Naming Conventions

org.eclipse..[.*]- General form of package names The following subprojects are assigned at the time of writing: org.eclipse.jdt.[.*] - Java development tooling org.eclipse.pde.[.*] -

o 1.4 Internal Implementation Packages

o 1.5 Test Suite Packages

• 6 Plug-ins and Extension Points

• 7 System Files and Settings

General

Like other open source projects, the code base for the Eclipse project should avoid using names that reference a particular company or their commercial products

Eclipse Workspace Projects

When Eclipse is being used to develop plug-ins for the Eclipse project, the name of the Eclipse workspace project should match the name of the plug-in For example,

org.eclipse.core.runtime plug-in is developed in an Eclipse workspace project named org.eclipse.core.runtime

Java Packages

The Eclipse Platform consists of a collection of Java packages The package namespace

is managed in conformance with Sun's package naming guidelines; subpackages should not be created without prior approval from the owner of the package subtree The

packages for the open-source Eclipse project are all subpackages org.eclipse

The first package name segment after org.eclipse is generally the subproject name, followed by the component name

org.eclipse.<subproject>.<component>[.*]- General form of package names

The following subprojects are assigned at the time of writing:

org.eclipse.jdt.<component>[.*] - Java development tooling

org.eclipse.pde.<component>[.*] - Plug-in development environment

The following package name segments are reserved:

internal - indicates an internal implementation package that

org.eclipse.<component>[.*] - Eclipse Platform proper

org.eclipse.<component>.internal[.*] - Eclipse Platform internal package

org.eclipse.<component>.tests[.*] - Eclipse Platform tests

org.eclipse.<component>.examples[.*] - Eclipse Platform examples

The following components of the Eclipse Platform proper are assigned at the time of writing:

org.eclipse.ant[.*] - Ant support

org.eclipse.compare[.*] - Compare support

org.eclipse.core[.*] - Platform core

org.eclipse.debug[.*] - Debug

org.eclipse.help[.*] - Help support

org.eclipse.jdi[.*] - Eclipse implementation of Java Debug Interface (JDI)

org.eclipse.jface[.*] - JFace

org.eclipse.platform[.*] - Documentation

org.eclipse.scripting[.*] - Scripting support

org.eclipse.sdk[.*] - SDK configuration

org.eclipse.search[.*] - Search support

org.eclipse.swt[.*] - Standard Widget Toolkit

org.eclipse.ui[.*] - Workbench

org.eclipse.update[.*] - Plug-in live update

org.eclipse.vcm[.*] - Version and Configuration Management

org.eclipse.webdav[.*] - WebDAV support

For example,

org.eclipse.jdt.internal.core.compiler - Correct usage

org.eclipse.jdt.core.internal.compiler - Incorrect internal should immediately follow subproject name

org.eclipse.core.internal.resources - Correct usage

org.eclipse.internal.core.resources - Incorrect internal should never immediately follow org.eclipse

org.eclipse.core.resources.internal - Incorrect internal should immediately follow Eclipse Platform component name

of API packages should not contain internal, tests, or examples to avoid confusion with the scheme for naming non-API packages

Internal Implementation Packages

All packages that are part of the platform implementation but contain no API that should

be exposed to ISVs are considered internal implementation packages All implementation packages should be flagged as internal, with the tag occurring just after the major

package name ISVs will be told that all packages marked internal are out of bounds (A simple text search for ".internal." detects suspicious reference in source files; likewise,

"/internal/" is suspicious in class files)

Test Suite Packages

All packages containing test suites should be flagged as tests, with the tag occurring just after the major package name Fully automated tests are the norm; so, for example, org.eclipse.core.tests.resources would contain automated tests for API in

org.eclipse.core.resources Interactive tests (ones requiring a hands-on tester) should be flagged with interactive as the last package name segment; so, for example,

org.eclipse.core.tests.resources.interactive would contain the corresponding interactive tests

• Package names should contain only lowercase ASCII alphanumerics, and avoid underscore _ or dollar sign $ characters

Classes and Interfaces

Sun's naming guidelines states

Class names should be nouns, in mixed case with the first letter of each internal word capitalized Try to keep your class names simple and descriptive Use whole words - avoid acronyms and abbreviations (unless the abbreviation is much more widely used than the long form, such as URL or HTML)

Examples:

