Before we dive into using the Workbench, let's start by familiarizing ourselves with the elements of the Workbench. A Workbench consists of:
A perspective is a group of views and editors in the Workbench window. One or more perspectives can exist in a single Workbench window. Each perspective contains one or more views and editors. Within a window, each perspective may have a different set of views but all perspectives share the same set of editors.
A view is a visual component within the Workbench. It is typically used to navigate a hierarchy of information (like the resources in your Workbench), open an editor, or display properties for the active editor. Modifications made in a view are saved immediately. Only one instance of a particular view type may exist within a Workbench window.
An editor is also a visual component within the Workbench. It is typically used to edit or browse a resource. Modifications made in an editor follow an open-save-close lifecycle model. Multiple instances of an editor type may exist within a Workbench window.
Editors and views can be active or inactive, but only one view or editor can be active at any one time.
The active editor or view is the one whose title bar is highlighted. The active part is the
target for common operations like cut, copy and paste. The active part also
determines the contents of the status line. If an editor tab
is white it indicates the editor is not active, however views may show
information based on the last active editor.
If you click on the Navigator view you will notice it becomes active.
Clicking on the welcome page (editor) you can see that the editor's tab turns blue, and the Navigator's title bar is no longer blue. The welcome page is now our active editor.
Editors
The Workbench