Installing the Eclipse 2.1 Development Environment Under Windows

It is possible to run Eclipse and debug on SuperWaba applications on your local machine without having to follow all these instructions. The method for configuring a SuperWaba project under Eclipse is in the SuperWabaSDK documentation. This method is lifted from http://www.comp.mq.edu.au/units/itec824/stepbystep.html

If you want to use the Eclipse development environment when writing your code, then you need to download the following files (also provided on the Eclipse CD, if you have one):

• eclipse-SDK-2.1.1-win32.zip
• org.eclipse.cdt-win32_1.1.0.bin.dist.zip

To install, unzip the main eclipse zip file (the first one) into your Program Files folder - it will create a folder called eclipse. Once you've done this, you can unzip the second zip file into the eclipse directory, and it will then install the files necessary for C development.

However, in order for Eclipse to run, it requires a Java runtime to be present. If you're installing from the CD, you can simply install the version of the Java SDK provided on the CD. Otherwise, you can download a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/download.html. After running the install program for either the SDK or the JRE, you can then run eclipse.

In order to make eclipse run more efficiently for you, you might wish to move its "workspace" folder, which is where it will put all of your project files. If you are the only user of your computer, this should not be necessary, but otherwise, you may want to follow these directions:

1. Create a shortcut on your desktop to the eclipse executable, which you should find in C:\Program Files\Eclipse.
2. Right-click on the shortcut, and select "properties".
3. There should be a field which says "Start in". Edit this field (or use the file navigator) so that it points to the location where you want eclipse to place its workspace files. If you are on a multi-user machine, it is probable that this cannot be inside the Program Files folder, so you might want to put it in My Documents, for example.

Getting the Palm OS debugger to work with Eclipse

The default version of the debugger which comes with PRC-Tools will not talk properly to Eclipse. You'll need to replace this with a more recent version of GDB which we've compiled for you.

Download the file m68k-palmos-gdb.exe.bz2 (any link ?), or copy it from the resource CD, and put it in your cygwin root directory C:\cygwin. Now, open the cygwin command shell and execute the following commands:

      cd /
      bunzip2 m68k-palmos-gdb.exe.bz2
      mv m68k-palmos-gdb.exe /bin

Now, when you setup a debugger profile in Eclipse, you should tell it to use the application m68k-palmos-gdb and create a file called .gdbinit, in the root directory of any Palm OS project you want to debug, which contains only the two lines:

      define run
      target palmos

Now you can find a worthy project and start on it.

But What If My project Is Under CVS?

No problem, even if you're using Eclipse 3.0 latest. First, check out your CVS'd project into a known directory where you don't mind it living for a while. Then from the File menu select New Project. Click on Java Project and then Next. Name the project to suit personal taste, then clear the Use default checkbox and Browse for the directory you put the CVS'd project in. If you only want to use an independent component of a project, it is OK to select a subdirectory of the project. Continue configuring the project as per the SuperWabaSDK documentation.

When you have finished, right click on your project in the Package Explorer and select the Team/Share Project... submenu. You'll be asked for your CVS account details and the project will be synchronised. It is advisable to right click the project in the Package Explorer, pick the "CVS" item and check the box that suggests it will use CVS when editing. This will allow you to use the Team functions to edit the package from Eclipse under CVS.

Under Default Package in the Package Explorer you will now find your source files. Use right click and Team to edit, commit and update your files through CVS. If you ticked the edit box as above, Eclipse will automatically check out files for you as you edit them, and will watch for conflicts.

-- VikOlliver - 7 Jan 2004