• class Raster;

• class ImageSprite;

Interface names should be capitalized like class names

For interface names, we follow the "I"-for-interface convention: all interface names are prefixed with an "I" For example, "IWorkspace" or "IIndex" This convention aids code readability by making interface names more readily recognizable

Additional rules:

The names of exception classes (subclasses of Exception) should follow the common practice of ending in "Exception"

Methods

Sun's naming guidelines states

Methods should be verbs, in mixed case with the first letter lowercase, with the first letter of each internal word capitalized

The named of methods should follow common practice for naming getters

(getX()), setters (setX()), and predicates (isX(), hasX())

Variables

Sun's naming guidelines states

Except for variables, all instance, class, and class constants are in mixed case with

a lowercase first letter Internal words start with capital letters Variable names should not start with underscore _ or dollar sign $ characters, even though both are allowed

Variable names should be short yet meaningful The choice of a variable name should be mnemonic - that is, designed to indicate to the casual observer the intent of its use One-character variable names should be avoided except for temporary "throwaway" variables Common names for temporary variables are i,

j, k, m, and n for integers; c, d, and e for characters

Sun's naming guidelines states

The names of variables declared class constants and of ANSI constants should be all uppercase with words separated by underscores ("_")

Examples:

• static final int MIN_WIDTH = 4;

• static final int MAX_WIDTH = 999;

• static final int GET_THE_CPU = 1;

Plug-ins and Extension Points

All plug-ins (and plug-in fragments), including the ones that are part of the Eclipse Platform, like the Resources and Workbench plug-ins, must have unique identifiers following the same style of naming convention as Java packages For example, the workbench plug-in is named org.eclipse.ui

The names of a plug-in and the names of the Java packages declared within the code library of that plug-in commonly align For example, the org.eclipse.ui plug-in declares

much of its code in packages named org.eclipse.ui.* While alignment is the

recommended practice, it is not an absolute requirement For instance, the org.eclipse.ui plug-in also declares code in packages named org.eclipse.jface.* The org.eclipse.ant.core plug-in declares code in packages named org.eclipse.ant.core and org.apache.tools.ant.*

The plug-in namespace is managed hierarchically; do not create plug-in without prior approval from the owner of the enclosing namespace

Extension points that expect multiple extensions should have plural names For example,

"builders" rather than "builder"

System Files and Settings

By convention, files or folders that start with a period ('.') are considered "system files" and should not be edited by users or, directly, by other components that do not "own" them

Of special note is the ".settings" folder in a workspace project This folder holds various forms of preference or metadata specific to that workspace project Files in this directory

do not have to start with a period (they are assumed "system files" as they are in a

"system folder") but they must follow the same naming conventions outlined elsewhere

in this guide That is, they must identify themselves with their Eclipse Project's

namespace (e.g org.eclipse.jdt, org.eclipse.jst, etc) and they should be as specific as possible to denote the package they come from, or the function they are serving For example,

Eclipse User Interface Guidelines

(Version 2.1 - 3.x Working Draft)

Nick Edgar, Kevin Haaland, Jin Li and Kimberley Peter

Last Updated: February 2004

Note: Please use the discussion page to add comments instead of embedding them in this

document

Note: We have created a section for hosting the drafts of ongoing Eclipse v3.x UI

guidelines (Best Practices) updates

Go to Eclipse UI Best Practices v3.x updates (Last updated in June, 2006) Notice

Your feedback can influence the ideas and guidelines described here If you have

suggestions, please provide us with your feedback on the UI mailing list or on the

discussion page

Introduction

In this document the Eclipse user interface guidelines are defined

Eclipse is a universal tool platform - an open, extensible IDE for anything, but nothing in particular The real value comes from tool plug-ins that "teach" Eclipse how to work with things - Java™ files, Web content, graphics, video - almost anything you can imagine Eclipse allows you to independently develop tools that integrate with other people's tools

so seamlessly, you won't know where one tool ends and another starts The very notion of

a tool, as we know it, disappears completely

The platform is very flexible and extensible, but this flexibility has a serious drawback In particular, there is no way within the program to ensure user interface consistency

between the registered components within the platform This document attempts to reconcile this problem, by defining standard user interface guidelines for the creation of new components If these guidelines are adopted within your own tools, it will lead to greater consistency with the platform and other tools, and an easier learning curve for your customers

