Running external tools programmatically with eclipse

Small tutorial for running external tools programmatically with eclipse

Last couple of day I had to refactor code for an eclipse plugin.
The source code to modify rely on java runtime exec to launch a temporary maven project. This code works fine but the process launched does not log in eclipse console.
So at this point I look for a way to launch this maven build, external to the workspace as the eclipse menu "launch external tool does". After a few search on the web I found a way to be able to do this:

• create a launch configuration
• save it in a file
• build the same setup in source code
• and finally launch the configuration

First thing to do : create an external tool configuration...

saved in a file (see Shared file field)

Run this configuration.

You should find a file in the root folder project named : New_configuration.launch.
Now when editing this file I have all the parameters needed to write my code :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<launchConfiguration type="org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ProgramLaunchConfigurationType">
<stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_LOCATION" 
 value="${system_path:mvn.bat}"/>
<stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_TOOL_ARGUMENTS" 
 value="-Dlogback.configurationFile=customlogback.xml -U clean install exec:java"/>
<stringAttribute key="org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_WORKING_DIRECTORY" 
 value="D:\DONNEES\FDS_DATA\genDoc"/>
</launchConfiguration>

With this content and this address I could now write the source code that allow me to launch programmatically my temporary maven project.
A nice point here, you could rely on eclipse variable (like ${system_path:mvn.bat})  

//to be able to listen the end
manager.addLaunchListener(this);
ILaunchConfigurationType type = manager
  .getLaunchConfigurationType("org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ProgramLaunchConfigurationType");
ILaunchConfiguration[] configurations = manager
  .getLaunchConfigurations(type);
for (int i = 0; i < configurations.length; i++) {
 ILaunchConfiguration configuration = configurations[i];
 if (configuration.getName().equals("Gen doc")) {
  configuration.delete();
  break;
 }
}
ILaunchConfigurationWorkingCopy workingCopy = type.newInstance(
  null, "Gen doc");
String exec = "mvn.sh";
if (nameOS.toLowerCase().contains("win")) {
 exec = "mvn.bat";
}
workingCopy.setAttribute(
  "org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_LOCATION",
  "${system_path:" + exec + "}");
workingCopy.setAttribute(
  "org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_TOOL_ARGUMENTS",
  "-Dlogback.configurationFile=genDoclogback.xml -U clean install exec:java");
workingCopy.setAttribute(
  "org.eclipse.ui.externaltools.ATTR_WORKING_DIRECTORY",
  tmpGenDir.getCanonicalPath());
ILaunch launch = workingCopy.launch(ILaunchManager.RUN_MODE,
  new NullProgressMonitor());
//to retreive the launched project at the end
launchProject.put(launch, project);

and to be able to listen the end of your launch configuration implement "ILaunchesListener2" and add

@Override
public void launchesTerminated(ILaunch[] launches) {
 for (ILaunch launch : launches) {
  Project project = launchProject.get(launch);
  if (project != null) {
   launchProject.remove(launch);
   //if needed...
   Display.getDefault().asyncExec(new Runnable() {
    @Override
    public void run() {
     
    }
   });
  }
 }
}