Build prerequisites

Install & Configure Eclipse

Install Java

Install Sun JDK 1.8 or later (required since Eclipse 4.6); JRE is not enough, without JDK you will not be able to run debug sessions.

Prepare folders

• in a place of you choice, create a folder GNU ARM Eclipse
• inside it create two more folders, Eclipses and Eclipse Workspaces

Install Eclipse IDE for Eclipse Commiters

This instance of Eclipse will be used for actual development.

• go to Eclipse download site and follow the download packages link
• download Eclipse IDE for Eclipse Committers, preferably the 64-bits version (for example eclipse-committers-neon-2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64.tar.gz)
• unpack the archive
• rename Eclipse.app to Eclipse-com-cdt-46.app
• move it to .../GNU ARM Eclipse/Eclipses
• create shortcut to desktop:
  • on Windows, create a shortcut for eclipse.exe, rename it E46 GAE.lnk and copy it to the desktop or a place of your choice
  • on macOS, create a Finder alias for Eclipse.app, rename it E46 GAE and move it to a place of your choice
  • on GNU/Linux, create a link for eclipse, rename it E46 GAE and move it to a place of your choice

Start the new Eclipse

• create a new workspace, preferably in a separate folder, like Eclipse Workspaces/w-gae-46 (note: be sure you create the workspace where you need it to be, since moving later is generally not supported by Eclipse; if you need this, preferably create a new workspace)
• check if you installed the right Eclipse; go to the Eclipse menu → Help (_Eclipse_ on macOS) → About Eclipse and the first line should read Eclipse IDE for Eclipse Committers
• Help → Install New Software
• Work with: Neon - http://download.eclipse.org/releases/neon
  • In Programming Languages
    • select C/C++ Development Tools
    • select C/C++ Development Tools SDK
    • optional: Autotools, CMake, Docker, LLVM, Unit Testing, …
  • In Mobile and Device Development
    • select C/C++ GCC Cross Compile Support
    • select C/C++ GDB Hardware Debugging
    • select C/C++ Memory View Enhancements
  • In General Purpose Tools
    • select m2e - Maven Integration for Eclipse
  • click the Next button
  • accept the terms of the license agreement
  • click the Finish button
• wait for the new plug-ins to be installed
• restart

Note: without the CDT sources available in the SDK, the extension point schemas will not be available so attempts to add new elements to the extensions will not be possible, and only ‘Generic’ elements will be offered

Install base API

• go to http://www.eclipse.org/cdt/downloads.php, and download cdt-8.6.0.zip (required to keep compatibility with Eclipse 4.4 Luna SR2)
• unpack the archive
• move the new folder to in the Eclipses folder
• in the Eclipse menu → (Window →) Preferences → Plug-in Development → Target Platform
  • click the Add… button
  • select Nothing: Start with an empty target
  • Next
    • Enter name: 8.6.0 Luna
    • click Add → Directory
    • click Browse → cdt-8.6.0
    • click the Finish button
  • click the Reload button
  • click the Finish
• select Running Platform as Active (mandatory!)
• OK

Selecting the running platform is required when starting Eclipse to Run or Debug, without it the core plug-ins will not be available.

• in the Eclipse menu → (Window →) Preferences → Plug-in Development → API Baselines
  • click the Add Baseline… button
  • select A target platform
    • Enter name: 8.6.0 Luna
    • select 8.6.0 Luna
    • click the Refresh button
    • click the Finish button
  • click the OK button
• click the OK button

Create and configure the workspace

• change the workspace preferences
• go to the Eclipse menu → (Window →) Preferences…
• General → Workspace
  • disable Build automatically
  • enable Refresh on access
  • enable Save automatically before rebuild
  • set Text file encoding: UTF-8
  • click the Apply button
• General → Editors → Text Editors
  • enable Show Print Margin (80)
  • enable Show Line Numbers
  • click the Apply button
  • click the OK button
  • click the Apply button
• Run/Debug → Console
  • disable Limit console output
  • click the Apply button
• Java → Editor → Folding
  • disable Header Comments
  • disable Imports
  • click the Apply button
• click the OK button

Install several Eclipse CDT instances

These separate instances of Eclipse will be used to test the plug-in.

