In the Flash Builder Plugin version, why did it install another "alternate Eclipse"?

[pup500]

In the Flash Builder 4 Plug-in installer I just ran, why did it install whats seems to be another copy of Eclipse in my "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Flash Builder 4 Plug-in" folder, along with a shortcut called "Run Adobe Flash Builder 4 Plug-in with alternate Eclipse"?

I was only expecting a plug-in in my current Eclipse installation. What is going on here?

[C__Agruss__Adobe_ · Accepted solution]

Hi Pup500,

FB4 Plug-in comes bundled with the full Eclipse 3.4.2 (Ganymede) Package for Java Developers, and also supports linking FB4 to your own copy of eclipse 3.5 (Galileo) or 3.6 (Helios).

We considered bundling one of the larger Packages (Eclipse for PHP Developers, etc.), but wanted to keep the footprint smaller, and the package for Java Developers was the smallest one that still includes the JDK.

The shortcut for the "alternate" should point to your own copy of eclipse, and the default launcher shortcut should point to the bundled copy under the subfolder \eclipse-host-distro. The default shortcut will launch eclipse/FB4 using our bundled copy of the JRE, but the alternate shortcut assumes that you either have a compatible JRE installed system-wide, or that you have a valid JRE folder in your eclipse folder.

Some of the reasons we started bundling eclipse with FB4 Plug-in were:

- the custom configuration (ini file settings, memory allocation, etc.) provided in the bundled copy of eclipse can be used as a guide for optimizing your own eclipse configuration, for improved performance with FB4.

- on Win, we bundle a compatibility-tested version of the JRE for use with the bundled copy of eclipse. This can come in handy on 64-bit Win, as we provide a 32-bit version of the JRE compatible with FB4. You can copy this same JRE folder into your own copy of 32-bit eclipse, if you wish to avoid installing a system-wide version of 32-bit java.

- if you encounter any version or bundle conflicts with your own copy of eclipse, you can still run the bundled copy as a fallback, until any problems are resolved.

Out of curiosity, which version and package of eclipse are you plugging into?

-Chris

[pup500]

Thanks for your help. After much reading of people's installation stories, I installed 3.5.0. That's what the latest acceptable build says in the Flash Builder 4 documentation and a lot of people were saying that is the latest compatible version. I didn't want to take a chance, since I was switching to the plug-in version due to a FB4 standalone incompatibility with the first Eclipse plugin I tried to install, ever. I've switched to FDT for now.