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Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475609]

Tue, 02 June 2009 21:37

Mark Melvin

Messages: 118
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

Hi There,

I was wondering if it was at all possible to render content from a file
that is located outside of any plugin. For example, if I wanted my TOC to
refer to file that was located alongside the eclipse.exe executable in the
root 'eclipse' folder, is there any way to do this - either via dynamic
content producers, filters, or even Javascript?

Thanks,
Mark.

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475610 is a reply to message #475609]

Tue, 02 June 2009 21:44

Chris Goldthorpe

Messages: 815
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

A content producer would be the best way to do this. Anything you can
write in Java can be done in a content producer. As you have probably
already figured out the paths in the URLs used by the help system are
always interpreted as referring to a plug-in and do not represent
physical locations on the file system.

Mark Melvin wrote:
> Hi There,
>
> I was wondering if it was at all possible to render content from a file
> that is located outside of any plugin. For example, if I wanted my TOC
> to refer to file that was located alongside the eclipse.exe executable
> in the root 'eclipse' folder, is there any way to do this - either via
> dynamic content producers, filters, or even Javascript?
>
> Thanks,
> Mark.
>

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475617 is a reply to message #475610]

Wed, 03 June 2009 13:30

Mark Melvin

Messages: 118
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

Thanks, Curtis. This is what I was playing with yesterday. I guess the
problem is, all of my doc plugins currently declare a binding on the
'org.eclipse.help.dynamic' content producer and it looks like you can only
have one producer per plugin. Hmm...maybe I could isolate it in another
plugin and contribute to anchors.

Do you know if there is an example anywhere of a Java-based content
producer? What class is behind 'org.eclipse.help.dynamic'? I've been
looking but haven't been able to find the extension declared anywhere.

Thanks,
Mark.

Chris Goldthorpe wrote:

> A content producer would be the best way to do this. Anything you can
> write in Java can be done in a content producer. As you have probably
> already figured out the paths in the URLs used by the help system are
> always interpreted as referring to a plug-in and do not represent
> physical locations on the file system.

> Mark Melvin wrote:
>> Hi There,
>>
>> I was wondering if it was at all possible to render content from a file
>> that is located outside of any plugin. For example, if I wanted my TOC
>> to refer to file that was located alongside the eclipse.exe executable
>> in the root 'eclipse' folder, is there any way to do this - either via
>> dynamic content producers, filters, or even Javascript?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mark.
>>

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475620 is a reply to message #475617]

Wed, 03 June 2009 14:07

Mark Melvin

Messages: 118
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

OK, a little elbow grease has shown that opening a file outside of a
plugin is actually very easy. I guess all I need to sort out is the
'single content producer' limitation.

Mark.

Mark Melvin wrote:

> Thanks, Curtis. This is what I was playing with yesterday. I guess the
> problem is, all of my doc plugins currently declare a binding on the
> 'org.eclipse.help.dynamic' content producer and it looks like you can only
> have one producer per plugin. Hmm...maybe I could isolate it in another
> plugin and contribute to anchors.

> Do you know if there is an example anywhere of a Java-based content
> producer? What class is behind 'org.eclipse.help.dynamic'? I've been
> looking but haven't been able to find the extension declared anywhere.

> Thanks,
> Mark.

> Chris Goldthorpe wrote:

>> A content producer would be the best way to do this. Anything you can
>> write in Java can be done in a content producer. As you have probably
>> already figured out the paths in the URLs used by the help system are
>> always interpreted as referring to a plug-in and do not represent
>> physical locations on the file system.

>> Mark Melvin wrote:
>>> Hi There,
>>>
>>> I was wondering if it was at all possible to render content from a file
>>> that is located outside of any plugin. For example, if I wanted my TOC
>>> to refer to file that was located alongside the eclipse.exe executable
>>> in the root 'eclipse' folder, is there any way to do this - either via
>>> dynamic content producers, filters, or even Javascript?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mark.
>>>

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475623 is a reply to message #475620]

Wed, 03 June 2009 14:42

Mark Melvin

Messages: 118
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

Hi Curtis,

Debugging the source and playing around a bit seems to indicate to me
that, despite what the docs say, in Eclipse 3.5 binding to
"org.eclipse.help.dynamic" is no longer required for xhtml content. Is
this true, or am I missing something? Is there a bug I can CC myself on
that covers this?

