Chris Aniszczyk's (zx) diatribe

I was clearing out my workspace this morning and noticed a sample plug-in left over from the Eclipse in Motion: Raleigh code camp. The question asked at the code camp was how to popup a dialog when the Eclipse workbench starts. The answer lies in the org.eclipse.ui.startup extension point.

Implement the IStartup interface, for example:

public class MyStartup implements IStartup {

public void earlyStartup() {
Display.getDefault().syncExec(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
MessageDialog.openInformation(
Display.getDefault().getActiveShell(), “Title”, “Message”);
}
});
}

}

I also want to mention that this will force your plugin to activate on startup which isn’t a great thing to do.

As some of you may know, I just love the work going on in the GMF project (it makes a strong case for MDA imho) . GMF 1.0M5 (new and noteworthy) recently came out and offers some new stuff like a dashboard page (gives a good summary on how GMF works from a high-level) to help you get started.

I’m reposting a snippet that Marcel Paternostro (an EMF committer) posted on the newsgroups today regarding EMF at EclipseCon (hint, EMF is one of my favorite projects):

Mon
===

** Introduction to the Eclipse Modeling Framework
Dave Steinberg and Nick Boldt
8:30, 3 hours 30 minutes – Ballroom F

** Advanced Features of the Eclipse Modeling Framework
Kenn Hussey and Marcelo Paternostro
Monday, 13:30, 3 hours 30 minutes – Room 209

Tue
===

EMF ChangeRecorders
Radha Popuri
16:24 – Ballroom EF

Wed
===

** XML Binding with the Eclipse Modeling Framework
Ed Merks (IBM)
15:15 – Room 209&210

Textual Notation for EMF Models: A Generative Approach
Artem Tikhomirov
16:24 – Theater

Thu
===

Unconventional but Simple: Annotations to Customize EMF Editors
Michael Scharf
13:18 – Room 209&210

Here’s a reminder that the Eclipse in Motion: Raleigh edition is coming up on the 28th. I have a eRCP in 15 minutes presentation prepared if we have time to go into it at the code camp. It all depends how prepared everyone is with questions 🙂

Also, feel free to shoot me an email if you’re in the area to discuss Eclipse/Open-source over coffee (or a beer).

In an email sent to eclipse-dev, Doug Pollock reminds us that we should try to build a nice community for Eclipse on IRC

This is just a note to try to encourage Eclipse committers to use IRC. It’s an excellent public forum — both for helping users and for getting to know other committers. We’re on Freenode (irc.freenode.net) and we maintain the following channels:
#eclipse – questions from plug-in developers and users
#eclipse-dev – Eclipse committer discussion and socializing
#eclipse-commits – lists all commits as they come in (cia.navi.cx)

We are also now registered as a group with Freenode.

So, please give it an honest try. The more people we have in #eclipse, the more people will likely get a quick response to their question.

I haven’t been able to write much lately (I’m on the job transition phase of my life), but here’s an interesting tidbit of Eclipse trivia. Guess who owned Eclipse.org before Eclipse did?

The Halo Feature Challenge finally got accepted @ EclipseCON.

Thank you Eclipse Foundation.

For those who are interested, Donald Smith has mentioned that there is a game developers conference in San Jose the same week as EclipseCON.

Hey guys, there’s this thing called IRC, you should really check it out. I don’t know if IRC usage is a Linux thing, but there seems to be a void of Eclipse people on IRC.

Do you want fast answers to your Eclipse-related questions?
Do you want to kill some time bitching about the latest build?

Well then, please check #eclipse @ irc.freenode.net

If you use firefox, there’s this neat plugin called ChatZilla which brings IRC to your browser. Install it, then just click the link found on this posting to get your Eclipse IRC on.

I should also mention (since I’m a committer) that ECF has a basic IRC provider available for download.

Also, since Gunnar posted his pictures, I’ll post one of mine 🙂

The Eclipse Community Awards are now open for voting.

I noticed that a free beer coupon greeted me when I submitted my votes.

Here’s how to sell someone on EclipseCON (from IRC)
[10:11] <ldog> anyone have any thoughts on eclipsecon vs. java one? I gotta make a decision soon on which one to go to
[10:11] <ldog> never been to either
[10:27] <zx|work> ldog, I heard there’s going to be free beer at EclipseCON
[10:29] <ldog> zx|work, SOLD!

Go vote and get your beer!

The next release of Eclipse will include a new sexy properties view. Do get an idea of what I mean, take a look at this before and after.

Before:

After:

Oh my! There’s an upcoming article that will cover how to use this new properties view.