Sencha Eclipse Plugin

Introduction to the Sencha Eclipse Plugin

Sencha’s Eclipse IDE plugin is an Integrated Development Environment tool that creates a confluence between Sencha Frameworks and Eclipse software. This integration comes in the form of code completion, while seamlessly cooperating with native Eclipse behavior.

Sencha experts will love the the ease with which changes are refactored and how simple it is to trace code to the source.

Sencha beginners will benefit as the Eclipse plugin provides completion suggestions while encouraging best-practice code structure and syntax.

Installation

Requirements

1. Eclipse 2022-12 (4.26.0) or 2023-03 (4.27.0) IDE for Enterprise Java and Web Developers

2. Sencha Cmd 6+ (optional - required to create and run Sencha apps)

   • https://www.sencha.com/products/sencha-cmd/

3. Ext JS 4.2.+

   • http://www.sencha.com/products/extjs

4. A supported operating system

   • Windows 10 or higher (64-bit)

   • Mac OSX

   • Linux (64-bit only)

The Sencha Eclipse IDE plugin is compatible with Eclipse 2022-09 and later.

Note: While products derived from Eclipse Luna (4.4+), like Spring Tools Suite, MyEclipse, and Rational Application Developer should work, Sencha only tests and supports official Eclipse releases. If you do encounter compatibility issues with these other products, please report them on the Sencha Eclipse Plugin forum.

Installation Instructions

From Eclipse Marketplace

Installing from the Eclipse Marketplace will enable automatic updates when they are released.

1. Open Eclipse

2. Open the Sencha Eclipse Plugin page

3. Drag the Install button from the Marketplace to your Eclipse IDE

4. Make sure the Sencha Eclipse Plugin is selected and click 'Confirm'

5. Accept the terms of the license agreement as needed and click “Finish”

6. During the installation process, you may encounter a window regarding unsigned content. Simply click "OK" to continue the install

7. Restart Eclipse when prompted

From Download

When installing from a zip archive downloaded from the support portal.

1. Download the Eclipse IDE Plugin (from the Support Portal)

2. Open Eclipse

3. Goto Help->Install New Software

4. Click the "Add" button

5. Click the "Archive" button and point towards the Eclipse IDE Plugin zip file

6. Select the resulting checkbox next to the "Sencha ExtJS Plugin" item

7. Click "Next >" twice

8. Accept the terms of the license agreement as needed and click "Finish"

9. During the installation process, you may encounter a window regarding unsigned content. Simply click "OK" to continue the install

10. Restart Eclipse for the changes to take effect

At this point, you should be able start using the Sencha Eclipse plugin

Update Instructions

If you already have the Sencha Eclipse Plugin installed from the Marketplace, updates are easy.

By default, Eclipse will check for plugin updates once a week, but you can force the IDE to check for new versions:

1. In Eclipse, goto Help -> Check for Updates

2. If the Sencha Eclipse Plugin is displayed, make sure it is selected

   1. Click "Next >" as needed to continue through the wizard

   2. Accept the terms of the license agreement as needed and click "Finish"

   3. During the installation process, you may encounter a window regarding unsigned content. Simply click "OK" to continue the install

   4. Restart Eclipse for the changes to take effect

3. If the Sencha Plugin is not listed, you will need to uninstall the plugin and reinstall.

   1. Goto Help -> Installation Details

   2. Select the Sencha Eclipse Plugin

   3. Click Uninstall

   4. Click Finish and Yes when asked to restart Eclipse

   5. Follow the Marketplace installation instructions above

Licensing

The Sencha Eclipse Plugin is a part of Ext JS Pro and Premium packages, and requires a valid license to use.

A fully-functional 30 day trial of the plugin is available, and will be tied to your Sencha Forum ID.

Upon starting your preferred Eclipse IDE, you will be presented with the Registration dialog:

Enter your Sencha Forum ID and password.

After clicking OK:

• If you already have an active license, your plugin will be registered and trial/license notifications will disappear.

• If you are starting or resuming a trial, the plugin will notify you how many days are remaining in your trial with a balloon notification and status bar update at the bottom right of a project window.

• If your trial has expired, the plugin will prompt you for an activation code via the Activate window.

If you purchased a license and haven't yet used your activation code, click on the "Already have a license key?" to open the Activate window.

