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 Project natures
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 <H2>
 Project natures</H2>
 <P >
 Project natures allow a plug-in to tag a project as a specific kind of project. For example, the Java development tools (JDT) use a &quot;Java nature&quot; to add
 Java-specific behavior to projects.&nbsp; Project natures are defined by
 plug-ins, and are typically added or removed per-project when the user performs
 some action defined by the plug-in.</P>
 <P >A project can have more than one nature.&nbsp; However, when you define a
 project nature, you can define special constraints for the nature:</P>
 <ul>
   <li><b>one-of-nature</b> - specifies that the nature is one of a named
     set.&nbsp; Natures in a set are mutually exclusive; that is, only one nature
     belonging to the set can exist for a project.</li>
   <li><b>requires-nature</b> - specifies that the nature depends on another
     nature and can only be added to a project that already has the required
     nature.</li>
 </ul>
 <P >
 To implement your own nature, you need to define an extension and supply a class
 which implements <b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNature.html">IProjectNature</a></b>.</P>

 <H3>
 Defining a nature</H3>
 <P >
 The <a href="../reference/extension-points/org_eclipse_core_resources_natures.html"> <b> org.eclipse.core.resources.natures</b></a> extension point is used to add a project nature definition. The following markup adds a nature for the hypothetical
 <b> com.example.natures</b> plug-in.</P>
 <font color='#4444CC'><pre>
    &lt;extension
       point=&quot;org.eclipse.core.resources.natures&quot;
       id=&quot;myNature&quot;
       name=&quot;My Nature&quot;&gt;
       &lt;runtime&gt;
          &lt;run class=&quot;com.example.natures.MyNature&quot;&gt;
          &lt;/run&gt;
       &lt;/runtime&gt;
    &lt;/extension&gt;
 </pre></font>
 <P >
 The class identified in the extension must implement the platform interface
 <b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNature.html">IProjectNature</a></b>. This class implements plug-in specific behavior for associating nature-specific information with a project when
 the nature is configured.</P>
 <font color='#4444CC'><pre>
    public class MyNature implements IProjectNature {

       private IProject project;

       public void configure() throws CoreException {
          // Add nature-specific information
          // for the project, such as adding a builder
          // to a project's build spec.
       }
       public void deconfigure() throws CoreException {
          // Remove the nature-specific information here.
       }
       public IProject getProject() {
          return project;
       }
       public void setProject(IProject value) {
          project = value;
       }
    }
 </pre></font>
 <P >
 The <b> configure()</b> and <b> deconfigure()</b> methods are sent by the platform
 when natures are added and removed from a project.&nbsp; You can implement the
 <b> configure()</b> method to add a builder to a project as discussed in
 <a HREF="resAdv_builders.htm" CLASS="XRef">Builders</a>.</P>


 <H3>
 Associating the nature with a project</H3>
 <P >
 Defining the nature is not enough to associate it with a project.&nbsp; You must
 assign a nature to a project by updating the project's description to include
 your nature.&nbsp; This usually happens when the user creates a new project with a specialized new project wizard that assigns the
 nature.&nbsp; The following snippet
 shows how to assign our new nature to a given project.</P>
 <font color='#4444CC'><pre>
    try {
       IProjectDescription description = project.getDescription();
       String[] natures = description.getNatureIds();
       String[] newNatures = new String[natures.length + 1];
       System.arraycopy(natures, 0, newNatures, 0, natures.length);
       newNatures[natures.length] = &quot;com.example.natures.myNature&quot;;
       description.setNatureIds(newNatures);
       project.setDescription(description, null);
    } catch (CoreException e) {
       // Something went wrong
    }
 </pre></font>
 <P>The natures are not actually assigned to (and configured) for the project
 until you set the project description into the project.&nbsp; Also note that the identifier used for the nature is the fully qualified name (plug-in id + extension id) of the nature extension. </P>
 <P>
 If the nature has been defined with constraints, then workspace API can be used
 to validate the new nature.&nbsp; For example, suppose a nature is defined with
 a prerequisite: </P>
 <pre><font color='#4444CC'>   &lt;extension
       point=&quot;org.eclipse.core.resources.natures&quot;
       <b>id=&quot;myOtherNature&quot;</b>
       name=&quot;My Other Nature&quot;&gt;
       &lt;runtime&gt;
          &lt;run class=&quot;com.example.natures.MyOtherNature&quot;&gt;
          &lt;/run&gt;
       &lt;/runtime&gt;
 <b>   &lt;requires-nature id=&quot;com.example.natures.myNature&quot;/&gt;
 </b>   &lt;/extension&gt;
 </font></pre>
 <P >
 The new nature is not valid unless the first nature exists for the
 project.&nbsp; Depending on the design of your plug-in, you may want to check
 whether the prerequisite nature has been installed, or you may want to add the
 prerequisite nature yourself.&nbsp; Either way, you can check on the validity of
 proposed combinations of project natures using workspace API. </P>

