Why does my Eclipse plugin show up in Eclipse RCP version, but not in other versions like Java and Java EE?

Question

I have developed an Eclipse plugin using the RCP version of Eclipse. I have used the plugin via a 'run application' launch as well as by exporting the plugin as a JAR and putting it in the plugins directory of Eclipse RCP.

The problem is that when I put the plugin JAR in the plugins directory for my Java version or Java EE version of Eclipse, it doesn't seem to be loaded as one of the plugins. I go to the preferences to look at the pref. page for my plugin and it isn't even listed.

This is my first Eclipse plugin, so I don't have much experience using plugins across different distributions of Eclipse and so forth. Any ideas of how to fix this? I would like to be able to use the plugin in any Eclipse (Java, Java EE, RCP, etc.)

Answer 1

Try putting your plugin under install/dropins/plugins directory. As of Eclipse 3.5, adding plugins directly to the root plugins directory isn't supported.

This should be enough for you to experiment further, but this isn't a good way to install finished plugins. The best way to install plugins is via a published repository. You will need to create a feature to hold your plugin and then use Export -> Plug-in Development -> Deployable features wizard or investigate command line build solutions such as pdeBuild.