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| Plugging into the workbench |
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| <H1> |
| Plugging into the workbench</H1> |
| <P > |
| By now, you should be quite familiar with the operation of the workbench and how it uses views and editors to display information. |
| If not, read the quick tour of the workbench below.</P> |
| <P > |
| The sections following the quick tour will look at the workbench user interface from an API |
| perspective. We will show how a plug-in can contribute to the workbench |
| UI.</P> |
| <h2> |
| Quick tour of the workbench</h2> |
| <P > |
| The workbench is the cockpit for navigating all of the function provided by plug-ins. |
| By using the workbench, we can navigate resources and we can view and edit |
| the content and properties of these resources. </P> |
| <P > |
| When you open your workbench on a set of projects, it looks something like this.</P> |
| |
| <p align="left"><img src="images/workbench.png" alt="Workbench with navigator view, editor, outliner, and task list" border="0" ></p> |
| <P > |
| The workbench is just a frame that can present various visual parts. These parts fall into two major categories: |
| <b> views</b> and <b>editors</b>.</P> |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <b> |
| Editors</b> allow the user to edit something in the workbench. Editors are "document-centric," much like a file system editor. |
| Like file system editors, they follow an open-save-close lifecycle. Unlike |
| file system editors, they are tightly integrated into the workbench.</li> |
| <li> |
| <b> |
| Views</b> provide information about some object that the user is working with in the workbench. Views often change their content as the user selects different objects in the workbench. |
| Views often support editors by providing information about the content in the |
| active editor.</li> |
| </ul> |
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| <h3> |
| Views</h3> |
| <P > The workbench provides several standard views that allow the user to navigate |
| or view something of interest. For example, the project explorer lets the user |
| navigate the workspace and select resources.</P> |
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| <img src="images/navigator.png" alt="" border="0"> |
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| <h3> |
| Editors</h3> |
| <P > |
| Editors allow the user to open, edit, and save objects. The workbench provides a standard editor for text resources.</P> |
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| <img src="images/texteditor.png" alt="" border="0"> |
| <P > |
| Additional editors, such as Java code editors or HTML editors, can be supplied by |
| plug-ins</P> |
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