Workbench

The term workbench refers to the desktop development environment.

Each workbench window contains one or more perspectives.  Perspectives contain views and editors and control what appears in certain menus and tool bars.  More than one workbench window can exist on the desktop at any given time.

The following preferences can be changed on the Workbench page.

Option

Description

Default

Perform build automatically on resource modification

If this option is turned on, then the workbench will perform an automatic build whenever a modified resource is saved.

On

Save all modified resources automatically prior to manual build

If this option is turned on, then whenever you perform a manual build (from the menu bar, select Project > Rebuild All), the workbench will automatically save all resources that have been modified since the last build was performed.

Off

Link Navigator selection to active editor

If this option is turned on, then when an open file is selected in the Navigator view, the editor containing that file becomes the active editor in the editor area. The reverse is also true: activating an editor will cause the corresponding resource to be selected in the Navigator. 

If this option is turned off, then selecting an open file in the Navigator view will have no effect on the editor area. In order to make an editor active, you will have to either click the editor's tab or double-click the file in the Navigator view.

On

Open a new perspective...

You can select one of the following methods for opening a perspective:

  • In the same window:  Perspective will open in a new workbench window, outside the currently active workbench window.
  • In a new window:  Perspective will open within the currently active workbench window.
  • Replace current:  Perspective will replace the currently active perspective.

While working in the workbench, you can open new perspectives in the non-default locations by holding down the appropriate hot key (indicated on this preference page) while selecting the kind of perspective you want to open.

In the same window

Open a project's default perspective...

This option defines which type of perspective to open upon completion of creating a new project.  You can select one of the following methods for opening a project's default perspective:

  • In the same window:  A perspective of the project's default type will open within the currently active workbench window.
  • In a new window:  A perspective of the project's default type will open in a new workbench window, not in the currently active workbench window.
  • Replace current:  A perspective of the project's default type will replace the currently active perspective with the project's default perspective.
  • Do not switch:  No new perspective will be opened; the perspective in the currently active workbench window will remain unchanged.

In same window

 

Here is what the Workbench preferences page looks like:

 

Related topics:

See Workbench Window Layout