Installing Software at Home

Last modified: January 26 2010 10:00:15 AM

Install JDK

Go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp and download the JDK 6 Update 17 package for Java (this is the same update number as we have in the lab, and should minimize the risk for any potential issues with different version numbers). You will be downloading a self-installing zip. Double click on it and do not change any of the defaults.

If you would ever be interested in running Java from the command line, or using another IDE with Java sometime in the future, you should seriously consider changing your PATH variable. You can find information about changing your PATH variable at http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/install/index.html. Under the JDK column, select your platform and scroll through the instructions until you find the information about updating the path. Note that if you are having trouble installing or running from home, one of the first things we will tell you to do is go set your path variable.

Install Eclipse

The version of Eclipse you want to install if you want to match the environment in the lab is version 3.4.0, which is available here http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/packages/eclipse-classic-34/ganymeder. From this page, select the platform you are using from the choices at the right.

If you are using Windows Vista, you do not want to put this directly into your C:\ directory or into C:\Program Files. Eclipse likes to write a lot of temporary files and Vista does not like that behavior. So, you should create a directory somewhere named eclipse and put the installation into that directory.

Install plug-ins for Eclipse (Green, DrJava and Web-CAT)

The installation mechanism for Eclipse changed with version 3.4. For two of our plug-ins, this makes things very easy: you can point Eclipse to the update site for the plugins, and have Eclipse do the installation itself.

The update sites are:

• green: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/faculty/alphonce/green/
• Web-CAT: http://web-cat.cs.vt.edu/eclipse/

To have Eclipse recognize an update site, select the Help menu and then Software Updates. In the window that appears, select the Available Software tab and then choose the button at the right for Add Site. Type the URL in the box and click OK. The Update site will appear in the list on the left.

To have the Green plugin install, deselect the box that says "Show only the latest versions of available software". When you expand "Green Update Site" you will see version 3.4.0. Select Green 3.4.0 and Green Relationships 3.4.0 and then the Install button.

To make sure that Web-CAT installs correct, expand the Name that corresponds to the Web-CAT URL given above (or it might say "Exported Repository") and select Eclipse Checkstyle Plug-in and PMD Plug-in under Uncategorized and Web-CAT Eclipse Java Feature under Web-CAT/Virginia Tech Computer Science and then click the Install button.

To install the DrJava plugin, you will need to copy the files directly from the CSE server timberlake.cse.buffalo.edu to your own Eclipse install. On your machine, find the dropins folder from your Eclipse install and use a file transfer program (like Filezilla) to open a connection to timberlake. On timberlake, go to the /util/eclipse/dropins directory. You will need to copy the directory named edu.rice.cs.drjava_0.9.8 and the directory named plugins. After you get the plugins directory, delete all but the edu.rice.cs.drjava_0.9.8 directory. Yes, you will have two copies of that edu.rice.cs.drjava_0.9.8 directory, but this seems to be the only way we can get DrJava to play nice with the installs of Eclipse.