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| <h1 class="Head" dir="ltr">Features</h1> |
| <p>On disk, an Eclipse based product is structured as a collection of <em>plug-ins</em>. Each plug-in contains the |
| code that provides some of the product's functionality. The code and other files for a plug-in are installed on the |
| local computer, and get activated automatically as required. A product's plug-ins are grouped together into features. |
| A <em>feature</em> is a unit of separately downloadable and installable functionality.</p> |
| <p>The fundamentally modular nature of the Eclipse platform makes it easy to install additional features and plug-ins |
| into an Eclipse based product, and to update the product's existing features and plug-ins. You can do this using the |
| Eclipse platform's install and update support found in the <b>Help</b> menu. Eclipse allows you to discover, |
| download, and install features and plug-ins from special web-based Eclipse software sites.</p> |
| <p>Large Eclipse based products can organize their features into trees starting from the root feature that represents |
| the entire product. This root feature then includes smaller units of functionality all the way down to leaf features |
| that list one or more plug-ins and fragments. The capability to group features hierarchically allows products to be |
| stacked using a 'Russian doll' approach - a large product can build on top of a smaller one by including it and |
| adding more features.</p> |
| <p>Some included features may be useful add-ons, but are not vital to the proper functioning of the overall product. |
| Feature providers can elect to mark them as <b>optional</b>. Optional features will only be installed if all their |
| required features and plug-ins are available. If not installed right away, optional features can be added at a later |
| date.</p> |
| <p>The <b>About</b> option on the <b>Help</b> menu provides information about installed features and plug-ins. The |
| <b>Check for Updates</b> and <b>Install New Software</b> commands on the <b>Help</b> menu provide the ability to |
| update existing features, and to find, download, and install new features.</p> |
| <h3 class="related">Related concepts</h3><a href="concepts-2.htm">Workbench</a> |
| <h3 class="related">Related tasks</h3><a href="../tasks/tasks-132.htm">Installation Details for Features</a><br> |
| <a href="../tasks/tasks-131.htm">Installation Details for Plug-ins</a><br> |
| <a href="../tasks/tasks-120.htm">Updating the installation</a><br> |
| <a href="../tasks/tasks-124.htm">Installing new software</a><br> |
| <a href="../tasks/tasks-126.htm">Uninstalling software</a><br> |
| <a href="../tasks/tasks-123.htm">Reverting to a previous install configuration</a> |
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