Is the PDE's "Update Site Wizard" still the right way to create an update site?

Question

The point of this question is to get verification from someone knowledgeable of the current state of affairs with the Eclipse install system.

I have an Eclipse plugin and I want to make an update site for it using the easiest (but correct) method available. My initial impression was that I:

1. Create a feature with the PDE Feature Project.
2. Add my plugin to the feature.
3. Create an update site with the PDE Update Site Project.
4. Add my feature to the update site.

Then I started looking for documentation on the whole Eclipse install system and started reading about this P2 thing, which is apparently new and replaces whatever came before.

The information I find about the PDE projects and wizards doesn't discuss P2, or I haven't found the right information, which makes me a little nervous that I may be doing something wrong or missing something important.

So, do I need to care about P2, or is P2 something that happens under the hood where I can safely ignore it, so long as I continue to use the PDE tools?

Thanks!

Destine

Very good question! I am in the same situation, and it is not at all clear to me if the creation of update sites will be supported in the future. Hope your question will generate some more information, that clarifies the situation. – Johnsson

It looks like the PDE didn't really support P2 until 3.5 when they added the "Category Definition". Part of my problem was that, for various reasons, I started looking into this with Eclipse 3.4. – Destine

Answer 1

No you're alright, P2 isn't new anymore. It was introduced in Eclipse 3.4, a few years ago, replacing the old Update Manager. IBM has an article on it here.

As is so often the case with Eclipse concepts, Lars Vogel has a good tutorial on the subject at http://www.vogella.de/.

By the way, an even simpler way of creating an update site is not to create an update site project, and instead export the feature as a Deployable Feature. The same files are generated. But it's a better idea to create the update site project, especially if you will be making frequent releases.

Calvo

Thanks for the info. So, it sounds like you're saying the PDE Update Site Project is up to date and ok to use? – Destine

Ok, this tutorial from Lars Vogel's site seems to answer my question: vogella.de/articles/EclipsePlugIn/…. It looks like he's suggesting you should use a deployable feature instead of using the update site project... – Destine

No, 7.1 and 7.2 of that article describe different processes. Exporting a deployable feature is a one-off, and I think the reason mr Vogel has it in his tutorial is that it's easier to do, rather than setting up an Update Site project. You can actually create an update site by setting the correct option during the export. The main reason to set up an Update Site project is that the project allows you to automatically upload the deployable feature to a remote site, plus of course you set up the project once-and-for-all rather than having to select the right options during the export each time. – Calvo

I emailed Vogel on his google group. He responded that he believes the PDE Update Site is "outdated and not required anymore". groups.google.com/group/vogella/browse_thread/thread/… I'm going to create a deployable feature for myself and see how it works and how it compares with the Update Site. – Destine