Building a .jar file for the plug-in
Now we are ready to use the build.xml Ant buildfile that was created
in the last section:
- Select the build.xml file in the Navigator and choose Run > External
Tools from the context menu.
- In the dialog, the Targets tab should be visible. Make sure that 'build.jars'
is the only item in the list selected.
- Switch to the Refresh tab. The options on this tab control if and
how the workspace looks for new, changed and deleted resources after the buildfile
finishes execution. Because refreshing can be an expensive operation, you
should refresh the smallest subset of the workspace necessary for your buildfile.
- Check Refresh resources upon completion, then select The project
containing the selected resource.
- Click Run.
- The Ant buildfile runs, executing the build.jars target. Output from the
buildfile is visible in the Console view.
- When the buildfile finishes, notice that there is a new .jar file under
your project containing the two class files that comprise your plug-in. If
we had chosen not to refresh the project, the .jar file would still have been
created, but we would not see it in the Navigator.
We've run the default target for the build.xml Ant buildfile, but there are many
other targets and options to be explored.