Enter your Sencha Forum ID, password, and activation code you received from your license purchase.
Once your account is associated with a license, you do not need to activate the plugin in the future.

If you do not register with a trial or valid account, or your trial has lapsed beyond 30 days, the Sencha Eclipse Plugin functionality will be disabled. To register or activate your plugin, go to:

Preferences->Sencha 

You can then click "Register your copy".

The license is valid for multiple Eclipse products on your machine. If you registered one product, such as Eclipse Mars, when you open up Eclipse Luna, you will not need to register or login again. Instead, it will use your existing trial or paid license. You will see a dialog informing you who the plugin is registered to, how many days remain in the trial (if appropriate), and the option to report anonymous statistics.

Once you dismiss this dialog, you will never see it again within this IDE. Any other new Eclipse IDEs you use will display this dialog once on the first startup.

Note: If you are offline or behind a proxy and cannot connect to Sencha's Licensing servers, please contact Sencha Support or [email protected] to obtain a license file.

Features

The Sencha Eclipse IDE Plugin is rich in functionality and simple to use. Features include:

• Code Completion

• Open Definition

• Documentation Lookup

• Run Configuration

• Wizard Creation

Let’s walk through each of these.

Code Completion

Let’s begin reviewing the benefits of Sencha Eclipse IDE Plugin with one of the most handy features; code completion. This feature allows you to receive completion suggestions for the appropriate visibility scope. This applies to almost any framework item, including:

• Config, method, and property names for all Ext JS and user classes

• Values for alias properties such as xtype, controller, viewModel, layout, etc…

• Event names in Component.on, .mon, .un, .mun, and listeners objects

• CSS class names in all config properties and methods ending in ‘cls’

• this.lookupReference(…) in controllers with an alias

• Controller methods in listeners: { (event): (methodName) } as well as handler config property

• Model/store fields for Ext.grid.Column.dataIndex

• Properties from the ViewModel in bind configs

When editing a JavaScript file inside a project that has the Sencha Nature, typing control+space will bring up the autocompletion window. The autocompletion in Eclipse will use a mix of Sencha and standard Eclipse results depending on what is being completed. Sencha results will have a higher relevance and grouped to the top of the results.

Note: A nature defines and manages the association between a given project and a particular plugin or feature.

Open Definition

The Sencha Eclipse plugin extends the Eclipse JavaScript editor and allows the user to open up the defining source code for various elements/properties within Ext JS and Touch classes.

This functionality will open up user-generated source code in addition to Ext JS and Touch SDK source code.

When editing a JavaScript file inside a project that has the Sencha Nature, move the cursor to where you want to open the definition, and press Shift + F3. The source will open in a new Eclipse JavaScript editor window.

Note: This keyboard shortcut can be changed via Eclipse's preferences; just search for "sencha ext js" under

General > Keys.

Documentation Lookup

The Sencha Eclipse plugin also allows the user to open up Sencha API documentation relevant to the code being edited.

When editing a JavaScript file inside a project that has the Sencha Nature, move the cursor to appropriate element, and press the F1 key. The appropriate Sencha API documentation will open in a new external browser window.

If no relevant API documentation can be found, it will default to the API documentation root for the version of the SDK found in your application (such as https://docs.sencha.com/extjs/6.0/6.0.0-classic/)

Note: This keyboard shortcut can be changed via Eclipse's preferences; just search for "sencha ext js" under

General > Keys.

Wizard Creation

The Sencha Eclipse IDE plugin allows the user to create any of the following items from a standard Eclipse wizard:

• Ext JS App (for existing Eclipse projects)

• Ext JS App Project (will create a new Eclipse Project)

• Ext JS Workspace / Ext JS Workspace Project

• Ext JS Class

• Ext JS Package

• Ext JS View Package

You can access creation of the above items through the File > New menu option, or by right-clicking in the Project Explorer view. Some items appear based on the context, or if the Sencha Nature is currently added to a project.

Opening an Existing Ext JS Application or Workspace

You can easily open up an existing Ext JS Application or Workspace through the IDE, simply:

1. Select "Import" from the File menu

2. Next, select General->File System, unless there's a more appropriate project type that better suits your needs.

3. Locate and select the directory your workspace or application already resides within.

4. Check the resulting checkbox next to your project name

5. Determine an "Into folder" in which to import your project and click "Finish"

6. Once your project has imported, you can right-click on the containing folder and click "Add Sencha Nature". The Sencha Nature is an Eclipse Nature that enables code completion and other Sencha behaviors. Users can also right-click on a project in Project Explorer and select "Add Sencha Nature" or "Remove Sencha Nature" as needed.

