Creating a New C++ Project in Eclipse Cdt with the Same Settings as Another Project

Creating a new C++ Project in Eclipse CDT with the same settings as another project

CDT has a complete Templating mechanism for creating new projects.

Basically, you extend the org.eclipse.cdt.core.templates extension point and that points to a template.xml file that has a bunch of commands you can do. You don't need to write any Java code for this, but you do need to create a Plug-in project.

The kinds of things you can do:

• Create folders
• Add files to a project
• Set Managed Build settings (this is the one most relevant because you can set compiler options and add libraries, etc)
• Add extra pages to the New Project Wizard to prompt user for extra information

The Eclipse documentation has a special section giving a run down on how to do it here: http://help.eclipse.org/mars/topic/org.eclipse.cdt.doc.isv/guide/projectTemplateEngine/index.html

The Hello World project that comes with CDT has its template here: https://github.com/eclipse/cdt/blob/master/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.gnu.ui/templates/projecttemplates/HelloWorldCAnsiProject/template.xml

A little note, if you initially create your plug-in to install as a non-packed plug-in, you can edit it in place, adding new templates or editing the one you have already done.

Going further, you can share this template plug-in project with your team and all benefit from having this feature.

Step-by-step

The step by step process to do this (tested on Eclipse Mars.1 with CDT and Plug-in development tools installed plus an XML editor for editing the template.xml)

1. Create a Plug-in project (File | New | Other... | Plug-in project)

2. Fill in a project name and press Next / Finish until done

You should now have files on your disk that looks like this in the project you created:

$ find . -type f
./.classpath
./bin/com/example/cdt/templates/Activator.class
./.project
./src/com/example/cdt/templates/Activator.java
./.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
./META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
./build.properties

3. Open the plug-in.xml and do the following
   
   
   1. Select the Extensions tab
   2. Press Add
   3. Type the extension point org.eclipse.cdt.core.templates
   4. Un-check the Show only extension points [...] checkbox
   5. Select the org.eclipse.cdt.core.templates from the list
   6. Press Finish
   7. Say Yes to adding dependency

4. Add the required settings to the plugin.xml as shown in the screenshot and given in the plugin.xml code sample after.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?eclipse version="3.4"?>
<plugin>
   <extension
         point="org.eclipse.cdt.core.templates">
      <template
            filterPattern=".*gcc"
            id="com.example.cdt.templates.template1"
            location="template/template.xml"
            projectType="org.eclipse.cdt.build.core.buildArtefactType.exe">
      </template>
   </extension>
</plugin>

5. Now create the template.xml in the location specified in the plugin.xml (template/template.xml) with these contents:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<template type="ProjTempl" version="1.0" supplier="Stack Overflow"
    revision="1.0" author="Jonah Graham" id="EXE" label="Stack Overflow Example"
    description="An example for https://stackoverflow.com/questions/33092746/creating-a-new-c-project-in-eclipse-cdt-with-the-same-settings-as-another-proj."
    help="help.html">

    <process type="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.NewManagedProject">
        <simple name="name" value="$(projectName)" />
        <simple name="artifactExtension" value="exe" />
        <simple name="isCProject" value="true" />
    </process>

    <process type="org.eclipse.cdt.core.CreateSourceFolder">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <simple name="path" value="src" />
    </process>

    <process type="org.eclipse.cdt.core.AddFiles">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <complex-array name="files">
            <element>
                <simple name="source" value="src/basename.c" />
                <simple name="target" value="src/$(projectName).c" />
                <simple name="replaceable" value="true" />
            </element>
        </complex-array>
    </process>

    <process type="org.eclipse.cdt.ui.OpenFiles">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <complex-array name="files">
            <element>
                <simple name="target" value="src/$(projectName).c" />
            </element>
        </complex-array>
    </process>

