Installation

General

Designer is composed of several components that can either be installed as a unit or as separate pieces. Make sure to check the system requirements before installing the product.

For installation details, see the following:

Preferred installation options using update sites

Alternative installation options

Post installation

Installation using installer (prior to eclipse 3.4)

Download and execute the installer. The installer can be used to install the product into Eclipse 3.2, Eclipse 3.3 and Rational Application Developer 6.0, 7.0.

Welcome

  • Launch the installer
The first page is a Welcome page. It allows you to verify that you are indeed running the Designer Installer, and gives you a short overview of what is to come.
  • Click Next to move to the next page.

License Agreement

This is the license agreement. You should read through the agreement. 

  • If you accept it, check I accept (the top radio button). That enables the Next button. 
  • Click Next to continue.

Installation Directory

  • Choose the directory where you want Designer to be installed. You only need to install it once even if you want to use it in multiple Eclipse installations. If you need to change the default directory, you can either type it directly or use the Browse button to navigate to the directory.
  • Click Next to continue to the next page.

Select Eclipse Product

  • The next screen lets you choose which versions of Eclipse you want to install Designer. If you have one version installed, it will be selected by default. Please refer to the System Requirements for Eclipse versions supported.
  • If you check Show all Eclipse products, all versions will be searched (that includes 3.0, 2.1, and even WSAD, RAD, and so forth) and included in the list. If the installer can't find the Eclipse installation you want, you can navigate to it by clicking Choose Eclipse. If your installation directory is C:\Program Files\Eclipse 3.x\eclipse, select the \eclipse directory.
  • You can install Designer into as many versions at once as you like. They will all share a single product installation. 
  • Click Next to continue.

Warning

  • If you have Eclipse running, you will get this dialog. Please close Eclipse before clicking Next.

Clean Eclipse Cached Configuration Option

  • This next page gives you the option to clean cached configuration data. It is recommended to clean the configuration information to avoid any configuration conflicts.
  • Click Next to move on to the next page.

Verify Installation

  • You know you're about done once you get to the verification page. Check that everything is the way you want it (if you didn't change anything then it probably is).
  • Click Next to continue.

Progress Bar

  • The installation page includes a progress bar at the bottom so you have an idea  how long the installation process will take.

Installation Complete

  • Once installation completes, you will automatically switch to the final page.
  • Click Finish to complete the installation.
     
  • The product will be installed into the specified directory and .link files will be created in your eclipse/links directory.

 

Installing from ZIP file into Eclipse 3.4, 3.5 & above

Option 1. Using the Dropins folder

Unzip the file into a new directory within your Eclipse \dropins directory. Your \dropins directory structure should look something like this:

 \dropins
	\designer
		\eclipse
			\features
			\plugins

See the Eclipse wiki page for a list of supported dropins format.

Re-start Eclipse and Activate the product. If the product preference option is not available when you re-start Eclipse, try restoring the original copy of your eclipse\configuration and p2 directories or install into a fresh copy of Eclipse.

Option 2. Using a local update site into Eclipse 3.4

Unzip the file into a new directory. Open the Software Updates... dialog from the Help menu. Open the Available Software tab, click the Add Site... button and add a Local site pointing to where you unzipped the file. Select all the components, click Next and follow the wizard.This will copy the files into your eclipse features and plugins directories.

Option 2. Using a local update site into Eclipse 3.5 & 3.6

Unzip the file into a new directory. Open the Help > Install New Software... dialog. Click the Add... button to open the Add Site dialog and add a Local site pointing to where you unzipped the file and click OK. Un-check Group items by category. Select all the components and click Next and follow the wizard. This will copy the files into your eclipse features and plugins directories.

After a successfull intall, re-start Eclipse and Activate the product.

Installing from ZIP file into Eclipse (prior to 3.4), Rational Application Developer 6.0 (not 7.0)

Download and unzip the ZIP file for either Eclipse 2.1, Eclipse 3.0, Eclipse 3.1, Eclipse 3.2 or Eclipse 3.3 into your Eclipse root directory while making sure to preserve the folder structure within the ZIP file. This will add the product features and plug-ins to your Eclipse features and plug-in directories.

Note that if you are installing into Rational Application Developer 7.0, you must use the full installer or follow these alternate instructions for installing the ZIP file.

If you are installing into Eclipse 3.0, you should also delete your <Eclipse>/configuration directory before re-starting Eclipse (it is recreated at startup). This is to avoid a common Eclipse 3.x plugin cache bug. The Full Installer can do this for you automatically. If you are installing into Eclipse 3.1, 3.2 or 3.3, delete everything in the "configuration" directory except the config.ini file and the org.eclipse.update/platform.xml file (Eclipse 3.2 and above). You should also keep your org.eclipse.update/bookmarks.xml file (Eclipse 3.1 and above) in order to preserve your update site bookmarks.

If you would rather unzip into a location external to Eclipse, select a location and create a "Designer" directory with an "eclipse" subdirectory. As an example, you might end up with the following directory structure.

C:/Program Files/Instantiations/Designer/eclipse

After creating this nested directory structure, unzip the ZIP file into the "eclipse" subdirectory while making sure to preserve the folder structure within the ZIP file. This will add add "features" and "plugins" subdirectories to the "eclipse" directory which will in turn hold the product feature and plugin directories.

Next, you will need to create an ".eclipseextension" file within the "Designer/eclipse" directory. This file should contain the following lines:

name=Designer
id=com.instantiations.designer
version=7.6.0

Finally, you will need to manually create a file titled "com.instantiations.designer.link" in your main  <Eclipse>/links directory that contains a single line specifying the full path to the main product directory (e.g., the directory containing the "eclipse" subdirectory). For example:

path=C:/Program Files/Instantiations/Designer

Note that if you use the Designer installer and choose the default installation location, the installer will create multiple link files that looks like the following:

path=C:/Program Files/Instantiations/<DesignerFeatureName>_7.6.0/E-3.3

Installing from ZIP file into RAD 7.0

Choose a location external to Eclipse, create a "Designer" directory with an "eclipse" subdirectory. As an example, you might end up with the following directory structure.

C:/Program Files/Instantiations/Designer/eclipse

After creating this nested directory structure, unzip the ZIP file into the "eclipse" subdirectory while making sure to preserve the folder structure within the ZIP file. This will add add "features" and "plugins" subdirectories to the "eclipse" directory which will in turn hold the product feature and plugin directories.

Next, you will need to create an ".eclipseextension" file within the "Designer/eclipse" directory. This file should contain the following lines:

name=Designer
id=com.instantiations.designer
version=7.6.0

Start the IDE and go to Help > Software Updates > Manage Configuration. Click Add an Extension Location and browse to the Designer/eclipse directory created earlier and click OK. Select Yes when asked to restart the IDE.

Product Registration and Activation

After installing the product, you need to activate it. Open the WindowBuilder > Common > License preference page and click the Registration and Activation button to open the Activation Wizard.

Registration and Activation Wizard