Note: Adding the Sencha Nature to your project will cause it to index by default. This process may take one or two minutes depending on your machine and project.

Generating a New Workspace Project

Note: This requires an installation of Sencha Cmd.

This will create a new Eclipse project in your workspace. If you want to create a Workspace within an exiting Eclipse project, use "New Ext JS Workspace Project"

1. Click File -> New -> Project.

2. Click on Sencha to reveal Ext JS Workspace Project.

3. Select Ext JS Workspace Project and click Next > (or double-click your selection).

4. You will now see an area to provide a Project name, the location of your Cmd installation, and the location of your SDK (optional).

5. Once you provide valid paths for Cmd and SDK, click Finish to finalize your Workspace creation.

   

6. Your workspace will generate and index by default. This process may take one or two minutes depending on your machine.

7. You may now add new Ext JS App projects to the workspace by right-clicking anywhere in the project and selecting "New App" or File->New... and selecting "New Ext JS App"

Generating a New Application Project

Note: This requires an installation of Sencha Cmd.

This will create a new Eclipse project in your workspace. If you want to add an Ext JS application within an exiting Eclipse project, use "New Ext JS App"

1. Click File -> New -> Project.

2. Click on Sencha to reveal Ext JS App Project.

3. Select Ext JS App Project and click Next > (or double-click your selection).

4. You will now see an area to provide a Project name, the location of your Cmd installation, and the location of your SDK.

5. Once you provide valid paths for Cmd and SDK, you will be shown drop-downs for Toolkit selection, which includes "universal", "classic", and "modern" (Ext JS 6+ only).

   You may also select a theme based on the version of the framework that you have chosen.

   

6. Click Finish to finalize your App Project creation.

Note: Once your application has generated, it will index by default. This process may take one or two minutes depending on your machine. The process can be sent to the background while you continue with your work, though performance may be degraded as indexing is a processor intensive task. Sencha autocompletion is disabled while the plugin is indexing.

Generating a New Application

Note: This requires an installation of Sencha Cmd.

This will not create a new Eclipse project in your workspace, but will just create an app in an existing Eclipse project. This can be inside an existing Ext JS Workspace, Dynamic Web Project, or any other project of your choosing.

1. Right click on a project or folder within Project Explorer.

2. Select File -> New -> Other...

3. Expand the Sencha category to reveal Ext JS App Project.

4. Select Ext JS App and click Next > (or double click your selection).

5. You will now see an area to provide a parent folder, app name, the location of your Cmd installation, the location of your SDK.

   1. If you are creating your application inside an existing Ext JS Workspace, you will have the option to use one of the workspace's SDKs, or to add a new one.

6. There are also checkboxes to control if new App Watch run configurations will be created, or if the app should be created in a subfolder for the app name.

   1. If you would like to create the app directly in the folder you have selected, uncheck the "Create folder for app name" checkbox.

7. Once you provide valid paths for Cmd and SDK, you will be shown drop-downs for Toolkit selection, which includes "universal", "classic", and "modern" (Ext JS 6+ only). You may also select a theme based on the version of the framework that you have chosen.

   

8. Click Finish to finalize your App Project creation.

Note: Once your application has generated, it will index by default. This process may take one or two minutes depending on your machine. The process can be sent to the background while you continue with your work, though performance may be degraded as indexing is a processor intensive task. Sencha autocompletion is disabled while the plugin is indexing.

Sencha App Watch

The Sencha Eclipse plugin supports running Sencha Cmd's 'app watch'.

When creating a new Ext JS App Project with the wizards, the plugin will create a run configuration (or two if it is a universal app) to run Sencha App Watch.

When creating a non-project new Ext JS App, there is a checkbox option to create app watch run configurations as well.

Launching Run Configurations

Once an Application has been generated, you can easily launch Sencha App Watch to start development with the Cmd web server.

To launch Sencha App Watch:

1. Select Run -> Run Configurations... (Make sure you are in the JavaScript perspective).

2. Select the appropriate Run Configuration for your particular application (and toolkit if applicable) under the Sencha App Watch category.