    <!--  Set -Wall by checking the checkbox in the settings -->
    <process
        type="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.SetMBSBooleanOptionValue">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <complex-array name="resourcePaths">
            <element>
                <simple name="id" value=".*compiler\.option\.warnings\.extrawarn.*" />
                <simple name="value" value="true" />
                <simple name="path" value="" />
            </element>
        </complex-array>
    </process>

    <!--  Set -Werror by adding textual build settings -->
    <process
        type="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.SetMBSStringOptionValue">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <complex-array name="resourcePaths">
            <element>
                <simple name="id" value=".*compiler\.option\.misc\.other.*" />
                <simple name="value" value="-c -fmessage-length=0 -Werror" />
                <simple name="path" value="" />
            </element>
        </complex-array>
    </process>

    <!--  Add -lmylibname to libraries to link -->
    <process
        type="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.AppendToMBSStringListOptionValues">
        <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
        <complex-array name="resourcePaths">
            <element>
                <simple name="id" value=".*link\.option\.libs.*" />
                <simple-array name="values">
                    <element value="mylibname" />
                </simple-array>
                <simple name="path" value="" />
            </element>
        </complex-array>
    </process>
</template>

6. Add the source file listed in the template with any content you want in template/src/basename.c

You should now have a directory structure that looks like this:

$ find . -type f
./.classpath
./template/src/basename.c
./template/template.xml
./bin/com/example/cdt/templates/Activator.class
./.project
./src/com/example/cdt/templates/Activator.java
./.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
./META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
./plugin.xml
./build.properties

7. Launch the Eclipse Application to test (Run menu | Run As | Eclipse Application). You can also right-click on the project and choose Run As | Eclipse Application.

8. In the newly running Eclipse, start a new project wizard and select your new C project type:

Running a build shows the new settings (the error is expected as I don't actually have a library called mylibname):

Building file: ../src/hello2.c
Invoking: GCC C Compiler
gcc -O0 -g3 -Wall -Wextra -c -fmessage-length=0 -Werror -MMD -MP -MF"src/hello2.d" -MT"src/hello2.o" -o "src/hello2.o" "../src/hello2.c"
Finished building: ../src/hello2.c

Building target: hello2
Invoking: GCC C Linker
gcc  -o "hello2"  ./src/hello2.o   -lmylibname
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lmylibname
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [hello2] Error 1

The tricky part?

You may need to examine the .cproject file from your base project to determine the magic strings that go in the id fields. For example, in my .cproject for -Wextra I can see this:

<option id="gnu.c.compiler.option.warnings.extrawarn.176373860" name="Extra warnings (-Wextra)" superClass="gnu.c.compiler.option.warnings.extrawarn" value="true" valueType="boolean"/>

That translates to this command in the template.xml:

<!--  Set -Wall by checking the checkbox in the settings -->
<process
    type="org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.SetMBSBooleanOptionValue">
    <simple name="projectName" value="$(projectName)" />
    <complex-array name="resourcePaths">
        <element>
            <simple name="id" value=".*compiler\.option\.warnings\.extrawarn.*" />
            <simple name="value" value="true" />
            <simple name="path" value="" />
        </element>
    </complex-array>
</process>

The id goes from gnu.c.compiler.option.warnings.extrawarn.176373860 to regexp .*compiler\.option\.warnings\.extrawarn.*. The beginning is .* so that this applies to C and C++ compiler options as the C++ id would have started with gnu.cc.compiler[...] and I get rid of the end with .* because the number and suffix is not known to you in the template.xml

Next steps

When you are done, see Launching Eclipse plug in template for how to export the plug-in into your running Eclipse.

Eclipse Mars - set default settings for C++ project (c++11 set by default)

Create a Template

You can create your own template for the C/C++ New Project Wizard. Lots more information in Creating a new C++ Project in Eclipse CDT with the same settings as another project but here is some extras about C++.

For C++ Use C++ Hello World Template as a starting point. The key difference between the C++ and C template (other than the source) is the isCProject passed to the NewManagedProject process.

