Adding a plugin to the build process

From Aptana Development

This page describes how to add a new plugin to the Aptana build process.

Introduction

In Aptana, we have a top-level feature for each of the two "product configurations"-- one for the standalone IDE and one for the Eclipse plugin:

  • com.aptana.ide.feature.rcp -> Stand-alone IDE
  • com.aptana.ide.feature -> Eclipse integration

The IDE feature includes the Eclipse integration, and adds its own pieces, specifically branding and some configuration content. The instructions below explain how to add a plugin to the Aptana build process.

Instructions

To add a plugin to the Aptana build process:

  1. Check the plugin into source control under products/ide/plugins/ .
  2. Update the plugin version to 0.2.milestone.qualifier.

    Image:plugin_qualifier.png

  3. Change the plugin name to %pluginName and the provider name to %providerName. Add a plugin.properties file with the following template, and make sure you add it to the build file (you have to check the box next to it under "source build")

     ###############################################################################
 # Copyright (c) 2005-2006 Aptana, Inc.
 #
 # All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 # are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 # which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 # http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html. If redistributing this code,
 # this entire header must remain intact.
 ###############################################################################
 # plugin.properties
 # contains externalized strings for plugin.xml
 # "%foo" in plugin.xml corresponds to the key "foo" in this file
 # java.io.Properties file (ISO 8859-1 with "\" escapes)
 # This file should be translated.
 pluginName=Aptana FTP Synchronization Provider
 providerName=Aptana, Inc.

    4. Update the build properties to add "qualifier = context".

    Image:plugin_context.png

  4. Add the plugin into the proper feature. If the plugin is specific to the IDE version, add it into com.aptana.ide.feature.rcp. If the plugin is for both the IDE and the Eclipse integrated version, add it to com.aptana.ide.feature.

    Image:plugin_feature.png

  5. Check everything in. If the build doesn't complete in ~5 minutes, it may have caused an error. See Debugging the build process.

Related Topics

Aptana Developer Home

Retrieved from "http://www.aptana.com/dev/index.php/Adding_a_plugin_to_the_build_process"