The OpenOffice.org development plugin for Eclipse is still alive

Version 1.0.2 released

This new version contains a few changes with the previous one, but will be quite important for users. The OpenOffice.org development plugin for Eclipse took some lessons from my previous experience of UNO and the URE:

• All the files generated from IDL files are in a build directory

• The generated UNO-IDL project classpath has been extended with

• • JRE libraries (was forgotten)

  • build directory with the generated class files

The other main changes are concerning the plugin development. The plugin online help has now a small structure and the Javadoc API will be integrated into this help. Now the documentation have to be written and the Javadoc API completed to help new developers.

Creating an Eclipse update site

This new version comes with a new build organization: there is no more need for Eclipse feature and site projects to produce an update site. There is only to execute the ant build.xml file to generate it. Afterwards, just copy the following file and unzip it to get your update site.

bin/ant/ooeclipseintegration_site.zip

For example, to create the http://sample.org/ooeclipseintegration update site, we will unzip the file on the server and put an 'ooeclipseintegration' alias to the directory where we unzipped the file.

Before executing the ant script, you have to change some properties to make it fit to your platform:

<property name="eclipse.home" value="/path/to/eclipse/directory" />

<property name="openoffice.home" value="/path/to/openoffice.org2.0/directory" />

What could be done...

With this script, it would be great to have a page on the OpenOffice.org API project, to explain the different steps to install the plugin an provide an update site... This would give more visibility to the project and it would be easier for users to remember an url like http://api.openoffice.org/ooeclipseintegration instead of searching the web in order to find the plugin.

The next steps

Now, there is still many features to add to this plugin. For example, URE support, C++ and python languages supports, some other wizards, integrating the skeletonmaker. However the most urgent to do now is to improve the plugin to help other people to help developping with me, which means:

• Reviewing all the Javadoc API comments and complete them

• Filling the online help pages that have just been created

• • a user manual

  • reiviewing the cheatsheets and adding other ones

• Refactoring the UnoIdlProject class to easily add a new language

• • An extension point

  • Fragments for new languages

• The french translation as an example for other ones

So, don't be too impatient, this will be done in a indetermined delay ;)