Every remote project must have a remote location associated
with it. If a remote project also has a local location associated
with it then it is of type local. If it is remote only then it is
of type remote.
All remote projects have Remote locations or contexts associated
with them that will allow the source contained in the project to be
built and executed on a target remote server.
In addition you may choose to have a local location associated
with this project. This would enable the following set of functions.
- The ability to continue to work with the source even when there
is no connection available to the remote server.
- The ability to use Eclipse-based source control using products
like Rational® Team
Concert.
- The ability to use more than one context to target multiple languages,
hosts and environments from a single project.
By default the local location or context will be a directory within
the Eclipse workspace directory. You have the option of customizing
this if you wish.
There are two options for how the source files in a local location
will be kept in synch with the remote location.
- When the project is initially created, any files in the remote
location will be copied down to the local location. This is configurable
via the preferences. Any files that are changed in the local location
can be pushed to the remote location. This can be configured to be
done automatically whenever a file is saved or when a build is requested.
Alternatively, the files can be pushed by an explicit request by the
user using the Remote Reconciler view. This latter option would
be useful if you wish to work without being connected to the remote
server. Note that if files are changed on the remote location by some
other user or tools, these changes will not be automatically downloaded
to the local project and may be overwritten if the same file is changed
locally.
- If the local location is pointing to a directory that is mounted
from the remote server and corresponds to exactly the same directory
as the remote location, then there all files will always remain in
synch, since there is only one copy of the files. It is your responsibility
to make sure that the remote location and the local location are pointing
to the same directory if you choose to used this mounted option. If
you ask to validate this, the product will check to make sure this
is true before creating your project. This type of location enables
files to stay in synch even if other tooling or users change the files
on the remote location. It also allows Eclipse-based source control,
but you will not be able to work disconnected using this option.