Use the Elevenator Plug-in

Primarily designed to make C++11 default, the Elevenator plug-in may resolve your issues. However my answer has a significant hole in that I don't know how to install it on its own as it comes with Cevelop

How to differentiate between build configurations in Eclipse (C) project template to setup build cfg sepcific settings?

AFAIK no one has provided a "process runner" that allows the configuration to be specified when setting the options.

What you can do is add your own subclass of org.eclipse.cdt.core.templateengine.process.ProcessRunner, basing it on org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core.SetMBSStringOptionValue that additionally lets you specify the configuration to apply it to. The Eclipse extension point you need is org.eclipse.cdt.core.templateProcessTypes.

Keep in mind when you do that users do a new project wizard they can choose to have/not have Debug/Release configs as shown in this screenshot:

Eclipse CDT C/C++: Include a header file from another project

You are right, that is the way to do it!

I use Eclipse CDT on large projects, but I don't use the Eclipse compiler settings. There are some drawbacks to using the CDT compiler's settings:

• As you said, on large projects, it is cumbersome.
• If you want to compile your project on a platform which doesn't have Eclipse (when you deploy your application), it is not straightforward.

I use CMake to manage my Eclipse projects. When I start a new project, I do the following steps:

1. In a terminal, create a folder for your new project.
2. With your favorite text editor (vim, emacs, Text edit, kate, etc...) create the CMakeLists.txt file for your project. You don't have to create an exhaustive CMakeLists, just a small CMakeLists for your first files is enough.
3. Then, ask cmake to generate the Eclipse project like this:
   

   cmake -G "Eclipse CDT41. Unix Makefiles"
   

4. Open Eclipse, click on File --> Import, and choose "General/Existing project into workspace". Choose the folder created in the first step, and your project is ready to use in eclipse.

CMake is THE compiler configuration tool to manage projects... If you don't know this I encourage you to discover it.

Cheers!

Creating projects in sub-folders [eclipse CDT]

First of all, I have no experience with CDT, but met similar situation with JDT (Java Development Tooling), so my answer may help. In the following, the term <workspace> denotes the root directory of your workspace.

• Eclipse projects want to be created all the time directly in the workspace on top level.
• However, there is an option to select a different location for the project. It should be done like that:
  
  1. In the project creation dialog, enter the project name.
  2. Deselect the check box "Use default location", and enter manually the directory <workspace>/level_1/project_1.
  3. Finish your dialog.
  4. Repeat that process with the following inputs:
     
     • <workspace>/level_1/project_2
     • <workspace>/level_2/level_3/project_3
  5. You should now have 3 projects in Eclipse.
  6. When you look at the file system (outside eclipse), you should see the directory structure you wanted to get.
• What is not possible to have projects inside other projects. So level_1, level_2 and level_3 are only directories, no projects. And they are not visible in eclipse. There are exceptions to that rule (e.g. the m2e plugin for Maven integration into Eclipse), but it has to be implemented by the plugins. I am not aware of a solution for CTS, but I don't know CDT well.

Detailed instructions

The following was done in an Indigo installation (Eclipse 3.7) where CDT was added as feature (version 8.0.0).

1. Go to the "C/C++" perspective.
2. Select in the "Project Explorer" New > C-Project (should work for C++ as well).
3. Deselect the check box "Use default location".
4. Paste in the Location text box: <workspace>/level_1/project_1.
5. Enter into the "Project name": project_1.
6. Finish the dialog.
7. As a result, you have a directory structure <workspace>/level_1/project_1 and in the project explorer a project name project_1.
8. Repeat the step 2 to 5 with the directory <workspace>/level_1/project_2 and the project name project_2.

At the end, you have 2 projects named project_1 and project_2, which lay in the common directory level_1. I hope this is now sufficient to recreate it for you.

How can I transfer an eclipse project to a new computer?

First, create a new and empty Workspace.

Then open the File menu and select Import....

Here you'll find an option to import existing projects, which should work with the project file in your old/copied source directory.

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