[eclipse-users] Saros 1.0

Saros is now available for download from Sourceforge's ECLiPSe web pages:

   www.sourceforge.net/projects/eclipse

I attach Andy's original annoucement, and a short `Getting started' 
guide for using Saros. This information is also available from the
`Notes' for the release, which can be viewed by clicking on the `View 
Notes' icon associated with the download.

The code is in beta state, and there are a few known problems.

The source for Saros is also available from Sourceforge via CVS. We 
particularly welcome any contributions to improving this code!

=========

We are pleased to announce the 1.00 Beta release of Saros.

Saros is an Eclipse IDE (www.eclipse.org) plug-in that integrates the 
IDE with the ECLiPSe Constraint Logic Programming System 
(www.eclipse-clp.org) to provide both ECLiPSe development and execution 
environments.

Why 'Saros'? The integration of ECLiPSe with the Eclipse IDE obviously 
leaves much scope for confusion. In order to avoid this the plug-in is 
named 'Saros'. The reason the name is appropriate should be obvious from 
the wikipedia.org definition:

The Saros cycle is an eclipse cycle. It is a period of about 6585 + 1/3 
days (approximately 18 years 11 days) which can be used to predict 
eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. One Saros period after an eclipse, the 
Sun, Earth, and the Moon return to approximately the same places and 
therefore almost identical solar and lunar eclipses repeat one Saros 
apart. The Saros cycle was known to the Babylonians, and later to 
Hipparchus, Pliny (Naturalis Historia II.10[56]) and Ptolemy(Almagest 
IV.2), but not under this name. The Babylonian 'Saros' appears to have 
been a name for a period of 3600 years. The name 'Saros' was first given 
to the eclipse cycle by Edmund Halley in 1691, who took it from the 
Suda, a Byzantinelexicon of the 11th century. Halley's naming error was 
pointed out by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1756, but the name stuck.

========================

Getting Stsrted with Saros
==========================

In this document, 'ECLiPSe' refers to the ECLiPSe Constraint Logic 
Programming language; and `eclipse IDE' or `Eclipse IDE' refers to the 
eclipse project the open development platform.

Saros is a plug-in for the eclipse IDE that provides an IDE for the 
ECLiPSe CLP language.

Requirements
------------

Saros requires:

Java version 5.0/1.5 (J2SE 5.0) or newer
ECLiPSe 5.10#82 or newer

We have tried Eclipse IDE versions 3.2 and 3.3, and both seems to work

Installing
----------

You need to have both ECLiPSe and eclipse IDE installed. You can obtain 
ECLiPSe from

http://sourceforge.net/projects/eclipse-clp
http://www.eclipse-clp.org

and eclipse IDE from

http://www.eclipse.org

1. Unpack the Saros-<version>.zip file into your eclipse IDE directory.
2. Start eclipse IDE
3. Associate an ECLiPSe engine with Saros. From the eclipse IDE menu 
bar, select:
	a) Window->Preferences..->Saros->ECLiPSe Engines
	b) Click the Add button from the ECLiPSe engine dialog, and
            add the path (to the top-level directory) of the ECLiPSe
            you want to use into the "Installation directory:" entry,
            and click the OK button. This should add the selected ECLiPSe
	   to the list of installed engines.
	
Using Saros
-----------

You need to create both a Saros project and a Saros module (within
the project) in order to run ECLiPSe within Saros.

1. Create a Saros project (from the File->New->roject menu). You can
    either create a new project, or create a project from existing
    source.
2. Create a new Saros module (from the File->New->Saros ECLiPSe module
    menu).
3. You can now run ECLiPSe, e.g. right clicking and select "Run As.."
    option in the editor. You can select three ways to run ECLiPSe:
       a) Saros Batch Console: this compiles your program with a batch
          ECLiPSe, displaying any output on the Saros Console window.
       b) Saros Execution Environment: this starts a GUI-based ECLiPSe
          and compiles your program in it. You can then use this ECLiPSe
          interactively. This is probably the most useful and common way
          to run ECLiPSe in Saros.
       c) Saros Interactive Console: we recomemnd that you do not use
          this option.
	 This starts a `traditional' (tty-bases) ECLiPSe in the Saros
          Console window, and compiles your program in it. You can then
          use this ECLiPSe interactively.
	 [Note that some commands that requires the direct reading of
          key presses, such as the tracer commands, do not work properly,
          and the process is not terminated properly when you quit
          Saros].

    You can specify the query to run when ECLiPSe is started with the
	    Right Click->Run As->Open Run Dialog...
    dialog, by selecting the Module name and then giving the query to run
    in the Run entry.
	
Documentation and Help
----------------------

The set of tools (except for the editor) are similar to those provided
by TkECLiPSe. Some documentation for these tools are available through
the Help menu of TkECLiPSe, and there are also some documentation in the
ECLiPSe tutorial. Eclipse IDE also provide documentation for using the 
eclipse IDE.

Andy Cheadle and Kish Shen