it via Ctrl-3 (as pretty much anything else in Eclipse), and close it with escape. When you hit Ctrl-3 again, it will be the top choice.