Launch Shortcuts

Identifier:

org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts

Description:

This extension point provides support for selection sensitive launching. Extensions register a shortcut which appears in the run and/or debug cascade menus to launch the workbench selection or active editor.

Configuration Markup:

<!ELEMENT extension (shortcut*)>

<!ATTLIST extension

point CDATA #REQUIRED

id CDATA #IMPLIED

name CDATA #IMPLIED>

point - a fully qualified identifier of the target extension point
id - an optional identifier of the extension instance
name - an optional name of the extension instance

<!ELEMENT shortcut (perspective* , contextualLaunch? , enablement? , configurationType* , description*)>

<!ATTLIST shortcut

id CDATA #REQUIRED

modes CDATA #REQUIRED

class CDATA #REQUIRED

label CDATA #REQUIRED

icon CDATA #IMPLIED

category IDREF #IMPLIED

helpContextId CDATA #IMPLIED

path CDATA #IMPLIED

description CDATA #IMPLIED>

id - specifies a unique identifier for this launch shortcut.
modes - specifies a comma-separated list of modes this shortcut supports.
class - specifies the fully qualified name of a class which implements org.eclipse.debug.ui.ILaunchShortcut. New in 3.4, clients can implement org.eclipse.debug.ui.ILaunchShortcut2 to participate in context sensitive launching of resource and non-resource based artifacts.
label - specifies a label used to render this shortcut.
icon - specifies a plugin-relative path to an image used to render this shortcut. Icon is optional because it is up to other plugins (i.e. Views) to render it.
category - specifies the launch configuration type category this shortcut is applicable for. When unspecified, the category is null (default).
helpContextId - an optional identifier that specifies the help context to associate with this launch shortcut
path - an optional menu path used to group launch shortcuts in menus. Launch shortcuts are grouped alphabetically based on the path attribute, and then sorted alphabetically within groups based on the label attribute. When unspecified, a shortcut appears in the last group. This attribute was added in the 3.0.1 release.
description - Provides a human readable description of what the shortcut does (or will do) if the user selects it. A Description provided in this field will apply as the default description for all of the modes listed in the modes attribute. This attribute was added in the 3.3 release.

The perspective element is deprecated

<!ELEMENT perspective EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST perspective

id IDREF #REQUIRED>

The perspective element has been deprecated in the 3.1 release. The top level Run/Debug/Profile cascade menus now support contextual (selection sensitive) launching, and clients should provide a contextualLaunch element instead.

id - the unique identifier of a perspective in which a menu shortcut for this launch shortcut will appear.

<!ELEMENT contextualLaunch (contextLabel* , enablement?)>

Holds all descriptions for adding shortcuts to the selection sensitive Run/Debug/Profile cascade menus. Only objects that provide an org.eclipse.debug.ui.actions.ILaunchable adapter are considered for the cascade menus. The org.eclipse.debug.ui.actions.ILaunchable interface is simply used to tag objects that support contextual launching.

<!ELEMENT contextLabel EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST contextLabel

mode IDREF #REQUIRED

label CDATA #REQUIRED>

Specify the label for a contextual launch mode.

mode - specifies a mode from the set {"run","debug","profile"}
label - specifies the label to appear in the contextual launch menu.

<!ELEMENT configurationType EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST configurationType

id IDREF #IMPLIED>

This element allows more that one associated launch configuration type to be specified for this launch shortcut. This element was added in the 3.3 release.

id - This attribute is the identifier of an existing launch configuration type that is to be associated with this launch shortcut. This association is then used to determine what launch shortcuts apply to what types for context sensitive launching.

<!ELEMENT description EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST description

mode CDATA #REQUIRED

description CDATA #REQUIRED>

Provides a mode specific description for this launch shortcut. This element was added in the 3.3. release.

mode - A launch mode identifier this description applies to. For example, "run".
description - The desciption for this launch shortcut when invoked in the associated mode.

<!ELEMENT enablement (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

A generic root element. The element can be used inside an extension point to define its enablement expression. The children of an enablement expression are combined using the "and" operator.

This element represents a NOT operation on the result of evaluating its sub-element expression.

<!ELEMENT and (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

This element represents an AND operation on the result of evaluating all its sub-elements expressions.

<!ELEMENT or (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

This element represent an OR operation on the result of evaluating all its sub-element expressions.

<!ELEMENT instanceof EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST instanceof

value CDATA #REQUIRED>

This element is used to perform an instanceof check of the object in focus. The expression returns EvaluationResult.TRUE if the object's type is a sub type of the type specified by the attribute value. Otherwise EvaluationResult.FALSE is returned.

value - a fully qualified name of a class or interface.

