Start Eclipse on MacOS from Java Command line

Question

I'm working with an older version of Eclipse, Helios SR1.

I need to be able to start eclipse from the terminal.

I execute the following command in Terminal to start eclipse.

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java -jar plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.1.0.v20100507.jar

and I get

Root exception: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/eclipse/swt/SWTError

So this appears to be more complex than what was found in the above link. If I double-click the Eclipse.app it starts right up.

I'm wondering what else needs to be done to allow the Command Line Eclipse Launcher to work properly

Answer 1

You should just be able to use the open command:

open /path/to/eclipse.app

or

open -n /path/to/eclipse.app

will open a new instance of Eclipse even if one is already running.

If you must use the Java command you need to specify -XstartOnFirstThread before the -jar option:

java -XstartOnFirstThread -jar ...

Answer 2

Use the eclipse launcher binary:

<Your-Install-Path>/Eclipse.app/Contents/MacOS/eclipse

Default start-up options are set in eclipse.ini:

<Your-Install-Path>/Eclipse.app/Contents/Eclipse/eclipse.ini

Kepler start-up options are documented here: https://help.eclipse.org/kepler/index.jsp?topic=/org.eclipse.platform.doc.isv/reference/misc/runtime-options.html (Helios link redirects to Kepler, the oldest one they have kept available)