FlexFormatter update options

FlexFormatter Updates

There are a few ways to keep the FlexFormatter plug-in code up to date.

Settings updates

Groups that want to share formatter settings previously only had the option of having each developer manually import the formatter settings via the preference page. However, changes in the standard preferences required each developer to perform the manual step again. Eclipse does not have a standard way of updating workspace-level preferences. Tearaway_tea suggested the strategy of using a workspace file (under source control) to store the settings, and that is what I've implemented.

Auto sync from file

Check the box to turn on the auto sync option. In the text field, enter a workspace-relative path to a FlexFormatter properties file. If you have a project "Settings" with a file "ff.properties" in it, the path would be /Settings/ff.properties. The file could be in a project that all developers have open (i.e. your 'main' project), or could be in a separate project created just for this purpose. The project would be pushed to source control. Whenever the settings file needs to be modified, the project lead could update the ff.properties file in source control (by whatever method is convenient). The next time developers synchronize from source control, they will pull down the updated ff.properties file and the FlexFormatter settings will automatically be updated. The file does not need to exist when the setting is established, although the absence of a file will generate a message in the Eclipse error log.

Browse button

The browse button is intended as a way to easily find the path to the common FlexFormatter properties file. It is a standard Eclipse dialog, but it's a little strange. You can type in '*' or '?' or a letter in the top text field and all of the matching files in the workspace will be shown. Select the file and then select which project it is in if the same relative file path exists in multiple projects.

Save to sync file

Mark this checkbox if you are the member of your team who is responsible for actually changing the formatter properties. If this box is checked, then changes in the Eclipse Preferences will be written to the auto sync file. Then they will show up as outgoing differences in the team sync perspective.