This document describes how to set up and run a PDE (Plug-in Development Environment) build. PDE build allows automating the plug-in build process through command line. It requires setting up a build directory containing the source plugins/features, a target platform directory containing dependency plugins/features, and a build configuration file. The PDE build is then run with a Java command specifying these directories. This allows automatically building plug-ins and features against the dependencies in the target platform.

1. How to set up and run
PDE build
Owen Ou
@JingwenOwenOu
http://owenou.com/blog/2010/09/19/how-to-set-up-and-run-pde-build/

2. What’s PDE headless
build?
• automation of plug-ins build process
• a bundle that can be executed through command
line => “headless”
• can also manually build it with Eclipse UI =>
“head”
• demo
• source + target platform + build.properties =>
PDE builder => generated build.xml => run
• Maven Tycho (internally running PDE build)

3. Pre-requirement of
PDE build
• three folders:
• build directory
• target platform
• build configuration file

4. Build directory
• where the build actually happens
• where you put your source code

5. Build directory
- build_directory
- plugins
- plugin_to_build_a
- plugin_to_build_b
- ...
- features

6. Target platform
• target platform is a set of pre-built plug-ins
and features
• the “dependencies”
• your plug-ins/features build and run against
the target platform (both compile time and
run time)
• demo

7. Target platform
- target_platform
- plugins
- org.eclipse.core.runtime
- org.eclipse.ui
- ...
- features

8. Build configuration file
• build.propeties
• template in #{eclipseInstall}/plugins/
org.eclipse.pde.build_#{version}/templates/
headless-build/build.properties
• demo

9. Build configuration file
- build_config
- build.properties

10. Running PDE build
> java -jar #{eclipseInstall}/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_#{version}.jar
-application org.eclipse.ant.core.antRunner
-buildfile #{eclipseInstall}/plugins/org.eclipse.pde.build_#{version}/scripts/build.xml
-DbuildDirectory=#{path_to_the_build_directory}
-DbaseLocation=#{path_to_the_target_platform_directory}
-Dbuilder=#{path_to_the_build_configuration_directory}
• -application => the org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications extension point, application entry
point
• -buildfile => productBuild.xml to control pre-build and post-build phases
• -Dbuilder => optional if it exists in current folder

11. Demo: FITpro
https://fitpro.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/
fitpro/Eclipse/trunk/
- build_directory - target_platform - build_config
- plugins - plugins - build.properties
- plugin_to_build_a - org.eclipse.core.runtime
- plugin_to_build_b - org.eclipse.ui
- ... - ...
- features - features
- feature_to_build - org.eclipse.equinox.launcher
- ... - ...

12. Summary
• What have we done?
• set up directory structure (plugins/features)
• plugins/features to build
• target platform
• build.properties
• Equinox’s convention of managing components

13. Further readings:
• http://owenou.com/blog/2010/09/19/how-
to-set-up-and-run-pde-build/
• http://help.eclipse.org/helios/index.jsp?
topic=/org.eclipse.pde.doc.user/tasks/
pde_p2_integration.htm
• PDE build with Rake: https://
fitpro.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/fitpro/
Eclipse/trunk/