Manage your IDEs with the Yoxos Launcher
As a software developer, I find myself constantly moving between projects. From working on both the Yoxos Client and Server Applications, to working on Eclipse and p2, to hacking on personal GitHub projects, things are always changing. Sometimes I put some work on the shelf where it might sit for weeks. Other times I might need an ad-hoc setup to quickly debug a problem I’m having. To help me manage all these installs, I find the Yoxos Launcher is an invaluable tool.
The Yoxos Launcher is a client side tool that allows you to quickly create and launch custom Eclipse configurations. The Launcher will provision all the plug-ins you need, and even share the plug-ins between all your Eclipse installs. This means that you won’t continually download the same tools over-and-over again when you need a slightly different setup. With Yoxos, you only specify the tools you want, and the launcher will handle the dependencies.
When you start the launcher, you can choose from one of several pre-configured tool-chains. You can also download a Yoxos profile from the Yoxos Website and double-click the profile to start it. This is a great way to manage several different installs.
But what if you want to create your own configuration? Using the Yoxos website you can start with a standard EPP Package and add your own plug-ins. You can save this profiles, or even bookmark the page for future access.
You can also create a more complicated configuration if you start the Launcher in Advanced mode. You can choose from over 2,000 Eclipse plug-ins to create a highly customized IDE. All of the plug-ins are hosted on Amazon CloudFront, so installation should be quick.
Once you have your tools selected, you can either start an Eclipse install immediately (by clicking Launch), or you can save a profile for future access. If you choose to save your profile, you can easily share it with others by logging into the site and sending them the profile URL.
For example, if you want to use my configuration for C/C++ development you can download the profile from http://yoxos.eclipsesource.com/userdata/profile/22e4bd99f6cbafbe66f84d0a1a5128a7 and use the Yoxos Launcher ot start it.
The Yoxos Install Manager
In addition to the Yoxos Launcher, you can also use the Yoxos Install Manager (YIM), an Eclipse plug-in that comes with all Yoxos Installs, to manage your configuration. The YIM provides an additional perspective for managing your install. Simply choose the Yoxos Perspective, modify your install and save your profile. Yoxos will prompt you to restart, which will automatically invoke the update.
The Yoxos Launcher is available for Windows, Mac and Linux and you can download it from the Yoxos Website for free. If you are having any problems, please let me know. You can leave a comment here, reach me on twitter @irbull or leave us a comment on uservoice.