Go to Eclipse download site and follow the download packages link

Eclipse 4.6 Neon

• download Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers (eclipse-cpp-neon-2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64.tar.gz)
• unpack the archive
• rename _Eclipse_ to eclipse-cdt-test-46
• on macOS, make a Finder alias of the Eclipse.app, rename it E46 CDT test and move it to a place of your choice (the Desktop, for example)

Eclipse 4.5 Mars

• download Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers (eclipse-cpp-mars-2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64.tar.gz)
• unpack the archive
• rename _Eclipse_ to eclipse-cdt-test-45
• on macOS, make a Finder alias of the Eclipse.app, rename it E45 CDT test and move it to a place of your choice (the Desktop, for example)

Eclipse 4.4 Luna

• download Eclipse IDE for C/C++ Developers (eclipse-cpp-luna-SR2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64.tar.gz)
• unpack the archive
• rename _Eclipse_ to eclipse-cdt-test-44
• on macOS, make a Finder alias of the Eclipse.app, rename it E44 CDT test and move it to a place of your choice (the Desktop, for example)

Clone the repository

On Unix systems, the recommended method is using a command line:

$ cd .../GNU ARM Eclipse
$ git clone https://github.com/gnuarmeclipse/plug-ins.git plug-ins.git

On Windows, the git command is available in the Git for Windows package.

Import the projects

Import projects using the Maven importer:

• Eclipse menu → File → Import
• Select
  • Maven → Existing Maven Projects
  • click Next
• Maven Projects
  • Root Directory: .../GNU ARM Eclipse/plug-ins.git
  • keep all selected
  • Add project(s) to working set: GNU ARM Eclipse
  • click Finish If doing this on a fresh Eclipse
  • accept m23 settings
  • accept to install Tycho Project Configurators
  • click Finish
• Restart

Configure the working sets

In the Package Explorer:

• click the down pointing triangle icon and select Configure Working Sets.
  • select GNU ARM Eclipse and click the Edit… button
  • click the Select All button
  • click the Finish button
• click the OK button

Create the Maven run configuration

To ensure that Maven considers only the desired plugin versions during the build, it is necessary to pass a command line option when starting Maven, to ignore local artifacts:

-Dtycho.localArtifacts=ignore

Without this option, Maven will issue many warnings, like:

[INFO] Resolving dependencies of MavenProject: ilg.gnuarmeclipse:ilg.gnuarmeclipse.core:3.3.1-SNAPSHOT @ /Users/ilg/My Files/MacBookPro Projects/GNU ARM Eclipse/plug-ins.git/ilg.gnuarmeclipse.core/pom.xml
[WARNING] The following locally built units have been used to resolve project dependencies:
[WARNING]   org.eclipse.cdt.make.core/7.3.0.201702180936
[WARNING]   org.eclipse.cdt/9.2.0.201702180936
[WARNING]   org.eclipse.cdt.core.native/5.10.0.201702180936
[WARNING]   org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/8.4.0.201702180936
[INFO] Resolving class path of MavenProject: ilg.gnuarmeclipse:ilg.gnuarmeclipse.core:3.3.1-SNAPSHOT @ /Users/ilg/My Files/MacBookPro Projects/GNU ARM Eclipse/plug-ins.git/ilg.gnuarmeclipse.core/pom.xml

Unfortunately I did not find a way to pass this option in the pom files, and it must be passed only on the command line.

To start the Maven build from Eclipse

• select the gnuarmeclipse-parent project
• Eclipse menu → Run → Run Configurations…
• double click the Maven Build enty
• in the Main tab
  • Goals: clean install
  • add a new parameter, name tycho.localArtifacts, value ignore
• click the Apply button
• click the Run button

CDT Wiki

For more details, see https://wiki.eclipse.org/CDT, especially the Getting started with CDT development page.

Last modified on Mon Sep 25 12:10:30 2017 UTC.