Integrating with Eclipse

Installing Rational Asset Manager into your Eclipse client

To install the plug-ins and features for Rational Asset Manager into your existing Eclipse client, see Installing Rational Asset Manager Eclipse client using the Eclipse update manager.

Alternatively, to install a new Eclipse client with the Rational Asset Manager features preinstalled, you can use Installing Rational Asset Manager Eclipse client by using Installation Manager.

What you can do with the Eclipse client

With the Asset Management perspective in the Eclipse client, you can do the following tasks. To see a list of views in the Asset Management perspective, see Using the Eclipse Asset Management perspective.

• Connect to a Rational Asset Manager repository: To access the repository from the Eclipse client, you must connect to the repository in the Asset Repositories view. For more information, see Creating a connection to a Rational Asset Manager repository.
• Search for assets: You can use the Asset Search view to search for assets in many of the same ways as you can with the web client. For more information, see Finding and subscribing to assets.
• Import assets into your workspace: To reuse asset artifacts in your own Eclipse projects, you can download artifacts directly into your Eclipse workspace. For more information, see Importing assets. You can also import artifacts directly into your Eclipse projects or reference Java classpath libraries.
• Work with source control management systems such as CVS or Rational Team Concert: If you submit assets to the repository that include artifacts that are in a source control system, Rational Asset Manager can detect and store information about the source control system. Then, if someone tries to import that asset into their Eclipse workspace, they will be prompted to download the files from source control instead of from the Rational Asset Manager repository. This feature helps users make sure that they are using the most recent version of files. For more information, see Integrating with CVS, Integrating with Rational Team Concert, or Integrating with Rational ClearCase.
• Modifying and updating assets in the Eclipse client: After you import assets into your workspace, you can modify the descriptive information or artifacts and resubmit the asset to the repository for others to use. For more information, see Modifying assets.
• Review and approve assets: As in the web client, you can collaborate on assets over time by reviewing and commenting on assets. For more information, see Approving, rejecting, and commenting on assets and Rating and giving feedback about assets.