 <font color='#4444CC'><pre>   try {
       IProjectDescription description = project.getDescription();
       String[] natures = description.getNatureIds();
       String[] newNatures = new String[natures.length + 1];
       System.arraycopy(natures, 0, newNatures, 0, natures.length);
 <b>      newNatures[natures.length] = &quot;com.example.natures.myOtherNature&quot;;
 </b>      IStatus status = <b>workspace.validateNatureSet(natures);
 </b>
       // check the status and decide what to do
       if (status.getCode() == IStatus.OK) {
       	description.setNatureIds(newNatures);
       	project.setDescription(description, null);
       } else {
       	// raise a user error
 	...
       }
    } catch (CoreException e) {
       // Something went wrong
    }
 </pre></font>


 <H3>
 Nature descriptors</H3>
 <p>In addition to working with natures by their id, you can obtain the
 descriptor (<a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNatureDescriptor.html"><b>IProjectNatureDescriptor</b></a>)
 which describes a nature, its constraints, and its label.&nbsp; You can query a
 particular nature for its descriptor, or get descriptors from the
 workspace.&nbsp; The following snippet gets the project nature descriptor for
 our new nature:</p>
 <font color='#4444CC'><pre>      IProjectNatureDescriptor descriptor = workspace.getNatureDescriptor(&quot;com.example.natures.myOtherNature&quot;);<b>
 </b></pre><p>You can also get an array of descriptors for all installed natures:
 </p><pre>      IProjectNatureDescriptor[] descriptors = workspace.getNatureDescriptors();<b>
 </b></pre></font>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>

 <p><a href="../hglegal.htm"><img border="0" src="../ngibmcpy.gif" alt="Copyright IBM Corporation and others 2000, 2003." border="0" width="324" height="14"></a></p>

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	<TITLE>
	Project natures
	</TITLE>

	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" HREF="../book.css">
	</HEAD>
	<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">
	<H2>
	Project natures</H2>
	<P >
	Project natures allow a plug-in to tag a project as a specific kind of project. For example, the Java development tools (JDT) use a "Java nature" to add
	Java-specific behavior to projects.  Project natures are defined by
	plug-ins, and are typically added or removed per-project when the user performs
	some action defined by the plug-in.</P>
	<P >A project can have more than one nature.  However, when you define a
	project nature, you can define special constraints for the nature:</P>
	<ul>
	<li><b>one-of-nature</b> - specifies that the nature is one of a named
	set.  Natures in a set are mutually exclusive; that is, only one nature
	belonging to the set can exist for a project.</li>
	<li><b>requires-nature</b> - specifies that the nature depends on another
	nature and can only be added to a project that already has the required
	nature.</li>
	</ul>
	<P >
	To implement your own nature, you need to define an extension and supply a class
	which implements <b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNature.html">IProjectNature</a></b>.</P>

	<H3>
	Defining a nature</H3>
	<P >
	The <a href="../reference/extension-points/org_eclipse_core_resources_natures.html"> <b> org.eclipse.core.resources.natures</b></a> extension point is used to add a project nature definition. The following markup adds a nature for the hypothetical
	<b> com.example.natures</b> plug-in.</P>
	<font color='#4444CC'><pre>
	<extension
	point="org.eclipse.core.resources.natures"
	id="myNature"
	name="My Nature">
	<runtime>
	<run class="com.example.natures.MyNature">
	</run>
	</runtime>
	</extension>
	</pre></font>
	<P >
	The class identified in the extension must implement the platform interface
	<b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNature.html">IProjectNature</a></b>. This class implements plug-in specific behavior for associating nature-specific information with a project when
	the nature is configured.</P>
	<font color='#4444CC'><pre>
	public class MyNature implements IProjectNature {

