==> DO NOT USE THE ABOVE LINK TO DOWNLOAD! USE ECLIPSE-> HELP-> INSTALL
This is the Alpha version of the Eclipse NetRexx plugin.
Current Status (26 Oct 2011):
Plugin version 2.0.7.v20111026 is now available.
New or Different for plugin version 2.0.5:
Bug fix
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Status (25 Oct 2011):
Plugin version 2.0.5.v20111025 is now available.
New or Different for plugin version 2.0.5:
Two new preference pages have been added.
The first allows explicit class path specifications for the NetRexx translator.
It allows any version of the translator (from the NetRexx.org site or other
places) to be specified. The Java compiler path can also be specified.
That was provided earlier but has been moved to the new page.
In addition, up to four external jars and four external folders may be
explicitly specified in the class path. That allows easy integration of
external libraries with NetRexx projects.
The second new preference page allows the specification of the default options
to be used when invoking the NetRexx translator. It allows convenient
specification of commonly used options, such as -nocrossref, -nologo, etc.
All bugs identified to date have been fixed.
The Eclipse Android plugin has been tested with the Eclipse NetRexx plugin.
The Eclipse automatic build process works, and will be triggered when the
java files are changed. Thus all that is necessary is to code in NetRexx and
translate the files to Java. The Android library needs to be specified in
the NetRexx classpath using the new option page.
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Status (25 Sept 2011):
Plugin version 2.0.3.v20110925 is now available.
New or Different for plugin version 2.0.3:
The class path now correctly includes the current directory which allows
a NetRexx program to reference others without having to update the run
configuration. This should make is much easier to do more complicated
things than "Hello World".
The ability to convert a NetRexx file to Java and include it within a
Java project seems to work, although the NetRexx jar may need to be
manually added to the build path in a few cases.
Hopefully by the next release the class path issues will get flattened,
including the launchers, etc.
The Outline View has been added. It provides the essential features
of listing the classes and methods, and allows selection. It is not
as comprehensive as some outline views, but the 80-20 rule applies.
It will probably be useful to those of you working with large
NetRexx files. For example, download the sysutil package from the
NetRexx.org site. It is quite useful for many of the 97 NetRexx
source files.
The external compiler path specification was tweaked a bit - it now
works somewhat better for Mac users. I have not heard from any *nix
users yet.
A bug which produced occasional erroneous error messages was fixed.
Some internal changes were made and resulted in some very minor
performance improvements.
Next up: Getting the class path and build issues handled.
Folding needs to be completed, along with some new commands, options,
etc.
A better solution for the problem of keyboard shortcuts needs to be
found. Some users have a problem with Alt-C, and I currently have a
problem with Alt-A as well.
As always, keep in touch. All feedback is helpful, + or -.
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Status (15 Sept 2011):
Plugin version 2.0.2.v20110915 is now available.
New or Different for plugin version 2.0.2:
Some users were having difficulty compiling NetRexx programs to Java
because the Java compiler (javac) was not being found. The compiler is
part of the JDK, and is located in the JDK /lib/tools.jar.
A new preference is provided so that the path to the tools jar can be
specified. The plugin will attempt to locate the tools jar the first
time a file is compiled. If the compile fails, the path will have to
be specified manually. First check the Window-> Preferences-> Java->
Installed JREs to make sure the JDK is specified. Clear the compiler
path preference and try again. If that fails, set the JAVA_HOME
environment variable to the JDK directory and reboot the system.
Then clear the compiler path preference and recompile. On Windows,
the correct path may be something like:
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_27\lib\tools.jar
The About... page has been updated with clickable links to this site,
the NetRexx.org and RexxLA.org sites, and the ICU and EPL licenses.
Close the preference dialog window before trying to browse.
Apparently some other common plugins use Alt + C, and conflicts can
arise with the NetRexx compile command. An additional key binding of
Alt + N may be used instead of Alt + C to compile NetRexx files to Java.
Hint: If you include "options replace" at the start of your NetRexx
file, the old Java file will be replaced automatically.
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Status (12 Sept 2011):
Plugin version 2.0.1.v20110912 is now available.
