Eclipse repository version, and drag & drop

[timonoj]

Hi guys, I have a bit tricky question...

I installed the Eclipse version available in their official homepage, instead the repo version. That was due to some problems integrating it with the Android SDK (later on I saw how it should be done). So the issue is, due to Eclipse not being integrated with Kubuntu, I can't do something as simple as drag & drop in order to add files to my project (such as audio loops, images, etc). Instead, I have to manually navigate to the project folder with dolphin, put the file there, and hit refresh on Eclipse. I guess there's an easier way, I just couldn't figure it out yet. I reckon the repo version of eclipse for Kubuntu should have all this issues solved anyway.

So I'd like to migrate everything from the current non-kubuntu eclipse to the repo version. But first I'd like to install the repo version and make sure I can work it out, and then migrate the files. Is it possible to have the two versions installed at the same time, using the same folder for the Android SDK? In my understanding, as long as they're not running at the same time, it shouldn't be any problem (as the SDK is independent from eclipse). What's your opinion on this? Can it be done?

Thank you!

[timonoj]

Nobody?

[james147]

My first thoughts are: bahhg eclipse

Second, backup your projects and workspaces before you try anything

Having two version installed shouldn't be a problem (assuming they are in two locations) if they are the same version (or at least similar)... I know eclipse likes to store its settings all over the place... some in the workspace, some in user config files (somewhere in your home directory, whats really weird is it wants to store the colour settings half in the workspace and half in the user configs... makes it hell for trying to use a common project on two colour schemes ... but that's another issue) make sure you backup all of these just in case you need to revert (ahh, how I enjoy btrfs subvolume snapshot for things like this ).

As for migration of files, I am not sure you need to do anything as eclipse should store its configs in the users home dir, so shouldn't matter where you run it from... just install it from the repos, add on the android sdk and your projects should be fine (though this is eclipse... so anything could happen).

[SecretCode]

I had some thoughts but most of them were "I should reinstall Eclipse" ... so I'm not exactly ready with current advice.

After some initial messing around, I have always installed Eclipse on Linux directly from the eclipse.org downloads to /opt without using the repositories. Yes, it is possible to have multiple versions of Eclipse installed currently - but I think only one from the repositories because it will fix the installation paths. I got into the habit of having separate installs for each language/SDK (Java, Perl, Android) - each install is only another few 100 MB!

I don't recall any drag-and-drop issues ... but I was not in the habit of doing much anyway.

[timonoj]

Thank you for your info! Definitely I'll try to install the repo version and see if it works better than the one running right now. And I'll make a backup of everything. Or two
I also have a question: When you despise Eclipse as IDE, which alternative would you think for developing android? Is there better software I'm not aware of? Thank you!

[SecretCode]

The Android folks definitely recommend Eclipse. You can use other IDEs (as I understand) but you'll have to work out manual alternatives to some of the ADT tools.

Personally, I think Eclipse is great! I'm just not doing any development just yet.

[timonoj]

Ok, I've had some issues. When I try to add the ADT plug-in, I know it will also need files from the Indigo repositories, so I have both android plugin and indigo respositories ticked. And it fails to get the information from the repository, it says it can't reach it, times out. If I manually navigate to http://download.eclipse.org/releases/indigo, I'll reach the page with no problem. And I don't have any firewall nor proxy. Do you know what could be happening?

Thank you!

[timonoj]

Okay, this is weirder. If I just run eclipse from the menu, or by typing in the console "eclipse", I'll get to the version that gives me trouble. Instead of reaching the menu help-install new software, I have to go to Help - Software updates - find and install. And there's where my problems start.

On the other hand, if I run sudo eclipse, it will load again, but in the help menu, I can find the "install new software". Furthermore, running with sudo, it will find the repository and download everything! However it won't remain for the normal version, as I reckon it saves the files in a different profile folder (where?! can't find it!).

So...How could I grant the same network privileges to Eclipse so it connects without a hitch? I read this in a very long thread of support for a guy running a mac. I don't know how I came up with the idea that maybe under root I'd be able to connect, but it actually does.

[james147]

sudo eclipse

You should NOT do this... it runs it as root with full permissions to do anything it feels like to your computer... Also, running sudo for gui applications can cause files in your home folder to be written as root, which i have seen cause the login loop problem (where loggin in causes you to logout again ^^ ) if you need to run a gui program as root use "kdesudo <program>" not sudo. But eclipse should NOT require root to run ever... if it dose then there is a permissions problem somewhere, probably in your home, probably caused by you doing something like this before...

Remember, sudo give a program permission to do what ever it feels like on your computer, it should only be used when a program requires it (ie when it needs to manipulate system files, which eclipse should not need to do ever).

I suggest running a

sudo chown USER:GROUP -R ~

to change ownership of your home directory (and all subdirectories/files) to your user. Replacing USER:GROUP with the user and group you want to own it.

Note: the roots home directory is at /root

[SecretCode]

As soon as I get some free time from work I'll be installing Eclipse (I only have on another partition that I'm not using much any more) and the Android SDK.

But that could be weeks ...

[timonoj]

You should NOT do this... it runs it as root with full permissions to do anything it feels like to your computer... Also, running sudo for gui applications can cause files in your home folder to be written as root, which i have seen cause the login loop problem (where loggin in causes you to logout again ^^ ) if you need to run a gui program as root use "kdesudo <program>" not sudo. But eclipse should NOT require root to run ever... if it dose then there is a permissions problem somewhere, probably in your home, probably caused by you doing something like this before...

Remember, sudo give a program permission to do what ever it feels like on your computer, it should only be used when a program requires it (ie when it needs to manipulate system files, which eclipse should not need to do ever).

I suggest running a

sudo chown USER:GROUP -R ~

to change ownership of your home directory (and all subdirectories/files) to your user. Replacing USER:GROUP with the user and group you want to own it.

Note: the roots home directory is at /root

Yeah, I understand the basics under you should NOT use root unless you really have to do system changes. But it seems there is some network issue under the user eclipse runs in, that doesn't seem to be there when it runs under root. I didn't write any redirection rule nor any modification, everything on network remains by default. I never had any connection issues.

Also, I did what you suggested:

sudo chown timonoj:timonoj -R ~timonoj

(I didn't know the group where my user belongs has the same name as the user...). Still have the same issues, apparently.


EDIT: Apparently it's solved! After changing the permissions it didn't work, but I saw sometimes it can help to delete Delete ~/.eclipse/org.eclipse.platform_3.7.0_155965261. Did so, and after booting eclipse again, already the menu to install new software was right in the help menu. I didn't have to install anything though, as it already recognizes the SDK. I think maybe this is also the settings folder from the official eclipse? I'm gonna try the last step...Erasing (previous backup) the eclipse I manually downloaded and installed from the website.
EDIT2: Aaaand its solved. Mostly. After erasing /home/timonoj/eclipse folder (where I installed the eclipse I downloaded manually), the Kubuntu eclipse keeps loading, working and compiling my projects successfully.
BUT: I still lack drag & drop. I guess I missed ridiculously obvious, but I don't seem to be able to drag files from the dolphin file explorer to the eclipse window, so they get copied into the project :/