These guidelines are intended for use by designers and implementors of an Eclipse user interface extension

The Workbench

To start out, let's take a look at the Eclipse workbench user interface, and the various

components within it

The workbench is a collection of windows Each window contains a menu bar, a toolbar,

a shortcut bar and one or more perspectives

A perspective is a visual container for a set of views and content editors The views exist

wholly within the perspective and are not shared, but any opened content editors are

shared across perspectives If two or more perspectives have the same view opened, they

share the same instance of the view although its layout may differ in the perspectives For

perspectives in different Workbench windows, neither editors nor views are shared A

perspective is like a page within a book It exists within a window along with any number

of other perspectives and, like a page within a book, only one perspective is visible at any time

The Workbench's main menu bar usually contains the File, Edit, Navigate, Project, Window, Help top-level menus Other top-level menus that are in between the Edit and Project menu are typically context specific, based on the current active perspective, front most editor (whether active or not), and active view

In the File menu you will find a New submenu, which contains menu items for Project, Folder, and File creation The File menu also contains menu items for Import and Export, which are used to import files into the Workbench, and export them out again In the Edit menu, you will find familiar commands like Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete These

commands are known as global commands, and target the active part In other words, if the Delete command is invoked with the Navigator active, the actual implementation is performed by the Navigator In the Project menu, you will find project related commands such as Open project, Close project and Rebuild project are available In the Run menu, you will find commands related to running and debugging application code, and

launching external tools such Ant scripts In the Window menu, you will find the Open Perspective submenu to open different perspectives to suit to needs of your development tasks You will find perspective layout management menu items You will also find the Show View submenu to add views to the current Workbench window In addition, you will find the Preferences menu item, which is used to modify the functional preferences

of the Workbench

As a plug-in developer, you can contribute new views, editors, wizards, menu, and tool items to the platform These contributions are defined using XML, and once registered, integrate seamlessly with the components which already exist in the platform

Projects, Folders and Files

Eclipse can be used to create many different kinds of content - Java files, Web content, graphics, video - almost anything you can imagine These objects are stored as regular files within the Eclipse workspace The workspace consists of one or more top level projects Each project contains a collection of folders and files These objects are known

as resources

Getting Started

For most developers, an introduction to the platform can be overwhelming, and you may ask "where do I get started?" Here are a few basic guidelines which will help you This document is intended for UI designers and developers With this audience in mind,

we can talk about the two main layers of any application: the model layer and the user interface layer In the model layer of Eclipse, known as the Workspace, is a collection of resources (projects, folders and files) The user interface, or the Workbench, defines the presentation for those resources

As a UI developer, you will also have a model and a presentation If we assume that your goal is to make the model visible, through some presentation, most developers will start out by adding a new view or editor to the workbench

In Eclipse, an editor is used to contain the primary content, such as a document or data object, which users interact with In every case, this content is the primary focus of attention and a reflection of the primary task To illustrate this concept, let's look at some common examples

To do Java programming, the primary task is to create, edit, and debug Java code The primary focus is the Java code, so an editor is used to interact with that code The

navigator, outline, and properties view exist to support the primary task, but rarely hold your attention for an extended period of time while you are writing Java code

To read email, the primary task is to create, send, read, and reply to email The primary focus is a particular email message, so an editor is used to view or reply to an email message A view may be used to select an email message to read, and open an editor

To communicate using instant messaging, the primary task is the conversation The primary focus is a particular conversation, so an editor is used to carry on that

conversation A view may be used to list people with whom you can initiate a

contribute commands to the workbench's main menu bar and toolbar

A view may be used to save your favorite links, and reopen them At any time, you may decide to edit the page you are looking at This causes a new editor to open Views are used to support the primary task You use them to navigate a hierarchy of information, open an editor, or view properties for the active part Each view may have its own local toolbar and local menu bar

Once you have added a view or editor, an interesting question arises Where did this model come from? In Eclipse, most data is created using a creation wizard You may want to add a creation wizard too And once an object exists, you may need a way to edit the properties for that object using a properties page, or the properties dialog

All of these ideas will be discussed, in detail, in the following sections

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To follow from the specific size and placement of the different types of icons within their allotted screen space, the following positioning guidelines will help with the alignment of these elements relative to one another, and will aid in creating a well organized and aesthetically integrated user interface (All measurements are in pixels.)