<!ELEMENT test EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST test

property CDATA #REQUIRED

args CDATA #IMPLIED

value CDATA #IMPLIED

forcePluginActivation (true | false) >

This element is used to evaluate the property state of the object in focus. The set of testable properties can be extended using the org.eclipse.core.expressions.propertyTesters extension point. The test expression returns EvaluationResult.NOT_LOADED if the property tester doing the actual testing isn't loaded yet and the attribute forcePluginActivation is set to false. If forcePluginActivation is set to true and the evaluation context used to evaluate this expression support plug-in activation then evaluating the property will result in activating the plug-in defining the tester.

property - the name of an object's property to test.
args - additional arguments passed to the property tester. Multiple arguments are separated by commas. Each individual argument is converted into a Java base type using the same rules as defined for the value attribute of the test expression.
value - the expected value of the property. Can be omitted if the property is a boolean property (value will be Boolean.TRUE). The test expression is supposed to return EvaluationResult.TRUE if the property matches the value and EvaluationResult.FALSE otherwise. The value attribute is converted into a Java base type using the following rules:
- the string "true" is converted into Boolean.TRUE
- the string "false" is converted into Boolean.FALSE
- if the string contains a dot then the interpreter tries to convert the value into a Float object. If this fails the string is treated as a java.lang.String
- if the string only consists of numbers then the interpreter converts the value into an Integer object.
- in all other cases the string is treated as a java.lang.String
- the conversion of the string into a Boolean, Float, or Integer can be suppressed by surrounding the string with single quotes. For example, the attribute value="'true'" is converted into the string "true"
forcePluginActivation - a flag indicating whether the plug-in contributing the property tester should be loaded if necessary. As such, this flag should be used judiciously, in order to avoid unnecessary plug-in activations. Most clients should avoid setting this flag to true. This flag is only honored if the evaluation context used to evaluate this expression allows plug-in activation. Otherwise the flag is ignored and no plug-in loading takes place.

<!ELEMENT systemTest EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST systemTest

property CDATA #REQUIRED

value CDATA #REQUIRED>

Tests a system property by calling the System.getProperty method and compares the result with the value specified through the value attribute.

property - the name of an system property to test.
value - the expected value of the property. The value is interpreted as a string value.

<!ELEMENT equals EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST equals

value CDATA #REQUIRED>

This element is used to perform an equals check of the object in focus. The expression returns EvaluationResult.TRUE if the object is equal to the value provided by the attribute value. Otherwise EvaluationResult.FALSE is returned.

value - the expected value. The value provided as a string is converted into a Java base type using the same rules as for the value attribute of the test expression.

<!ELEMENT count EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST count

value CDATA #REQUIRED>

This element is used to test the number of elements in a collection.

value - an expression to specify the number of elements in a list. Following wildcard characters can be used:

*

any number of elements

?

no elements or one element

+

one or more elements

!

no elements

-N)

less than N elements

(N-

greater than N elements

integer value

the list must contain the exact number of elements

<!ELEMENT with (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

<!ATTLIST with

variable CDATA #REQUIRED>

This element changes the object to be inspected for all its child element to the object referenced by the given variable. If the variable can not be resolved then the expression will throw an ExpressionException when evaluating it. The children of a with expression are combined using the "and" operator.

variable - the name of the variable to be used for further inspection. It is up to the evaluator of an extension point to provide the variable in the variable pool.

<!ELEMENT resolve (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

<!ATTLIST resolve

variable CDATA #REQUIRED

args CDATA #IMPLIED>

This element changes the object to be inspected for all its child element to the object referenced by the given variable. If the variable can not be resolved then the expression will throw an ExpressionException when evaluating it. The children of a resolve expression are combined using the "and" operator.

variable - the name of the variable to be resolved. This variable is then used as the object in focus for child element evaluation. It is up to the evaluator of an extension point to provide a corresponding variable resolver (see IVariableResolver) through the evaluation context passed to the root expression element when evaluating the expression.
args - additional arguments passed to the variable resolver. Multiple arguments are separated by commas. Each individual argument is converted into a Java base type using the same rules as defined for the value attribute of the test expression.

<!ELEMENT adapt (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

<!ATTLIST adapt

type CDATA #REQUIRED>

This element is used to adapt the object in focus to the type specified by the attribute type. The expression returns EvaluationResult.NOT_LOADED if either the adapter or the type referenced isn't loaded yet. It throws an ExpressionException during evaluation if the type name doesn't exist at all. The children of an adapt expression are combined using the "and" operator.

type - the type to which the object in focus is to be adapted.

<!ELEMENT iterate (not , and , or , instanceof , test , systemTest , equals , count , with , resolve , adapt , iterate , reference)*>

<!ATTLIST iterate

operator (or|and)

ifEmpty (true | false) >

This element is used to iterate over a variable that is of type java.util.Collection, or a variable that adapts to org.eclipse.core.expressions.IIterable. If the object in focus is not one of the above then a CoreException with an ExpressionStatus will be thrown while evaluating the expression. The child expressions of an iterate expression are combined using the "and" operator.

operator - either "and" or "or". The operator defines how the results of all the child expressions applied to each child of the Collection or IIterable will be combined and what (if any) short circuit evaluation will be used. If not specified, "and" will be used.
ifEmpty - the value returned from the "iterate" expression if the collection is empty. If not specified then EvaluationResult.TRUE is returned when the operator equals "and" and EvaluationResult.FALSE is returned if the operator equals "or".

