Recipe 4.7 Restoring Elements and Files from Local History

4.7.1 Problem

You decide a recent change was a mistake and want to revert to a previous version.

4.7.2 Solution

Right-click an element and use the Local History menu, or right-click a file and use the items in the Replace With menu.

4.7.3 Discussion

Because it maintains a local history, Eclipse enables you to undo recent changes without having to resort to selecting Edit Undo, which provides limited options. For example, if you've made some changes to a method that you want to undo, right-click the method's name in its declaration and select Local History Replace With Previous.

The context menu items for the JDT editor that enable you to restore from local history are as follows:

Local History Replace With Previous

Replaces a file with the previous version.

Local History Replace With

Replaces an element, such as a variable, field, or method, with its version from local history. This item shows the local history graphically before the change is made.

Local History Restore From

Restores a Java element from local history. This item shows the available choices from local history graphically before the change is made.

For example, selecting Local History Replace With enables you to review the change before making it, as shown in Figure 4-13.

Figure 4-13. Replacing Java elements from local history

You also can revert an entire file to its previous version by right-clicking it in a view such as the Package Explorer and selecting one of the following menu items:

Replace With Previous from Local History

Replaces the file with the previous version in local history

Replace With Local History

Replaces the file with a version you select from local history

Restore from Local History

Restores a file from local history

4.7.3.1 Eclipse 3.0

In Eclipse 3.0, you can restore a line of code to its original version. Right-click the Quick Diff bar, and select Revert Line.

4.7.4 See Also

Recipe 4.5 on comparing files; Recipe 4.6 on comparing files against local history.