Overview

1 Toolbar icons

(Includes Toolbar and Toolbar Wizard Icons)

Item Positioning and Spacing

B Between left margin and handle 4 pixels

C Between handle and first icon 7 pixels

C Between icon and top of toolbar 3 pixels

C Between icon and bottom of toolbar 3 pixels

C Between icon and twisty 7 pixels

D Between twisty and hard rule 7 pixels

E Between hard rule and icon 6 pixels

G Between icon and hard rule 10 pixels

H Between hard rule and handle 2 pixels

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(Includes View and Local Toolbar Icons)

Item Positioning and Spacing

B Between left margin and view icon 4 pixels

B Between view icon and text label 3 pixels

B Between title bar icons and top of title bar 3 pixels

B Between title bar icons and bottom of title bar 3 pixels

C Between local toolbar icons 7 pixels

D Between last local toolbar icon and closing

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Spacing

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Item Positioning and Spacing

A Between “+/-” widget and left of window 4 pixels

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B Between top of window and first icon 0 pixels

B Vertically between icons 0 pixels

B Between horizontal treeview branch and icon 0 pixels

B Between icon and text label 3 pixels

C Text is nested within the text label 3 pixels each on left and

top, 2 pixels on right, 4 pixels on bottom (length varies)

Icon Overlays

As stated under Icon Size & Placement, all overlays are consistently the same size: 7 x 8 pixels An additional white border keyline is included on Project Nature and Java Overlay types to visually separate them from the underlying Model Object icon The keyline location varies depending on the overlay's placement on the underlying icon

Project Nature Overlay

The project nature overlays are displayed in the Navigator and the Package views They are completely superimposed on the model object at the top right corner of the 16 x 16 icon space

Only a few project nature overlay icons have been created to prevent crowding in the

interface Project nature overlays quickly identify the various types of projects that can

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Version Control Overlay

Version control overlays are displayed in the Navigator view and in the Structure View of the Merge Editor in CVS When they are displayed in the Navigator view, the overlay is completely superimposed on the model object at the right of the 16 x 16 icon space

When the version control overlays are displayed in the Structure View of the Merge Editor in CVS, they are appended to the model object, so they extend the 16x16 space They are placed to the right of a model object icon, overlapping the 16x16 model object space by 3 pixels In CVS there is a maximum of 2 overlays on the right of the object

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Implementation Conventions

Eclipse provides a set of directory names and structure for storing and accessing user interface graphics easily in any plug-in This section describes the naming conventions and directory path used in Eclipse If followed, the predefined directory names and path allow for the icon and wizard graphic files to be implemented directly into the plug-in structure without any need for modifications

From icon request to delivery, the naming and structure is the same If you use a different user interface directory name or more than one directory to store graphics than that specified at request time, notify your visual design contact of these changes so that they can maintain a parallel system Further, keeping the number of directories in which you store your graphics to a minimum, will reduce unnecessary duplication of graphics and ease resource management issues considerably

Directory Names and Structure

Once your icons have been conceptualized, designed, approved and cut, they are stored using the directory naming convention and structure described below

1 The name of the first level directory refers to the Eclipse platform: Icons used in

an Eclipse plug-in are called org.eclipse.pluginname.ui_0.0.0 Where

pluginname is substituted with the name of the plug-in and _0.0.0 is substituted with the Eclipse version number, for example, org.eclipse.debug.ui_2.1.0

2 Each plug-in that manages user interface elements for a tool set contains a second

level directory called icons

3 Within the icons directory, there are separate folders with names that indicate the

state, type and size of the icons, as follows:

1 The first letter of the folder name indicates the icon state The letter c for color, d for disabled, and e for enabled

2 The next 3 to 6 letters signify the icon type: toolbar (tool), local toolbar (lcl), view

or perspective (view), model object (obj), overlay (ovr), wizard banner (wizban)

3 The last two digits of the folder name indicate the size of the icons within

Usually it will be 16 (to indicate the 16 pixel by 16 pixel size), but there might be others (for example, 32 would indicate the 32 x 32 size) depending on the plug-in

