How to reformat multi-line comments in Eclipse PDT?

Question

In Eclipse PDT, Ctrl-Shift-F reformats code. However, it doesn't modify comments at all. Is there some way to reformat ragged multi-line comments to 80 characters per line (or whatever)?

i.e. convert

// We took a breezy excursion and 
// gathered Jonquils from the river slopes.  Sweet Marjoram grew 
// in luxuriant 
// profusion by the window that overlooked the Aztec city.

to

// We took a breezy excursion and gathered Jonquils 
// from the river slopes.  Sweet Marjoram grew in 
// luxuriant profusion by the window that overlooked 
// the Aztec city.

(I think this applies to regular Eclipse as well.)

Update Turns out that Eclipse in Java mode will reformat the lines above, but only if they're /* */-style comments. It will shorten // lines that are too long, but it won't join lines that are too short together.

Answer 1

You probably need to configure the Java formatter to include comments.

Preferences -> Java -> Code Style -> Formatter -> Edit... -> Comments

Make sure that "Enable XXX comment formatting" is enabled.

Answer 2

I've never really been able to get the Eclipse formatter to format my code exactly how I want, and this is just one of several shortcomings I've encountered. I've heard the Jalopy formatter is much better. There's both a commercial and free version available with Eclipse plugins for both. I've heard the commercial version is more sophisticated (development on the free version appears to have stalled), but I haven't actually used either personally.