Eclipse Platform
2.0

org.eclipse.ui
Interface IEditorInput

All Superinterfaces:
IAdaptable
All Known Subinterfaces:
IFileEditorInput, IStorageEditorInput
All Known Implementing Classes:
CompareEditorInput, FileEditorInput, MultiEditorInput

public interface IEditorInput
extends IAdaptable

IEditorInput is a light weight descriptor of editor input, like a file name but more abstract. It is not a model. It is a description of the model source for an IEditorPart.

Clients should extend this interface to declare new types of editor inputs.

An editor input is passed to an editor via the IEditorPart.init method. Due to the wide range of valid editor inputs, it is not possible to define generic methods for getting and setting bytes. However, two subtypes of IEditorInput have been defined for greater type clarity when IStorage (IStorageEditorInput) and IFiles (IFileEditorInput) are used. Any editor which is file-oriented should handle these two types. The same pattern may be used to define other editor input types.

The IStorageEditorInput interface is used to wrap an IStorage object. This may represent read-only data in a repository, external jar, or file system. The editor should provide viewing (but not editing) functionality.

The IFileEditorInput interface is used to wrap an file resource (IFile). The editor should provide read and write functionality.

Editor input must implement the IAdaptable interface; extensions are managed by the platform's adapter manager.

See Also:
IEditorPart, IFile, IStreamEditorInput, IFileEditorInput

Method Summary
 boolean exists()
          Returns whether the editor input exists.
 ImageDescriptor getImageDescriptor()
          Returns the image descriptor for this input.
 String getName()
          Returns the name of this editor input for display purposes.
 IPersistableElement getPersistable()
           
 String getToolTipText()
          Returns the tool tip text for this editor input.
 
Methods inherited from interface org.eclipse.core.runtime.IAdaptable
getAdapter
 

Method Detail

exists

public boolean exists()
Returns whether the editor input exists.

This method is primarily used to determine if an editor input should appear in the "File Most Recently Used" menu. An editor input will appear in the list until the return value of exists becomes false or it drops off the bottom of the list.

Returns:
true if the editor input exists; false otherwise

getImageDescriptor

public ImageDescriptor getImageDescriptor()
Returns the image descriptor for this input.

Returns:
the image descriptor for this input

getName

public String getName()
Returns the name of this editor input for display purposes.

For instance, if the fully qualified input name is "a\b\MyFile.gif", the return value would be just "MyFile.gif".

Returns:
the name string

getPersistable

public IPersistableElement getPersistable()

getToolTipText

public String getToolTipText()
Returns the tool tip text for this editor input. This text is used to differentiate between two input with the same name. For instance, MyClass.java in folder X and MyClass.java in folder Y.

The format of the path will vary with each input type. For instance, if the editor input is of type IFileEditorInput this method should return the fully qualified resource path. For editor input of other types it may be different.

Returns:
the tool tip text

Eclipse Platform
2.0

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