Mark.

Mark Melvin wrote:

> OK, a little elbow grease has shown that opening a file outside of a
> plugin is actually very easy. I guess all I need to sort out is the
> 'single content producer' limitation.

> Mark.

> Mark Melvin wrote:

>> Thanks, Curtis. This is what I was playing with yesterday. I guess the
>> problem is, all of my doc plugins currently declare a binding on the
>> 'org.eclipse.help.dynamic' content producer and it looks like you can only
>> have one producer per plugin. Hmm...maybe I could isolate it in another
>> plugin and contribute to anchors.

>> Do you know if there is an example anywhere of a Java-based content
>> producer? What class is behind 'org.eclipse.help.dynamic'? I've been
>> looking but haven't been able to find the extension declared anywhere.

>> Thanks,
>> Mark.

>> Chris Goldthorpe wrote:

>>> A content producer would be the best way to do this. Anything you can
>>> write in Java can be done in a content producer. As you have probably
>>> already figured out the paths in the URLs used by the help system are
>>> always interpreted as referring to a plug-in and do not represent
>>> physical locations on the file system.

>>> Mark Melvin wrote:
>>>> Hi There,
>>>>
>>>> I was wondering if it was at all possible to render content from a file
>>>> that is located outside of any plugin. For example, if I wanted my TOC
>>>> to refer to file that was located alongside the eclipse.exe executable
>>>> in the root 'eclipse' folder, is there any way to do this - either via
>>>> dynamic content producers, filters, or even Javascript?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Mark.
>>>>

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475626 is a reply to message #475623]

Wed, 03 June 2009 20:38

Chris Goldthorpe

Messages: 815
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

I'm guessing the question was intended for me and not Curtis. I'm not
sure why that binding would be required. As far as I can tell everything
including search works fine without it. I just did a search in the help
source files and found no matches for "org.eclipse.help.dynamic" except
in the tests which also implies that it is not needed.

Mark Melvin wrote:
> Hi Curtis,
>
> Debugging the source and playing around a bit seems to indicate to me
> that, despite what the docs say, in Eclipse 3.5 binding to
> "org.eclipse.help.dynamic" is no longer required for xhtml content. Is
> this true, or am I missing something? Is there a bug I can CC myself on
> that covers this?
>
> Mark.
>

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Re: Link to a file outside the plugins folder [message #475631 is a reply to message #475626]

Wed, 03 June 2009 22:08

Mark Melvin

Messages: 118
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

Oops. Sorry, Chris! :S
Too many emails, bug reports, etc. going on...

Yes, it seems a little weird that it is documented all over the place,
even in bug reports, but it doesn't appear to be required at all. I did
try to go back and look at the CVS commit logs to see if there was any
explanation as to where this came from (or when it disappeared) and came
up empty.

If anyone knows the story behind it I'd love to hear about it. I'll file
a bug about removing it from the documentation.

Thanks,
Mark.

Chris Goldthorpe wrote:

> I'm guessing the question was intended for me and not Curtis. I'm not
> sure why that binding would be required. As far as I can tell everything
> including search works fine without it. I just did a search in the help
> source files and found no matches for "org.eclipse.help.dynamic" except
> in the tests which also implies that it is not needed.

> Mark Melvin wrote:
>> Hi Curtis,
>>
>> Debugging the source and playing around a bit seems to indicate to me
>> that, despite what the docs say, in Eclipse 3.5 binding to
>> "org.eclipse.help.dynamic" is no longer required for xhtml content. Is
>> this true, or am I missing something? Is there a bug I can CC myself on
>> that covers this?
>>
>> Mark.
>>

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