Eclipse Plugin that allows the execution of REPL Groovy Scripts (in the current Eclipse Instance) and Fluent API for Eclipse+SWT

For the past 6 months I have been working on an Eclipse plugin that implements a Groovy REPL that makes it very easy to learn Eclipse and SWT.

I also started the creation of a fluent API for Eclipse and SWT, in order to reduce the amount of code that needs to be written when creating Eclipse plugins.

The plan is to release the next version of this plugin as an kind of Eclipse Plugin Builder, but it is already quite usable in the current state.

Viewing Eclipse and SWT objects (Workbench, Display and Shell) using Groovy's ObjectBrowser and using TeamMentor's Plugin ObjectBrowser

Using the Groovy REPL included in TeamMentor's Eclipse Plugin (see update site and more info here, here, and here) it is possible to view in real time a number of Eclipse/SWT objects (for example the Workbench, Display or Shell )

Using Groovy's ObjectBrowser:

Let's start with Groovy's ObjectBrowser which I used to use just about every day, since it gave me access to a live view of an particular Object's Fields, Properties (from getters) and Methods.

Eclipse Groovy REPL - Open TeamMentor Article in multiple formats

Part of the new TeamMentor Fortify Eclipse plugin v1.6.0 (update site here, installation instructions here) is a really powerful TeamMentor and Eclipse API which can be easily accessed via the included Groovy REPL.

In this first post (of several in this topic) I will show how to use the APIs to Open TeamMentor Article in multiple formats


The first step is to open the Util - Write Script (TeamMentor DSL) view (which is the name of the provided Groovy REPL) using the TeamMentor menu (note that the Advanced mode features config property needs to be checked, or the Advanced and Debug Features sub-menu will not be visible):

Using JRebel to HotSwap new Static String fields in an Eclipse Plugin (without Eclipse restart)

After Installing, compiling and failing to use DCE VM for Eclipse Plugin development it was time to give JRebel a go (which is a commercial plugin that costs about ~300 USD per year).

TLDR: It worked and I was able to run an Eclipse Plugin, make big changes in a class already loaded (like adding a new field/method), and have access to those changes without needing to restart Eclipse.

Installing Gradle on OSX

Gradle is a build automation solution which can be downloaded from http://www.gradle.org/downloads and is an really powerful 'Groovy based' way to automate builds.

The download is made available (in Dec 2013) as a zip file, but for OSX there are is not 'installer script', so here is how I just set it up on my dev OSX laptop:

Opening up a native Chrome Browser window inside Eclipse (raw version)

On the Win32 Window’s Hijack theme, here is a raw version of how to show an actual Chrome browser window inside an Eclipse view (ie. a window from a C++ process inside a JVM-based Process).

Using the Groovy execution capabilities described in the Programming Eclipse in Real-Time (using an 'Groovy based' Eclipse Plug-in) post, in Eclipse, I start by creating an instance of a SWT panel and get its handle:

Running Groovy natively in .NET using IKVM

I’m really getting into Groovy (see also Programming Eclipse in Real-Time (using an 'Groovy based' Eclipse Plug-in)), but one problem is that Groovy runs natively on the JVM!

And although I could use Jni4Net to create a bridge between a JVM and the CLR, it would be much nicer if I could write Groovy scripts under the CLR (with live access the FluentSharp APIs and O2 created objects).

And by using IKVM I was able to do exactly that :)

I was able to convert the main Groovy jar JVM bytecode into .NET CLR bytecode, and evaluate Groovy scripts directly in C# (i.e. without a JVM loaded in the current process). For more O2 usage of the amazing IKVM API's see Util - O2 Java Tools (IKVM Based) v1.0 


Evaluating an Groovy script in .NET:

After created the groovy-all-2.1.6.dll .Net IKVM dll (see Appendix 1) Creating groovy-all-2.1.6.dll below), I was able to consume it (in O2’s C# REPL) like this:

Programming Eclipse in Real-Time (using an 'Groovy based' Eclipse Plug-in)

While working on an Eclipse plugin to integrate TeamMentor with Fortify, it was driving me crazy to have to deal with the loop of:

• Write the code in the main Eclipse instance (hosting the Eclipse plug-in project)
• Start the Eclipse plug-in project (in debug mode)
• Wait about 1 minute for the 2nd instance of Eclipse to start
• See the changes
• Make some fixes
• If I’m luck they will be in a place that can be done (in the hosting Eclipse instance) without a restart of the 2nd eclipse
• If I’m not lucky, go back to step one