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| Defining a rich client application |
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| <H2> |
| Defining a rich client application</H2> |
| <p> |
| The definition of a rich client application plug-in starts out similarly to the other plug-ins we've been |
| studying. The only difference in the <tt>MANIFEST.MF</tt> file is that the list of |
| required plug-ins is much smaller than we've been used to! |
| </p> |
| |
| <pre> |
| Manifest-Version: 1.0 |
| Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2 |
| Bundle-Name: %pluginName |
| Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.ui.examples.rcp.browser; singleton:=true |
| Bundle-Version: 3.3.0.qualifier |
| Bundle-ClassPath: browser.jar |
| Bundle-Activator: org.eclipse.ui.examples.rcp.browser.BrowserPlugin |
| Bundle-Vendor: %providerName |
| Bundle-Localization: plugin |
| Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.core.runtime, |
| org.eclipse.ui |
| Eclipse-LazyStart: true |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p> |
| Up to now, we've contributed functionality to the platform workbench by declaring extensions that |
| add elements to the workbench. In all of the <tt>plugin.xml</tt> content that we've reviewed so far, |
| we've only looked at individual contributions to a workbench that is assumed to be there. On the rich |
| client platform, there is no application already defined. Your rich client plug-in is the one |
| responsible for specifying the class that should be executed when the platform is started. This |
| is done in the <a href="../reference/extension-points/org_eclipse_core_runtime_applications.html"><b>org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications</b></a> |
| extension.</p> |
| <pre> <extension |
| point="org.eclipse.core.runtime.applications" |
| id="app" |
| name="%appName"> |
| <application> |
| <run |
| class="org.eclipse.ui.examples.rcp.browser.BrowserApp"> |
| </run> |
| </application> |
| </extension> |
| </pre> |
| <p>In this extension, we specify the class that should be run when the platform is first started. |
| This class must implement <b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/equinox/app/IApplication.html">IApplication</a></b>, |
| which simply means that it must implement a <b>start</b> and <b>stop</b> method. The start method is responsible for creating the SWT display and |
| starting up a workbench. The class <b><a href="../reference/api/org/eclipse/ui/PlatformUI.html">PlatformUI</a></b> |
| implements convenience methods for performing these tasks.</p> |
| <pre> |
| public Object start(IApplicationContext context) throws Exception { |
| Display display = PlatformUI.createDisplay(); |
| try { |
| int code = PlatformUI.createAndRunWorkbench(display, |
| new BrowserAdvisor()); |
| // exit the application with an appropriate return code |
| return code == PlatformUI.RETURN_RESTART |
| ? EXIT_RESTART |
| : EXIT_OK; |
| } finally { |
| if (display != null) |
| display.dispose(); |
| } |
| } |
| </pre> |
| <p>The call to <b>createAndRunWorkbench</b> will not return until the workbench is closed. The SWT event loop and other |
| low-level logistics are handled inside this method. At this stage, it's not so important |
| that you understand the underlying mechanics in running an SWT application.</p> |
| <p> |
| The stop method is used to force the application to shutdown. In the browser example the workbench is closed to |
| force the application to shutdown.</p> |
| <pre> |
| public void stop() { |
| final IWorkbench workbench = PlatformUI.getWorkbench(); |
| if (workbench == null) |
| return; |
| final Display display = workbench.getDisplay(); |
| display.syncExec(new Runnable() { |
| public void run() { |
| if (!display.isDisposed()) |
| workbench.close(); |
| } |
| }); |
| } |
| </pre> |
| <p>The call to <b>syncExec</b> will not return until the workbench is closed. This will force the application to exit |
| and the call to <b>createAndRunWorkbench</b> to return. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| This code can be copied to your rich client |
| application with minimal changes. In fact, the hook for you to add your own functionality is the <b>WorkbenchAdvisor</b> |
| that is passed as an argument when the workbench is created. Let's take a closer look.</p> |
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