[This section should make interesting reading for an end user of Eclipse 2.0 who has just switched to 2.1 (or is contemplating switching). It should inform them the most interesting and most significant visible changes that came along with 2.1. The section should be complete, in that no interesting, significant, visible change should go unmentioned. It differs in tone from the Tips and Tricks section in that it only covers things that are new for 2.1, and that it only deals with things that users would feel like was a significant improvement. Each item should stand by itself, so that the items can be easily rearranged and subsetted. Screen snaps should be GIFs and must be no wider than 466 pixels.]
[This section is still preliminary. The material here is lifted from the M2 through M5 "New and Noteworthy" bulletins.]
[Formatting changes: add horizontal line between each item; change font and size throughout.]
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Improved way to reference dependent plug-ins | The new Plug-in Development /
Java Build Path Control preference controls whether new plug-in
development projects will use a dynamically computed build classpath entry
rather than an explicit list of required plug-in JAR libraries (the
default). Turning this preference on makes the Java project build
classpath much less fragile, and visually groups together libraries for
required plug-ins.
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Exporting deployable plug-ins and features | There are new File > Export wizards for exporting plug-in and features. Choose File > Export > Deployable features to export selected features and their plug-ins to a ZIP file that can be easily unzipped into any Eclipse-based product. |
Support for creating update sites | PDE now supports building and
maintaining Update Manager update sites. Use the new project wizard Plug-in
Development > Update Site Project to create a dedicated project
with all the relevant files including the site map (site.xml) file. The
site map editor creates the needed feature and plug-in JARs. Once built,
the site is operational directly from the workspace and can be tested
using Update Manager (Help > Software Updates > Update Manager).
And with Eclipse FTP/WebDAV Support installed, you can upload everything
to a remote update server.
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