3. You can now click "Run" to begin Sencha App Watch.

4. You will now see Sencha Cmd's output in the console view and your application will be available at http://localhost:1841

Once you have executed a Sencha App Watch configuration, you can easily run it again from the Run -> Run History menu or from the the green Run icon's dropdown in the toolbar:

Editing Run Configurations

You can create new or edit existing app watch run configurations:

1. Select Run -> Run Configurations... (Make sure you are in the JavaScript perspective)

2. Expand the Sencha App Watch category

3. Select the run configuration you wish to edit, or double-click the Sencha App Watch category to create a new run config

4. Enter a valid name, app directory, and Sencha Cmd path. The app and Cmd paths will be validated

5. If the application is an Ext 6 universal app, select the appropriate Build Name from the dropdown

6. If you are using Sencha Inspector, you can also check "Allow connections from Sencha Inspector" to enable app watch's Inspector integration

Excluding Ext JS SDK from Eclipse's JavaScript parsing (Recommended)

Note: This is strongly suggested for Eclipse Projects that have the JavaScript nature.

If you include the Ext JS SDK within a project that will attempt to build and validate JavaScript, like an Eclipse Dynamic Web Project, Eclipse will attempt to validate the SDK, which can slow down the environment.

It is best to exclude the Ext JS SDKs from Eclipse's JavaScript configuration to prevent any issues:

1. Disable 'build automatically' from the Project menu.

2. Right click on your Eclipse Project, select Properties

3. Expand JavaScript on the left, and select Include Path.

4. Select the Source tab.

5. Double click on the Excluded path under your WebContent listing.

6. Click Add... on the bottom next to the Exclusion patterns: view

7. Click Browse... in the new dialog

8. Expand your newly create app, and select the /ext/ folder within it.

9. Click OK, click Finish

10. You can now re-enable 'build automatically' if you wish.

Controlling Which Files Are Indexed

The plugin provides code completion by indexing your JavaScript source files. You can control which files are indexed by editing (project_root)/.sencha/ide/config.json. This file is automatically created by the plugin and contains the following properties:

• include - An array of directories outside of project directory which should be indexed. Paths can be relative to the project root or absolute.
• exclude - An array of directories to exclude from indexing. Paths can be relative to the project root or absolute.
• apps - An array describing the location of each app in the project. Apps only need to be listed here if they were not built using Sencha Cmd. Any apps built with Cmd will be automatically detected.

Here is an example of a config.json file:

{
    "include": [
        "path/to/dir/to/include" // on windows use "path\\to\\include"
    ],
    "exclude": [
        "path/to/dir/to/exclude" // on windows use "path\\to\\include"
    ],
    "apps" : [
        {
            "name": "AppRootNamespace",
            "path": "path/to/app",  // on windows use "path\\to\\app"
            "toolkit": "classic|modern", // omit this property for universal Ext JS 6+ apps
            "sdk": {
                "path": "path/to/sdk", // on windows use "path\\to\\sdk"
                "version": "6.0.1", // the version of the sdk used by your app
                "framework": "extjs" // or "touch" for Sencha Touch apps
            }
        }
    ]
}

We recommend using relative paths so that this file can be checked into source control and shared amongst team members.

Note: Prior to plugin version 6.0.3 this file was called .sencha-ide-config and was located in the root of the project. Version 6.0.3 automatically migrated this file to .sencha/ide/config.json.

Support and Feedback

Ask questions, report problems, and give feedback using the Eclipse Plugin Forum.

The forum can also be reached from within the IDE via:

Help -> Sencha Ext JS Plugin Feedback

If an unknown error occurs, users will be presented with a dialog explaining the error and an option to report the error to Sencha.

Release Notes and Schedule

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.6 - Mar 29, 2023

• Upgrade to support Eclipse 2022-09 and 2022-12.

• Bug fixing for supporting Cmd and Ext 7.6+

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.5 - Feb 6, 2019

• Add support for ExtJS Open Tooling (ext-gen) projects.

• Minor bug fixes regarding Cmd 6.5+ config files.

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.4 - July 27, 2016

This release includes performance improvements and internal bug fixes related to code completion.

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.3 - March 17, 2016

• ECP-149 - Loosen Eclipse feature/plugin version dependencies

• ECP-156 - Standardize Sencha footprint in user projects

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.2 - Jan 12, 2016

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.1 - Dec 9, 2015

Eclipse Plugin 6.0.0 - Dec 2, 2015