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Workbench Terminology

The Eclipse workbench defines a window, or set of windows, around which the visual elements of the application are organized. The window consists of a main menu bar, a toolbar, an editor area (in which one or more editors may be opened) and several views. The selection of views and their layout is called a Perspective. Perspectives are organized around functional areas or user activities and are user customizable. An image of an Eclipse workbench is shown below highlighting the various components.

Eclipse Workbench Image

 

  • A window defines the OS window that appears on the desktop, including the entire GUI framework for the workbench. More than one (related) window can be opened using the same workspace. (Use Window -> New Window.) If Eclipse is started from the command line, either it must be the first instance started or the started instance must use a new workspace.
  • A perspective defines the set and the layout of views for a window. A window may contain multiple open perspectives at the same time, but only one perspective will be active1. Within the window each perspective shares the same editors and provides a set of functionality aimed at accomplishing a specific type of task, or aimed at working with specific types of resources, for example: editing versus debugging perspectives. Different perspectives take different viewpoints examining the same core material. Perspectives control what appears in menus and toolbars and they define visible action sets.
  • Action Set is the set of menu and toolbar items.
  • 1. A workbench may have multiple active perspectives by opening multiple windows. (A windows preferences option is available to cause new preferences to open in new windows.)

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