Full JDT Support For The Next Release

18.02.2014

It was always a goal to integrate a powerful Java editor in Bio7. The current default Java editor of Bio7 is a custom editor with a set of tools to ease the creation of valid Java files and enables the compilation of Java classbodies and regular Java classes dynamically.

However the editor lacks many advanced Java editing capabilities which would be very hard to implement bottom up. So instead of trying to improve the current editor i evaluated the use of JDT  (Java development tools) inside of Bio7.

After some research and time i was finally able to embed JDT in Bio7 in a decent and easy to use way. As the result in next release you can create a Bio7 Java project with JDT support using several project creation wizards of Bio7 which create e.g. Bio7 Java templates ready for dynamic compilation (see below).

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The file(s) for compilation are created in the base src folder (the bin folder contains compiled *.class files which we don’t need for dynamic compilation – the built process can be disabled in the preferences).
As in previous releases the dynamic compilation action is available in the toolbar of Bio7 (you don’t need the Run configuration of JDT) to compile the files instantly
into the current Java process.

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The process of creation also configures the project Build Path automatically to include all necessary Bio7 runtime libraries, binaries and source folders which are needed more or less for the dynamic compilation process (see screenshot below) so that no further adjustments are needed to interact with the Bio7 environment.

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The JDT  Java editor drastically improves the creation of Java simulation models, etc. You definitely profit from the fantastic editing support of the editor with code completion, refactoring and error analysis, Quick fixes, etc. (below a screenshot shows the code completion for the available Bio7 API).

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However if the Java editor is not active the usual Bio7 GUI is not cluttered by JDT elements.

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At all JDT support for Bio7 is a huge improvement for the creation of e.g. simulation models avoiding many errors with Java classes. The Java file creation and the dynamic compilation process will be as easy as in previous releases of Bio7.

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