Eclipse Cheat Sheet: Shortcuts

University of St Andrews (2010)
http://blogs.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/angus/2010/09/eclipse-cheat-sheet/
ECLIPSE CHEAT SHEET

This cheat sheet is aimed at people with some experience in eclipse but who may not be aware of many of its features.
SHORTCUTS
These are some of the most useful shortcuts in eclipse. You can find others listed beside their function in eclipses menus.
Menu
Key Combination
Use
Source
Ctrl+Space
Ctrl+1
Ctrl+D
Ctrl+Alt+Up
Alt+Up
Alt+Shift+Z
Ctrl+I
Ctrl+Shift+F
Ctrl+/
Alt+Shift+M
Alt+Shift+R
Ctrl+Shift+G
Ctrl+H
Alt+Shift+X, J
Alt+Shift+X, D
Auto-complete / Content Assist

Quick Fix (on current selection)
Delete Current Line
Copy Lines Up
Move Lines Up
Surround (current selection) With
Fix Indentation (on selection)
Fix Formatting (on selection)
Toggle Comments (on selection)
Extract Method
Rename
Find All References (of selection)
Advanced Search
Run Current Class
Debug Current Class
Refactor
Search
Run
AUTO-COMPLETE
These are some of the most useful options given to you after using the Ctrl+Space auto-complete shortcut.
Text Written So Far
What the Auto-Complete Function Does
<start of variable/method name>

main
public / private
randomstring
sysout
syserr
for
foreach
while
try
<end of variable/method name>

Creates a new main method
Creates a new public/private method
Creates a new void method named randomstring
Creates a new System.out.println();
Creates a new System.err.println();
Creates a new for loop
Creates a new iterator loop
Creates a new while loop
Creates a new try-catch block
You can also create your own auto-complete statements. Go to Window->Preferences, then on the left pane go to
Java->Editor->Templates
For example the following template creates a println outputting the contents of a specific variable:
NAME:
debug
PATTERN: System.err.println("${word_selection}: " + ${word_selection}); ${cursor}
This can be used now in eclipse by selecting a variable and pressing Ctrl+Space, then typing debug and pressing enter.
1
Figure 1: Creating a new auto-complete template
VIEWS IN ECLIPSE
Eclipse displays various views on the left and bottom of the screen that you may find useful. You can add new views if they are
not already displayed by going to Window->Show View, or by clicking on the following icon at the bottom left of your
workspace:
TASK MANAGEMENT
The task pane (pictured below) is a useful way of keeping track of incomplete sections of code, or places where code needs
tidied up.
Figure 2: Tasks Pane
Comments will automatically be shown in the task pane if you start a comment with either XXX or TODO.
You can also create your own custom markers by clicking on the down arrow in the top right of the task pane and opening
Configure Contents. Duplicate the TODO task you can then use your own custom tag by changing the description section.
2
PROBLEMS
The problems tab displays compiler warnings and errors.
Figure 3: Problems Pane
You can filter the contents of this tab so that it only displays local problems by clicking on the down arrow (in the top right) and
opening Configure Contents. Here you can change the scope of the problems shown for various types of errors and warnings.
PACKAGE EXPLORER VIEW

The package explorer displays projects in your workspace, with java files organized by package structure. You can choose to view
packages flat or in a hierarchy.
To link the currently open java file with the contents of the package explorer select the link with editor option.
Figure 4: Package Explorer Pane
You can also filter the projects and classes that are shown in the package explorer to allow you to focus on only relevant classes.
To do this click on the down arrow at the top of the package explorer and click on SELECT WORKING SET (shown above in
Figure 4). You can then create new working sets that filter on various conditions. For example, you can filter certain projects or
show on classes with specific debugging breakpoints. The menu with these options is illustrated below in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Working Sets
BREADCRUMBS
To enable the breadcrumb feature in eclipse, click on the
icon at the top of the workspace.
Breadcrumbs can be a quicker way of navigating between methods, classes, or packages in eclipse (as shown below).
Figure 6: Breadcrumbs
MENU OPTIONS
The next couple of pages summarise some of the most useful menu options that eclipse provides.
THE SOURCE MENU

Used for cleaning up source files and generating code.
Correct indentation
and spacing for the
current selection.
Gets rid of unused

imports among other
things.
A much more
comprehensive
formatter that can be
run on multiple
classes at once.
Avoid repetition in writing

constructors and creating
fields.
You need to implement Object.hashCode() and/or Object.equals

to be able to add your own objects to hash-based data structures
(hashmaps, hashsets) and perform object comparisons
repspectively, but you dont need to write them yourself.
This function places the contents

of a specified set of strings in a
properties file. It is a simple way
of avoiding magic constants in
your code.
THE REFACTOR MENU

Used for making changes to code without breaking the program (changes are reflected everywhere so, for example, renaming a
public field will change the fields name everywhere it is accessed).
Rename all occurrences
of a variable, method,
class, or package.
Move a method or field

to a different location.
Create a constant field

from a selected
expression.
Create an interface for

this class based on the
current set of methods.
Wrap a number of
method parameters into
a single class.
Add a selected
expression as a
parameter to a method
call.
Attempts to add types to

generic interfaces/classes
such as List and Map.
THE NAVIGATE MENU

Used for navigating between classes.
Shows the super-classes

and sub-classes of a
given class.
Shows which methods

call a given method,
which methods call those
methods, and so on.
Jumps to the method

which implements a
method from an
interface.
Jumps to the last line

which was edited.
Jumps to the
previous cursor
location.
THE SEARCH MENU

Used for searching for text and specific operations in Java classes.
Search for text

occurring in all files in
your project.
Shows all references to a

particular class, method, or
field.
Shows all locations

where a particular
type is declared.
Shows all read accesses to a

particular field or variable.
Lists all occurrences of
a field or method in a
file.
THE RUN MENU

Used to start programs and debug them at runtime.
Run a program.
Debug a program.
Analyse execution
time, memory
utilization (requires
profiling plugin).
Breakpoints stop
execution of a program
at the line on which
they are added.
Stop execution of a
program when a
specified variable is
declared or accessed.
Stop the program when

a particular exception is
thrown.
Stop execution of the

program when a
particular class is
loaded.
[debug] Examine the

state of all instances of
the specified class.
[debug] Show the

current state of a
particular object.

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University of St Andrews (2010)