Eclipse Project Management

Finding your projects

If your projects aren't there when you open Eclipse, you may need to set the Workspace. Do this by choosing File menu > Switch Workspace > Other... and picking the directory that has the project directories in it. Don't pick a specific project directory.

Importing a project from elsewhere / fixing a broken project.

If you have a project elsewhere you'd like to get into your project directory, go to File menu > Import.... This will bring up the import wizard. Choose General < Existing Projects into Workspace and hit Next. Click Select root directory if it isn't selected, and Browse... to the project directory. Click on it and click Ok. Then, make sure Copy projects into workspace is selected and click Finish. This should import the core files. If the project relies on external jars you will probably need to set these up (see below). If Eclipse isn't recognising your projects for some reason, you could try shifting them to another location on the harddrive and trying to import them.

Sorting out a build path / library issue.

Often, if you've moved files around you may find Eclipse complains about problems with its build path, and may display a red exclaimation mark next to the project in the Project Explorer. This is usually because it has lost track of a jar file it uses.

To sort this out, right-click on the project directory in Project Explorer and go to Build Path > Configure Build Path.... This will open the project properties dialogue, open to the build path page. First, go to the Libraries tab, select any dubious looking libraries/jar files (they may have an exclaimation mark next to them), and hit the Remove button. It may help find the location if you make a note of the old location. Next, click Add jar, and locate the jar file you need, before clicking Ok. If your jar file is corrupt, and you have the source files, you can add it under the Order and Export tab, by selecting the square tickbox next to it - this will build the jar files again when the project is compiled.

If for any reason you need to link two projects, you can add other projects as reference for the current project under the Projects tab. You might also want to check they are selected in the project properties under Project References on the left of the dialogue.

Issues with Eclipse building projects you aren't working on.

Right-click the projects you aren't working on, and select Close Project. You can reopen a closed project by right-clicking on it and selecting Open Project.