	private IProject project;

	public void configure() throws CoreException {
	// Add nature-specific information
	// for the project, such as adding a builder
	// to a project's build spec.
	}
	public void deconfigure() throws CoreException {
	// Remove the nature-specific information here.
	}
	public IProject getProject() {
	return project;
	}
	public void setProject(IProject value) {
	project = value;
	}
	}
	</pre></font>
	<P >
	The <b> configure()</b> and <b> deconfigure()</b> methods are sent by the platform
	when natures are added and removed from a project.  You can implement the
	<b> configure()</b> method to add a builder to a project as discussed in
	<a HREF="resAdv_builders.htm" CLASS="XRef">Builders</a>.</P>


	<H3>
	Associating the nature with a project</H3>
	<P >
	Defining the nature is not enough to associate it with a project.  You must
	assign a nature to a project by updating the project's description to include
	your nature.  This usually happens when the user creates a new project with a specialized new project wizard that assigns the
	nature.  The following snippet
	shows how to assign our new nature to a given project.</P>
	<font color='#4444CC'><pre>
	try {
	IProjectDescription description = project.getDescription();
	String[] natures = description.getNatureIds();
	String[] newNatures = new String[natures.length + 1];
	System.arraycopy(natures, 0, newNatures, 0, natures.length);
	newNatures[natures.length] = "com.example.natures.myNature";
	description.setNatureIds(newNatures);
	project.setDescription(description, null);
	} catch (CoreException e) {
	// Something went wrong
	}
	</pre></font>
	<P>The natures are not actually assigned to (and configured) for the project
	until you set the project description into the project.  Also note that the identifier used for the nature is the fully qualified name (plug-in id + extension id) of the nature extension. </P>
	<P>
	If the nature has been defined with constraints, then workspace API can be used
	to validate the new nature.  For example, suppose a nature is defined with
	a prerequisite: </P>
	<pre><font color='#4444CC'> <extension
	point="org.eclipse.core.resources.natures"
	<b>id="myOtherNature"</b>
	name="My Other Nature">
	<runtime>
	<run class="com.example.natures.MyOtherNature">
	</run>
	</runtime>
	<b> <requires-nature id="com.example.natures.myNature"/>
	</b> </extension>
	</font></pre>
	<P >
	The new nature is not valid unless the first nature exists for the
	project.  Depending on the design of your plug-in, you may want to check
	whether the prerequisite nature has been installed, or you may want to add the
	prerequisite nature yourself.  Either way, you can check on the validity of
	proposed combinations of project natures using workspace API. </P>

	<font color='#4444CC'><pre> try {
	IProjectDescription description = project.getDescription();
	String[] natures = description.getNatureIds();
	String[] newNatures = new String[natures.length + 1];
	System.arraycopy(natures, 0, newNatures, 0, natures.length);
	<b> newNatures[natures.length] = "com.example.natures.myOtherNature";
	</b> IStatus status = <b>workspace.validateNatureSet(natures);
	</b>
	// check the status and decide what to do
	if (status.getCode() == IStatus.OK) {
	description.setNatureIds(newNatures);
	project.setDescription(description, null);
	} else {
	// raise a user error
	...
	}
	} catch (CoreException e) {
	// Something went wrong
	}
	</pre></font>


	<H3>
	Nature descriptors</H3>
	<p>In addition to working with natures by their id, you can obtain the
	descriptor (<a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/core/resources/IProjectNatureDescriptor.html"><b>IProjectNatureDescriptor</b></a>)
	which describes a nature, its constraints, and its label.  You can query a
	particular nature for its descriptor, or get descriptors from the
	workspace.  The following snippet gets the project nature descriptor for
	our new nature:</p>
	<font color='#4444CC'><pre> IProjectNatureDescriptor descriptor = workspace.getNatureDescriptor("com.example.natures.myOtherNature");<b>
	</b></pre><p>You can also get an array of descriptors for all installed natures:
	</p><pre> IProjectNatureDescriptor[] descriptors = workspace.getNatureDescriptors();<b>
	</b></pre></font>
	<p> </p>

	<p><a href="../hglegal.htm"><img border="0" src="../ngibmcpy.gif" alt="Copyright IBM Corporation and others 2000, 2003." border="0" width="324" height="14"></a></p>

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