Recipe 1.4 Running Multiple Eclipse Windows

1.4.1 Problem

You want to run multiple Eclipse windows at the same time, possibly including different versions of Eclipse.

1.4.2 Solution

Launch Eclipse more than once, and you'll get multiple Eclipse windows.

1.4.3 Discussion

Running multiple Eclipse windows is not a problem, as shown in Figure 1-4.

Figure 1-4. Running multiple Eclipse windows

You have choices here, as explained in the following sections.

1.4.3.1 Multiple Eclipse windows, same workspace

To open multiple Eclipse windows using the same workspace, select Window New Window. It's a good idea to use this technique if you want to work in two different perspectives (such as the Java and Debug perspectives) at the same time in different windows.

1.4.3.2 Multiple Eclipse windows, multiple workspaces

You can launch Eclipse so that it uses the workspace of your choice instead of the default one. To do that, enter eclipse -data newWorkSpacePath -showLocation on the command line. This starts Eclipse with the workspace given by newWorkSpacePath (the -showLocation option makes windows show their location, making it easy to remember where you are if you launch multiple windows). You would use this technique if you want to partition projects into different workspaces to keep them separate.

1.4.3.3 Multiple Eclipse installations

You can have multiple Eclipse installations on the same machine, including different versions. Just unzip or untar them in different directories; they won't conflict. This can be useful if you want to try out some of the new features in nonrelease builds, or if you don't want to start Eclipse from the command line to work with different workspaces.

1.4.3.4 Runtime workbench

You can launch a runtime workbench by selecting Run Run As Run-time Workbench. This can be useful to test plug-ins, as we'll do in Chapter 12. The plug-in you're developing will appear in the new workbench, ready to be tested.