<!ELEMENT reference EMPTY>

<!ATTLIST reference

definitionId IDREF #REQUIRED>

This element is used to reference an expression from the org.eclipse.core.expressions.definitions extension point. The expression definition will be evaluated within the current expression element using the current evaluation context.

definitionId - The unique id of an expression from org.eclipse.core.expressions.definitions.

Examples:

The following is an example of the Java Application launch shortcut contribution with an enablement expression, an associated launch configuration type id and descriptions for run and debug mode:


 <extension point="org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts">
  <shortcut
    label="Java Application"
    icon="$nl$/icons/full/etool16/java_app.png"
    helpContextId="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.shortcut_local_java_application"
    modes="run, debug"
    class="org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.JavaApplicationLaunchShortcut"
    description="Launch a local Java application"
    id="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.localJavaShortcut">
    <description
     description="Runs a local Java application"
     mode="run">
    </description>
    <description
     description="Debugs a local Java application"
     mode="debug">
    </description>
  <contextualLaunch>
  <enablement>
    <with variable="selection">
     <count value="1"/>
      <iterate>
       <or>
        <test property="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.hasMain"/>
         <and>
          <test property="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.isContainer"/>
          <test property="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.hasProjectNature" args="org.eclipse.jdt.core.javanature"/>
         </and>
        </or>
      </iterate>
     </with>
  </enablement>
  </contextualLaunch>
  <configurationType
    id="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.localJavaApplication">
  </configurationType>
  </shortcut>
</extension>

In the above example, a launch shortcut will be shown in the run and debug cascade menus with the label "Java Application". Furthermore, the shortcut will only appear if the selected item contains a main method or is a Java project, and has an org.eclipse.debug.ui.actions.ILaunchable adapter.

For more information on property testers see org.eclipse.core.expressions.PropertyTester

API Information:

Value of the attribute class must be a fully qualified name of a Java class that implements the interface org.eclipse.debug.ui.ILaunchShortcut. New in 3.4, clients can implement org.eclipse.debug.ui.ILaunchShortcut2 to participate in context sensitive launching of resource and non-resource based artifacts.

Since 3.1, the debug platform registers a command handler for each launch shortcut and its applicable modes to allow clients to define key-bindings for a launch shortcut. The command id for a handler is generated as the launch shortcut id attribute, followed by a dot and the applicable launch mode. For example, the command id for the above launch shortcut example would be com.example.ExampleLaunchShortcutId.debug for launching in debug mode. A command and key binding could be defined as follows, to bind "ALT-SHIFT-D, E" to the launch shortcut.


   <extension point="org.eclipse.ui.commands">
      <command
            name="Debug Example Launch"
            description="Debug Example Launch"
            categoryId="org.eclipse.debug.ui.category.run"
            id="com.example.ExampleLaunchShortcutId.debug">
      </command>
      <keyBinding
            keySequence="M3+M2+D E"
            contextId="org.eclipse.ui.globalScope"
            commandId="com.example.ExampleLaunchShortcutId.debug"
            keyConfigurationId="org.eclipse.ui.defaultAcceleratorConfiguration">
      </keyBinding>
   </extension>

Since 3.3, launch shortcuts can now indicate what kind of launch configuration(s) they will create using the configurationType element. In the event that a given launch shortcut can create more than one type of launch configuration, more than one type can be specified using this element.
Example:


 <extension point="org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts">
      <shortcut
            class="MyShortcut"
            description="Launches a simple program"
            id="myShortcut"
            label="My Shortcut"
            modes="run">
         <configurationType 
          id="mylaunchtypes">
         </configurationType>
      </shortcut>
   </extension>

Since 3.3, launch shortcuts can provdie a human readable description. This is used to aid novice users during the context launching process when they are presented with a listing of launch shortcuts to choose from.
Descriptions can be provided in one of two ways:

A general description can be provided for the shortcut, which will apply to all modes that the shortcut supports
Each description can be specified for a specific mode

Example of general description which applies to run and debug modes:


 <shortcut
            class="MyShortcut"
            description="Launches a simple program"
            id="myShortcut"
            label="My Shortcut"
            modes="run, debug">
      </shortcut>
   </extension>

Example of a description for the run mode only:


 <extension point="org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts">
      <shortcut
            class="MyShortcut"
            id="myShortcut"
            label="My Shortcut"
            modes="run, debug">
         <description
               description="Runs a simple program"
               mode="run">
         </description>
      </shortcut>
   </extension>

Supplied Implementation:

No launch shortcuts are provided by the platform. Note that although launch shortcuts do not have to be associated with a specific launch configuration type, launch shortcut menus will not appear unless there is at least one launch configuration type that supports a shortcut's launch mode(s).

Copyright (c) 2000, 2007 IBM Corporation and others.
This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v20.html/ SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0