Eclipse Community Forums: Java Development Tools (JDT) » [Solved] Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works?

Home » Language IDEs » Java Development Tools (JDT) » [Solved] Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works?(Overriding these files change Eclipse's behavior but not the IDE's settings )

[Solved] Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works? [message #1820590]

Thu, 23 January 2020 10:11

Eclipse User

Hi all

I have a task that is to programatically configure an Eclipse code style formatter. Idea is that a developer will check out code from repo and, as part of the build, Eclipse will be configured with the intended settings.

The way I discovered on how to do that is to create or overwrite the files org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs in {$project}/.settings

In my tests in a fresh Eclipse installation, it seems that is working - if i change a property in core.prefs or ui.prefs and refresh the project, they will become active.

However, if I go to Preferences | Java | Code Style | Formatter, the Active profile is still Eclipse [built-in].

So, I am wondering:

1. is this the way to go, to achieve this objective? Or there is a smarter way?

2. why changing the files do not change the Formatter Preferences | Java | Code Style | Formatter? For example, I can see org.eclipse.jdt.core.formatter.lineSplit=200 working when I press CTRL+SHIFT+F, but on the Preferences GUI the value for "maximum line width" is still 120

Many thanks,
Kind regards,
2CH

[Updated on: Mon, 27 January 2020 05:47] by Moderator

Re: Code Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works? [message #1820682 is a reply to message #1820590]

Sun, 26 January 2020 02:28

Eclipse User

Note that many preferences can be specified at workspace/instance scope as well with project scope. The things in the .settings folder are project scoped and you can access those from the Properties context menu of the project.

I wonder why you don't just commit the project scoped preferences (the things in the .settings folder or each project) to the Git repository so they are available when you check out the project?

Re: Code Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works? [message #1820693 is a reply to message #1820682]

Mon, 27 January 2020 02:02

Eclipse User

Hi Ed,

first of all, thanks for your reply!

Quote:

I wonder why you don't just commit the project scoped preferences

Myself, I would just commit the XML file containing the Java Style and every developer would just import it when setting up the environment. However, what was agreed by the majority was to automate this process using a Gradle build script.

In that sense, would you know why creating these two files is not updating the Preferences | Java | Code Style | Formatter window? The Active profile is still Eclipse [built-in].

Thanks!

Re: Code Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works? [message #1820698 is a reply to message #1820693]

Mon, 27 January 2020 03:12

Eclipse User

Yes, because you did not modify the workspace preferences, you modified the project specific preferences for each project. As such, you will not find project-specific preferences via Preference -> Java -> Code Style -> Formatter. You'll only find them in the context menu of the project via Properties -> Java -> Code Style -> Formatter.

Re: Code Format: manual override of org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs and org.eclipse.jdt.ui.prefs works? [message #1820704 is a reply to message #1820698]

Mon, 27 January 2020 05:46

Eclipse User

Fantastic, thanks very much!

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