Setting Up Your Environment in 2.0

Below is a list of the tools you will need to get started working as a developer with the Pentaho projects. The details that follow explain what versions of each tool is currently used by Pentaho developers, and how and where to get the tools.

• The Sun Java Development Kit (JDK).
• The #Eclipse IDE, a open development platform that suits Java nicely.
• #Ant, the popular Java-based build tool.
• #XMLTask, an extended Ant task that assists in editing XML files during the build process.
• #Subclipse, an Eclipse plugin that adds Subversion integration to Eclipse.
• #IvyDE, an IDE that lets you manage your dependencies declared in an ivy.xml file in your Java Eclipse projects. More info here.
• #Tomcat, An open source JSP and servlet container from the Apache Foundation.

The following sections contain notes on the above-listed programs, and tips on configuring your environment for Pentaho software development. Each tool has detailed setup instructions included with its respective download, so complete instructions for each are not listed here.

The Sun Java Development Kit (JDK)

The Pentaho BI Platform is built and tested against Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.5, though JDK 1.6 seems to work just as well. Sun is attempting to re-version its Java releases to higher numbers, so Java 1.5 is sometimes called Java 5.0; Java 1.6 is also called 6.0.

Eclipse IDE

The Eclipse platform is the IDE of choice at Pentaho. The "Java EE" edition is the most appropriate for your purposes, though the "Classic" build will work just as well. Pentaho developers are currently using version 3.2.1. You don't need to use this version specifically - just use the latest one available from the Eclipse project page.

Ant

Ant is a Java-based build tool that Pentaho uses to build the server platform, among other projects. The Ant version currently used to build the downloadable binaries for Pentaho is Ant 1.7.1, though later versions will probably work just as well. You must have the Ant tool available to build the Pentaho Ant targets from the command line. Note that this is only a requirement if you decide you want to build the projects OUTSIDE of the Eclipse environment.

A usable version of Ant is distributed with Eclipse. This version is used by the Eclipse IDE for build features, and may be modified for Eclipse plugin purposes. For Pentaho project development inside the Eclipse environment, the version of Ant that comes with recent Eclipse packages is acceptable.

XMLTask

Download XMLTask, a third-party Ant task that assists editing XML files during the build process. If building from the command line, download the JAR and copy into <user.home>/.ant/lib. If building from Eclipse, download the JAR and add it to the classpath of the Ant plugin (Window > Preferences > Ant > Runtime > Classpath).

Subclipse

Subclipse is an Eclipse plugin that enables Subversion access from within the Eclipse environment.  Subversion is the source control repository used by Pentaho for most of its projects.  Subclipse takes advantage of the Eclipse Update Manager, which allows you to register with a URL and retrieve and install plugins automatically within the Eclipse IDE.

The version of Subclipse that is compatible with Galileo (3.5) version of Eclipse is Subclipse 1.6.x. 

Here's how to install it:

1. In Eclipse, go to the Help menu and click Install new Software
2. Enter the site name, then enter the following URL and click Next: _http://subclipse.tigris.org/update_1.2.x
3. Click Finish.
4. Check all Names and proceed with the installation.

Consider changing your "Text file encoding" to UTF-8 if you are running Eclipse under Windows.  Java source code exists in the repository with characters not supported by Cp1252.  This can be changed by navigating through the Window menu to General and then to Workspace.  Select the "Other" radio button in the "Text file Encoding" radio group with "UTF-8" from the associated drop down.

Subclipse should now be installed, configured, and ready to use.

Tomcat

Tomcat is the default web container that the Pentaho projects are set to use in development mode. Please download Tomcat version 6.x from the Apache Tomcat Download Page .

Note: Please clear out the contents of the webapps directory in preparation for the Pentaho applications. Our build script takes the specified Tomcat project and configures it to Pentaho's liking. If you leave any additional webapps in your Tomcat project, they may cause issues when starting up.

IvyDE

Install IvyDE into Eclipse using the installation instructions here.