Creating an Eclipse Project to Store the Extension

Before you can define the settings for your new extension, you need to create a new project in Eclipse. This project, which is created using the Isight options provided by the Isight Developer perspective, acts as a container for all of your extension information.

  1. Start Eclipse.

  2. From the File menu, select New -> Project.

    The New Project wizard appears.

  3. Expand the SIMULIA node.

  4. Click Isight Project, and click Next.

    The Create an Isight Project screen appears.

  5. Specify your new project information.

    1. In the Project name text box, specify a name for the new project. Typically, the project name should be related to the extensions you are developing (for example, “Calculator Component,” “Calculator Plug-in,” etc.)

      There are some character restrictions when naming a project. The wizard will notify you if you use a restricted character by displaying an error message above the text box.

    2. Specify the location of the project using one of the following methods:

      • Select Use default location to save the project in your default workspace directory.
      • Clear Use default location, and type a location for your project directly in the Location text box.

      Your project location is based on your development environment and may or may not need to be changed. For more information, see your Eclipse product documentation.

    3. In the Name text box, specify the name of the Isight extension you are developing (for example, “Calculator”). You can use any name you want as long as it is a valid Isight metamodel name. The name cannot contain numbers, white space, or special characters (#, $, etc.).
    4. In the Package text box, specify the package in which the contents of the extension will be placed (for example, com.simulia.components). The default setting for this option is taken from your Eclipse preferences.

      Note: The Name and Package settings are used together to form the full name of the metamodel for the extension (for example, com.simulia.components. Calculator).

  6. Click Next.

    The Isight Project Templates screen appears.

  7. If desired, select any predefined template to use when creating your project.

    The templates are located in the <Isight_install_directory>\<operating_system>\reffiles\IsightDeveloper\templates directory. Two types of files exist in this directory: .zpt and .zct. The .zpt files are the zipped project templates. The .zct files are the zipped class templates. Only the files installed with Isight can be used with Isight Developer.

    Only templates supplied with Isight can be used to create projects. You cannot use custom templates when creating a project. However, you can create a project or class without a template.

  8. Click Finish.

    You return to Eclipse, the project for your new extension is created, and the project is displayed within the Isight Developer Perspective. For more information on this interface, see About the Isight Developer Perspective.