New or Different for plugin version 2.0.1:
Some bugs were fixed, including eliminating some error messages that
were being generated for debugging. A bug which prevented compiling on
some systems was fixed.
A NetRexx menu item has been added to the main menu which allows
commands to be selected there as well as from the popup (right click)
menu. Keyboard shortcuts have been added for the commands:
Alt + i (lower case): NetRexx Interpret
Alt + t (""): NetRexx Translate
Alt + c (""): NetRexx Compile
Alt + a (""): Run NetRexx Applet
These assignments may change - let us know what additional commands
etc. you would find useful.
When NetRexx programs are Translated to Java, the file is now saved as
a .java file rather than a .java.keep file, which eliminates the need
to rename the file. THANKS to Kermit Kiser for his NetRexx fix!
A revised NetRexx icon is being used - it is temporary until an
an official NetRexx icon is established. Stay tuned!
The requirement to use Java 1.6 was relaxed. The plugin should run
under Java 1.5 as well. We have no current plans to run on 1.4 or on
Eclipse versions before 3.4.2. (unlikely anyone needs that)
The official release of NetRexx from the good folks at NetRexx.org
is almost here. This version of the plugin includes NetRexx version
3.0.1RC1, which is the first release candidate. Seems to be working
just fine.
Current work: the outline view and folding. If you have wish list
items, be sure to let us know - we monitor the forums. Gripes are
welcome too. :)
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Status (3 Sept 2011):
The Alpha version of the Eclipse NetRexx plugin is ready for installation
----------------- STICKY --------------------------
Installation:
The Eclipse NetRexx update site is:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/eclipsenetrexx/files/update
Use the normal Eclipse process to install from an update site.
If you will be compiling the NetRexx source rather than just converting
it to Java, you will need to install the Java JDK since that contains
the compiler that NetRexx uses. Note that to process NetRexx web
Applets the compiler is needed.
There is lots of help on the web on how to install the JDK.
Start at www.oracle.com, downloads, Java SE, download JDK.
The JDK must be installed as the JRE for the Java compiler to be found.
Use Window-> Preferences-> Java-> Installed JREs and specify the JDK.
The search button will find everything you have installed - in Windows
start at C:\Program Files\Java
The NetRexx source has been released by IBM and is currently being
managed by the Rexx Langugage Association (RexxLA.org).
The NetRexx.org site contains much useful information concerning NetRexx
Getting Started:
Tutorial information for new Eclipse users will be added at a later time.
NetRexx files may be contained in either a Java project or a general
project, and have a ".nrx" suffix.
General notes and hints:
The following are some general things to watch out for. Please remember
that this is Alpha level with still much to do!
When compiling or translating NetRexx source to Java or .class files,
if you want to see or process the file, you may have to refresh the file
list manually by using F5. Note that you need to click on the
containing project in the package explorer first!
The Window-> Preferences-> General-> Workspace: Refresh automatically
option (when checked) will cause the file list to be refreshed every
few seconds.
When a file is run using the interpreter, it is not compiled or
translated, so no intermediate output is saved. The easiest way to play
with NetRexx is to just edit a file, save it, and then select
"Interpret NetRexx" from the right click menu.
Try: say "Hello World!"
When an applet is run, the Eclipse applet viewer is used. The NetRexx
file MUST be compiled first!
No Nature or Perspectives are currently set up. Be sure that you have
the console view and the problems view shown. The console view will
provide the NetRexx messages and execution input and output, and the
problems view will display the syntax and parse errors dynamically
as you type.
There are very extensive display options available via the NetRexx
Preferences (i.e main menu-> Window-> Preferences-> NetRexx
Also note that the general Annotation preferences can be used, so (for
example, if you want to draw a box around errors you can do that.
How you can help:
The easiest way you can help is to append your thoughts, etc to the
general discussion forum. If you want to provide technical help (or
help of any other kind), please email me.
Source:
The Eclipse NetRexx plugin is an open source project.
The SVN repository containing the source is at:
https://eclipsenetrexx.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/eclipsenetrexx
