STAF Eclipse Plug-ins

Getting Started Guide

 

 

Recently an effort has begun to provide STAF interaction via the Eclipse Platform.  This will hopefully provide an entry point for beginning STAF users to get introduced to STAF via a GUI environment.  Advanced users may find it useful as it provides access to a variety of information displayed in a graphical format and provides a persistent history of commands.  Following the spirit of Eclipse, the STAF Editor is extensible so that the STAF team and other users may easily add additional pages to the STAF Multi-Page Editor.

 

Below is a list of features, steps for downloading and installing, and a short getting started guide.  If you have any comments or suggestions for improving this tool please post them to the STAF Discussion Forum.  This is a Beta release and any input will be used to help steer the direction of the tool, so any and all ideas or comments are greatly appreciated.

 

Features:

 

        Submit any STAF commands via an eclipse editor

        Results of commands are saved for later reference

        Results of commands displayed in dynamically generated widget based on format of result data

        Open editors for multiple machines

        Uses the Eclipse extension architecture to allow additional editor tabs to be quickly developed

        Currently Implemented Service-Based plug-ins:

        Service - provides graphical access to the details of current running services and requests

        Trust - provides ability to quickly view and modify STAF trust settings

        Var - provides ability to quickly view and modify STAF variables

        Handle - provides quick access to STAF handles and allows for easy filtering of which handles are displayed

 

 

Installing:

 

The Eclipse Install/Update tool may be used to install, and later update, the STAF Eclipse plug-ins.  To initially find and install the plug-ins, follow these steps:

 

1)       Download Eclipse Plug-ins for STAF

2)       Extract all files from zip to file system

3)       Select Help -> Software Updates -> Find and Install...

4)       Select "Search for new features to install" radio button

5)       Click Next

6)       Create a New Local Site to download features

a)      Click New Local Site...

b)      Browse to the "STAF_Eclipse_Local_Site" directory created in step 2 and click Ok              

c)       Optionally modify the Name

d)      Click Ok

7)       Make sure the newly created site is checked

8)       Click Finish

9)       A new "Updates" window will open

10)   Expand the tree for the Local Site created in Step 6

11)   Expand "Other"

12)   Select All Features

13)   Click Next

14)   Read and Accept the license agreement

15)   Click Next

16)   Make sure all features are selected.  (Some are optional and can be used to globally add/remove features for supporting certain service tabs.  However, it is recommended to install all features at this time.)

17)   Click Next

18)   Click Finish

19)   You may receive a warning stating that the feature has not been digitally signed.  Click "Install" or “Install All” to continue.

20)   The STAF features will be installed and then Eclipse will prompt you to restart Eclipse to enable the features.  Select "Yes" to stop and restart Eclipse.

 

 

Updating:

 

1)       Download latest version of Eclipse Plug-ins for STAF

2)       Extract all files from zip to the same location originally used. See the Local Site originally used. (Help -> Software Updates -> Find and Install -> Search for new features to install)

3)       Select Help -> Software Updates -> Find and Install...

4)       Select “Search for new features to install” radio button and click next

5)       Select the local site where the zip was extracted

6)       Click Finish

7)       Select all features

8)       Click next

9)       Read and Accept the license agreement

10)   Click Next

11)   Make sure all features are selected.

12)   Click Next

13)   Click Finish

14)   You may receive a warning stating that the feature has not been digitally signed.  Click "Install" or “Install All” to continue.

15)   The STAF features will be installed and then Eclipse will prompt you to restart Eclipse to enable the features.  Select "Yes" to stop and restart Eclipse.

 

 

 

Getting Started:

 

1)       Open a STAF Perspective

a)      Select Window -> Open Perspective -> Other

b)      Select STAF

c)       Click Ok

2)       Create a STAF Project

a)      File -> New -> STAF Project

b)      Enter desired project name

c)       Click Finish

3)       Create a STAF Machine Group (optional) - STAF Machines (next step) may exist without a group

a)      File -> New -> Machine Group

b)      Select the STAF project created above as the container

c)       Enter desired Group Name

d)      Click Finish

4)       Create a STAF Machine

a)      File -> New -> Machine

b)      Select the STAF Machine Group or STAF Project as the container

c)       Enter the Hostname of the desired machine (this machine must be running STAF)

d)      Optionally enter the interface and/or port needed to communicate with the machine.  In most circumstances, these items may be left as the "Local Default" in which case STAF will perform the standard interface cycling when attempting to establish communication with the machine.

e)      Click Finish

5)       Open the STAF Editor for the newly created Machine

a)      Double-click the newly created machine in the STAF view (left panel of Eclipse)

b)      NOTE: STAF must be running on the local machine and on the remote machine

c)       Use the editor to interact with STAF on remote machines

6)       The STAF Editor is an Eclipse Multi-Page Editor with 2 static pages with dynamically loaded pages based on the installed plug-ins and currently running services on the given STAF endpoint.

a)      The main editor page, "STAF Editor" contains three sections or sashes that may be resized:

i)         Command Submission - This sash contains some basic information about the STAF endpoint and widgets to submit STAF commands.  All commands submitted from this section will appear in the "Command History".

ii)       Command History - This sash contains the history of commands submitted via the STAF Editor.  This information is persisted when the editor is saved.  Double-clicking an entry will populate its data in the "Command Submission" widgets for re-submission or editing.

iii)      Command Results - When a command that has completed is selected in the "Command History" table its result data will appear in this section.  The type of widget used to display the data will be dynamically created based upon the format of the result data.

b)      The "Properties" page allows the hostname, port, and interface of the STAF endpoint to be modified.  It also allows mappings between service names and STAF Editor extensions to be created.  However, this functionality is currently moot as extensions have thus far only been created for internal services.

c)       The Beta release contains extensions for a few of the standard STAF internal services (HANDLE, SERVICE, TRUST, VAR).  These pages may be used to retrieve data from the service and in some instances modify data or settings on the service.

i)         HANDLE – The Handle service extension displays current handle information.  The types of handles displayed may be filtered using the checkboxes at the top of the page.  Use the refresh button to retrieve updated information from STAF.

ii)       SERVICE – The Service service extension displays information about registered services and current requests.  This information is separated into two tabs, Requests & Services.  Select an item from the list to display detailed information.  Use the refresh button to retrieve updated information from STAF.

iii)      TRUST – The Trust service extension displays and allows modification of STAF trust settings.  The input widgets at the top of the page may be used to add new trust settings.  Double click an entry in the table to populate its information into the input widgets.  Use the refresh button to retrieve updated information from STAF.

iv)     VAR – The Var service extension displays and allows modification of STAF variables.  The input widgets at the top of the page may be used to add or update variables.  Double click an entry in the table to populate its information into the input widgets.  Use the refresh button to retrieve updated information from STAF.  The bottom section of the page may be used to test STAF variable resolutions.  Enter the text to resolve in the left text pane, click “Resolves To ->” button and the resolved string is displayed in the right text pane.