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o denote theshows how

with the ction or

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d ble files view tor view

ny of the oth

tes provided

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e location or suffixes are

Icon T

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rd icons: usebar icons: uselobal toolbarbar icons: uselobal toolbarbar icons: uselobal toolbartoolbar icon title area ofand perspeceft corner of bar icons: uselobal toolbarand perspec

nsure appropent misuse owell consideinction betw

f your graph

of user inter

an icon or wfor image fil

rface wizard

le names in

d in wizard

d toolbars ding menus, ding menus, ding menus,

n the far rightfound in the ding menus, found in the

s

t

resent mode

model objecect palettes for commandsystem, e.g

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et Local

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es bar icons: uselobal toolbartoolbar icon title area of

d in the tree ies view

n the far right

n the far right

n the far rightfound in the

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m label, toolt

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et, a set of ta

a view or ediation of the m

your file nam

can contribu

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ute command

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ar

In this section we'll look at general command guidelines For information on window,

view, or editor specific guidelines, see Windows, Views, and Editors

Appearance

Each command must have a label, tool tip, and image If the command appears in a

toolbar, the command image will be displayed on all platforms If the command appears

in a menu, the image will only be displayed on some platforms, such as Windows® 2000 The label and tool tip should use Headline style capitalization, as defined in General UI

Guidelines

Each command must provide one full color image This image will be displayed if the

mouse is placed over the command It will also be used to generate the enabled, disabled, and pressed images which appear in normal command use Commands which are

contributed in code also have the option to define explicit images for enabled, disabled,

and roll over This option can be used for greater control over image appearance

ed on, and th

e version 2.1for the commShow Type H

oltip should

se the text sa

any commanuld adopt the

ws the valid u

label, tool tiptalization

should descrcurrent stateutton For tog

he label shou

1, it is recommand label

Hierarchy bu

describe theame as that f

nd which ha same termin

use of Headl

p, and full co

ribe the beha

For push bggle buttonsuld not changmmended thaFor instanceutton is show

e result of thfor the comm

as a similar bnology

g on the state

p for a commowing snapstool tips tex

, not the curr

existing comm

oolbar

nd tool tip

e command idecribe the ffect when

e of the mand uses theshot the

ng an existin

n object insidterm "Add"

ement shouldtimistically anot be comp

for modal inack

rst opens, thquired from ontrol is fou

or requires

e default but

e term "NewProject" and

ng resource

de a resource should be u

ld calculate

d be quick Iand display aleted

nteraction wi

e initial focuthe user Thund where insimple confitton

w" should be

"New Java

e (e.g., a tagused; the use

If command

an appropria

ith the user

us should behis control caformation isfirmation from

used in an cClass" The

enablement ate message

file; a methsomething to

te and Add c

essfully If t

essfully

xpensive to clly enabled

f the dialog pthe initial fo

r wizard Forte" should be

quick, enablemand is

information,

ol where tab order of provides cus may also

on

atever is sele

e selected ite(whether the

ave the followelected buck

ected on the ems from the

wing controlkets

l buttons, in

ight

m left to righcontrol butto

tainer If button

m the left to

for moving

ource objectsrder

s

o avoid distra

to prompt thrmation is in

a more poliseach wizard

monly used fo

o be used foruld be used ider

nsisting of m

a header, conmage represeale palette foacting the us

he user for invalid The pshed feel, an

or consistencser from the nformation wresence of th

nd greater peext, Finish, a

on of new reion of any tamany steps in

which must b

anner graphiizard task, a

cy with otherimportant fiwhich is abse

he header, werception of and Cancel b

sources, resoask involving

n the task, an

be completed

c and a text and should be

r banners in ields of the went, and dispwith banner gquality to thbutton should

ate to display

with a promp

of the wizardNew File wiz

or folder, thname, and poes not poin

y an error m

pt, not an err

d should be dzard, the curr

he wizard wiput cursor foc

nt to a valid pstead, it will ection is on folder or pro

a banner gra

xt, Finish, an

uld be placeader should

message At th

ror message

derived fromrent workbenill pre-populcus in the neparent projecleave the fie

a file, a wizaoject of the f

ct or folder, eld blank andard may alsofile

ext area for uttons in the

t field requirprompt the us

e user hasn't

t where it is

n is examine

nt field with uiring user inthe wizard w

d put the cur

o go through

user footer

ring ser for the

t done

opened For

ed If it pointthe parent nput If the will not pre-rsor focus in

h these

r

ts

n