Setting the master build descriptor

The master build descriptor plugin.xml file is an XML file that the workbench uses to specify the name and file path name of the master build descriptor. You need this only if you need a master build descriptor to enforce certain options to be used for generation and you are generating from the workbench. You can use the workbench to create this file by following these steps:

In the workbench, click File > New > Project.
Click Plug-in Project, and click Next.
Create a name for your project, and click Next.
Click Finish. The workbench opens a dialog asking if you want to open the associated perspective. Click Yes. The MANIFEST.MF file for the project opens in an editor.
Click the Dependencies tab at the bottom of the editor.
Under the Required Plug-ins section, click the Add button on the right.
In the list of plug-ins, locate and double-click com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ide.
Click the Extensions tab at the bottom of the editor.
Under All Extensions, click the Add button on the right. The New Extension window opens.
From the list, locate and click com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ide.masterBuildDescriptor.
Click Finish.

Click the plugin.xml tab at the bottom of the editor. This opens the XML file in a text editor. Your plugin.xml file should look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<?eclipse version="3.4"?>
<plugin>
  <extension 
    point="com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ide.masterBuildDescriptor">
  </extension>

</plugin>

Add a blank line after this line:

point="com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ide.masterBuildDescriptor">

In the blank line, enter (or copy and paste) this line of XML code:

<masterBuildDescriptor file="myProject/myDirectory/myBuildFile"
  name="myMasterBuildDescriptor"/>

Your completed plugin.xml file should look like the following example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<?eclipse version="3.4"?>
<plugin>
  <extension 
    point="com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ide.masterBuildDescriptor">
   <masterBuildDescriptor file="myProject/myDirectory/myBuildFile"
     name="myMasterBuildDescriptor"/> 
  </extension>
</plugin>

If you are using the EGL Software Developer's Kit (SDK), you declare the name and file path name of the master build descriptor in a file named eglmaster.properties. This file must be in a directory that is listed in the CLASSPATH environment variable. The format of the eglmaster.properties file is discussed in the next section.

Format of the eglmaster.properties file

The eglmaster.properties file is a Java™ properties file that the EGL SDK uses to specify the name and file path name of the master build descriptor. This properties file must be contained in a directory that is specified in the CLASSPATH variable of the process that invokes the EGLSDK command. The format of the eglmaster.properties file is as follows:

masterBuildDescriptorName=desc
masterBuildDescriptorFile=path

where:

desc: The name of the master build descriptor
path: The fully qualified path name of the EGL file in which the master build descriptor used by the EGL SDK is declared

The content of this file must follow the rules of a Java™ properties file. You can use either a slash (/) or two backslashes (\\) to separate directory or file names within a path name.

You must specify both the masterBuildDescriptorName and masterBuildDescriptorFile keywords in the properties file. Otherwise the eglmaster.properties file is ignored.

Following is an example of the contents of an eglmaster.properties file:

# Specify the name of the master build descriptor:
masterBuildDescriptorName=MYBUILDDESCRIPTOR
# Specify the file that contains the master build descriptor:
masterBuildDescriptorFile=d:/egl/builddescriptors/master.egl

As mentioned above, the above example could also have been written as:

# Specify the name of the master build descriptor:
masterBuildDescriptorName=MYBUILDDESCRIPTOR
# Specify the file that contains the master build descriptor:
masterBuildDescriptorFile=d:\\egl\\builddescriptors\\master.egl