Quick Tip: explore folders in Windows Explorer from Eclipse "project" view
One of the (very few) things I missed when switching from Dreamweaver to Eclipse was the ability to right click on a folder in the file directory view ('Project' view in Eclipse) and choose 'explore' to open the directory directly in Windows Explorer.
While I haven't found a direct right-click option in Eclipse, the workaround is just as quick and easy. I have my Quick Launch bar at the bottom of my main monitor (happens to be the one where Eclipse is usually open) , containing tiny icons for all of my most-used programs. To explore the files in any folder from Eclipse's 'Project' view, I can simply click and drag the folder name from the 'Project' view onto the Internet Explorer quick launch icon, and voila, it opens directly in Windows Explorer, just like the old DW "explore" option.
( Note: I am using the Aptana plugin for Eclipse, as well as CFeclipse ... your Eclipse views may be different, but I am pretty sure the concept still applies )
Maybe I am missing something, but that seems like an old habbit that seems hard to let go.
Not every file is convenient to edit in eclipse... for example, when I want to quickly get to my 'images' folder... sure there are other ways but its already right there under my mouse, this is a serious timesaver... try it!
( Strange to get so much resistance to a small tip... trust me, there are times this really is useful! )
http://www.webreed.com/eclipse.JPG
There used to be a plugin from AnyEdit for eclipse <=3.4 that added a right click open in explorer option, it was priceless.
I think alot of folks that use eclipse aren't using it for front end web development. A front end developer uses the file system constantly in renaming/editing/creating images. The file association in eclipse is timely to setup isn't as fast at renaming/copying/creating files as windows explorer.
Also when i make deliveries I always drop to explorer copy the deploy to a new location than run a search on .svn in order to delete all the .svn info for publishing or to send the client a version for review.
I forgot to mention I'm running the 64bit version of Eclipse. I haven't installed Aptana yet. I was turned off Aptana a while ago because it was giving java errors when I open CSS files with non standard properties, like those available in Flash style sheets for runtime import, but that was a couple versions back, maybe its all better now.