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| <title>Features</title> |
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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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