package org.eclipse.ui; | |
/* | |
* (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2001. | |
* All Rights Reserved. | |
*/ | |
import org.eclipse.jface.resource.*; | |
/** | |
* A perspective descriptor describes a perspective in an | |
* <code>IPerspectiveRegistry</code>. | |
* <p> | |
* A perspective is a template for view visibility, layout, and action visibility | |
* within a workbench page. There are two types of perspective: a predefined | |
* perspective and a custom perspective. | |
* <ul> | |
* <li>A predefined perspective is defined by an extension to the workbench's | |
* perspective extension point (<code>"org.eclipse.ui.perspectives"</code>). | |
* The extension defines a id, label, and <code>IPerspectiveFactory</code>. | |
* A perspective factory is used to define the initial layout for a page. | |
* </li> | |
* <li>A custom perspective is defined by the user. In this case a predefined | |
* perspective is modified to suit a particular task and saved as a new | |
* perspective. The attributes for the perspective are stored in a separate file | |
* in the workbench's metadata directory. | |
* </li> | |
* </ul> | |
* </p> | |
* <p> | |
* Within a page the user can switch between any of the perspectives known | |
* to the workbench's perspective registry, typically by selecting one from the | |
* workbench's <code>Switch Perspective</code> menu. When selected, the views, | |
* and actions within the active page rearrange to reflect the perspective. | |
* </p> | |
* <p> | |
* This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients. | |
* </p> | |
* @see IPerspectiveRegistry | |
*/ | |
public interface IPerspectiveDescriptor { | |
/** | |
* Returns this perspective's id. For perspectives declared via an extension, | |
* this is the value of its <code>"id"</code> attribute. | |
* | |
* @return the perspective id | |
*/ | |
public String getId(); | |
/** | |
* Returns the descriptor of the image for this perspective. | |
* | |
* @return the descriptor of the image to display next to this perspective | |
*/ | |
public ImageDescriptor getImageDescriptor(); | |
/** | |
* Returns this perspective's label. For perspectives declared via an extension, | |
* this is the value of its <code>"label"</code> attribute. | |
* | |
* @return the label | |
*/ | |
public String getLabel(); | |
} |