# Eclipse platform plugin

Colorer Library introduces it's new version for the Eclipse platform. Eclipse is a highly configurable and extensible IDE, written on Java. It provides a great API for plugging external components, allowing to use all it's powerful features. Colorer implements multiprogramming language editor for the Eclipse platform.

## Installation

To install Colorer for Eclipse you must download `EclipseColorer-take5.x.x.x.zip` package. This package contains Eclipse plugin with sources, packed Colorer's HRC database and two versions of native library component - for Windows and Linux platforms. It contains sources both for native part and top-level Colorer Java API. Note, that it doesn't contains sources of the Colorer Library. If you want to rebuild native part of the plugin, download latest Colorer Library package.

Unpack content of plugin's package into `%ECLIPSEHOME%/plugins/` folder and restart Eclipse. Make sure you've extracted `net.sf.colorer/colorer/` folder. It contains HRC database, which is used by the plugin. If you are already have Colorer-take5 Library, installed in your system (f.e. from full library package version), you can delete `colorer` directory and specify path to your `catalog.xml` file with one of the standard locations.

## Common features

Colorer for Eclipse IDE supports:

- Default Eclipse editor with syntax highlighting capabilities.
- Paired constructions highlighting and matching.
- Shortcuts for pairs matching.
- Different color schemes.
- Choosing currently used file type in editor (list of all available types).
- Reloading of library.
- Powerful and flexible outliner for all common languages.
- Errors list is included into the outliner view.
- Colored sources generation into HTML files (Available in the navigator's context menu).

## Customization

You can use `Windows/Preferences` menu option to open Eclipse configuration dialog. Entry `Colorer Library` contains several options, managing Editor's look and feel. These includes:

- Current editor line highlighting.
- Editor word-wrap setting.
- Editor tabulation size.
- Current coloring style (one of available).
- Background usage setting (Use default system background or current scheme's explicitly).

To use paired constructions matching, you can open a context menu, when the caret is placed on a paired region. There you can choose commands to find and position caret on the other pair, or to select all the text content between paired structures. These commands could be runned from toolbar buttons also.

If you want to customize icons used to display items in structure tree (outline), place them in `eclipse\plugins\net.sf.colorer_x.x.x\icons\outline\<schemename>` and name as your regions (use existing files for example).

If you want to customize icon for your file type, copy `<editor>` entry under `<extension point="org.eclipse.ui.editors">` entry and replace `id, name, icon, extensions` attributes with your values.

## Minor Notes

EclipseColorer was tested with Eclipse v2.0.2, v2.1.0 M4 and RC1. However, there are some differences in these versions. For example, to manage Colorer's current line color in 2.1, you must disable line highlighting in global text editor settings. Also, there are some differences in Eclipse API. In particular, Colorer compiled with latest Eclipse can work with some bugs in previous version.