Overview

eStyle is a style formatter extension for the BlueJ Java IDE. Oftentimes a programmer has difficulty conforming to different style rules at the expense of development time. eStyle provides a way for any programmer working with BlueJ to convert their code to any coding style in seconds, thus increasing efficiency. This extension reduces the time spent manually reformatting code. eStyle formats code depending on the options the user specifies. It formats the specified file on demand by using the Style Conventions, that can be modified. Some key features include setting the format settings to preset Style Conventions such as K&R; Style and Sun Style, formatting braces, whitespace, and indentation.

 

1.0 Requirements

The following requirements should be met to ensure proper working conditions:

  • J2SE 1.5.0 (Java 2 SDK version 1.5.0) or newer must be installed.

  • BlueJ 2.1.0 or newer must be installed

  • Minimum Requirements: 4 Mb of available hard drive space, 64Mb of RAM, Pentium II processor or equivalent (BlueJ minimum requirements)
    Suggested Requirements : 500 Mb of available hard drive space, 512 Mb of RAM, Pentium IV processor of equivalent


2.0 Installation

Extensions are installed by placing the extension jar file into an extension directory. BlueJ has three separate locations for extensions, each giving the extension a different scope. The locations are:

Location Extensions installed here are available:
<BLUEJ_HOME>/lib/extensions (Unix), or <BLUEJ_HOME>\lib\extensions (Windows), or <BLUEJ_HOME>/BlueJ.app/Contents/Resources/Java/extensions (Mac, Control-click BlueJ.app and choose Show Package Contents) For all users of this system in all projects.
<USER_HOME>/.bluej/extensions (Unix), or <USER_HOME>\bluej\extensions (Windows), or <USER_HOME>/Library/Preferences/org.bluej/extensions (Mac) For a single user for all projects.
<BLUEJ_PROJECT>/extensions

Verify Extension Installed

To verify extension installed go to Help > Installed Extensions.

 

Click on the ? to find more information about eStyle.


If eStyle is not there, for more information go to.

[BlueJ Extension Installation Help]

 

3.0 Usage

3.1 Format the Code

Start BlueJ. Open a project. Optionally open editor.

Right click the Class of choice. Click on eStyle-> Format to format the selected class using the current style conventions.(If editor window is open the changes will be immediately visible. Otherwise you must open editor to see window.)

 

The editor window, if open shows the 'formatted' code.

 

3.2 Undo Formatting

NOTE: Only works immediately after formatting code (the code cannot be altered since the last format).

Right click on the class and click on eStyle -> Undo.

The original code appears in the editor window.

 

4.0 Edit Style Conventions

To edit the style conventions used to format your code or to Export / Import those style conventions the eStyle Editor is used. To access the Editor go to Tools -> Preferences.

Error: Macro Image(new_4.PNG) failed
Attachment UserManualNew: new_4.PNG does not exist.

 

In the window that pops up go to the Extensions tab and if necessary scroll down to the eStyle section.

To open up the Setting Panel click Edit Style Conventions.

 

This opens up the Settings Panel where the Style Convention Configuration Files can be edited and customized.

The first section, General, is where Style Conventions can be Imported or Exported.

The most important part of the Custom Settings is the Printer section. Here is where the specific Style Rules are defined. As each Style Rule is defined, the window to the right shows the original and formatted sample source code.

Click Ok or Apply if you want to approve this Convention and move on or Cancel to exit the Editor without saving these changes.

New in Release 1.0

Each section in the Settings Panel has a 'Help' button which links to the online Jalopy manual.

The manual can be browsed without the aid of a web browser.

The Preferences panel can be accessed through Tools -> eStyle -> Preferences.

Pre-defined style conventions can now be accessed through the Tools -> eStyle -> Conventions.

To save a style convention, use the Export feature in the General section and click Export.

Change the text box named "Name:" to the desired convention name.

If desired, change the destination directory by clicking the Browse... button.

Then press the OK button to save the convention.

To utilize the pre-defined conventions menu, set the default conventions directory by going to the Tools -> Preferences -> Extensions (tab) and click the Browse button.

Select the desired default conventions directory.

Press Open to confirm the default conventions directory.

Restart BlueJ. Then the Conventions menu will be populated with style conventions in the default directory.

[Jalopy Manual]

 

5. 0 Specific Style Conventions

The objective of eStyle is to properly format code to a specified format.eStyle provides many features which can be specified by the user.

eStyle allows the formatting preferences to be specified by the graphical interface.

eStyle checks and formats the following style:

Attachments