Eclipse: Same Workspace in windows and linux

Eclipse: Same Workspace in windows and linux

I believe almost all dual booters wish for something like this.. The eclipse workspace should be independent of the operating system they are logged in..! well.. I have found a way to do it..

Issue:
    The problem with using the same workspace is that ‘it doesn’t work!’ 😀 well.. the configuration of a workspace is stored in .metadata folder inside the working directory.. it has all the paths.. Most importantly, the path to JRE/JDK..! If a workspace from Windows is opened in Linux/ubuntu the java projects wont compile cause of the build path issues.. If you set it right in ubuntu, it wont work in windows..

Solution:
Well..One of the solutions that works or at least worked for me is:
    Having 2 ws with all projects pointing to an external folder..!

There may be other solutions, but this is how it is done:
    Say you have a workspace under windows, now you need it to work under ubuntu..
Well.. leave alone the original workspace.. Create a new one and ‘import’ the projects from the original one.. What needs to be taken care of is: dont copy them to their default locations, that is the new workspace… You can also choose to copy the layout and other settings as well.. That way the projects will still be in the original workspace, pointed to from your new one, with all your operating specific data stored in the new workspace..! Works! You can do this for the Windows as well, keeping the ‘projects folder’ completely independent..

Problems with the approach:
The problem with this approach is that when you create a new project you need to be careful to create it in the original workspace i.e. where all other projects are.. Thats not all that difficult.. And even if you forget once, you can copy this project to the central projects location! Simple…?

What did I try it with:
Windows 7 & Ubuntu 10.10 & 11.4.
Eclipse 3.6.2 Helios

Thats it.. And you have the OS independent Workspace!! 🙂

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