I’ve created a quick guide on how to use Eclipse 3.1 as a Rails development environment on Windows. The instructions could easily be modified to work on Linux, and I suspect that most Linux users will have no problems modifying my directions.
This guide shows users how to integrate the Ruby Developer Tools plugin with the DBEdit plugin and the Web Tools Plugin to create a complete Rails IDE.
The guide can be found here:
http://www.napcs.com/howto/railsonwindows.html
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Also, IBM DeveloperWorks has a good tutorial about using Eclipse with Ruby On Rails:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/os-rubyeclipse/
There is also an alternative. Download address: http://www.radrails.org
RadRails is based on Eclipse. It’s provided in two forms: a stand-alone Rails-only downloadable IDE and a set of Eclipse plugins that enable Rails-specific functionality. Eclipse is an all-around great IDE that comes with a lot of great stuff, so you might want to try out the full fledged Eclipse + RadRails environment. To set up RadRails in your Eclipse installation, fire up Eclipse and do the following:
- Go to Help > Software Updates > Find And Install
- Select “new features” and proceed
- Click “New remote site”
- In the name field, write “RadRails” or any other descriptive name you prefer. In the URL field, write http://radrails.sourceforge.net/update
- Check your newly created RadRails entry and click “Finish”
- Eclipse magic kicks in and the installation begins
- Voila! You’re all set for the show time!
For a more detailed tutorial on adding the RadRails plugin to Eclipse:
http://sonjayatandon.com/05-2006/how-to-configure-eclipse-for-ruby-on-rails/
For information on using the Aptana IDE (Aptana acquired Rad Rails):
http://www.aptana.com/docs/index.php/Installing_RadRails
For information on getting debugging working with RadRails/RDT or EasyEclipse for Rails, here’s an article to get you started:
In-line debugging with Eclipse and Rails
See also RubyDevelopmentTools for a short list of installation instructions.