Setting up BEAM as an Eclipse project

Since BEAM is Open Source it come with full source code, so you are able to setup BEAM as a Java project and use, edit or extend it on your will within the limits of the GPL.

This section will guide you step by step through the setup of BEAM as an Eclipse Java Project

If you haven't installed BEAM or Eclipse yet take a look at the installation notes before you continue with this section.

Setting up BEAM as a new Java project

• Select File > New > Project..., choose Java Project in the list and press Next.
• Enter a name for your BEAM project.
• Select compilance level 5.0
• Select "create separate source and output folders".



• Click the Next button.
• Select the "Libraries" tab and press the Add External JARs... button.
• Add all files from the /lib subdirectory of your BEAM installation directory except "beam.jar".



• Click the Finish button.

Eclipse will create a new Java project in your workbench with the subfolders /src and /bin for the BEAM source code and the binary files. Furthermore all necessary libraries will be included. In the Java Perspective, that should be opened now, you will only see the source folder and the included libraries.

Note: If you are not in Java Perspective, you can open it by selecting Window > Open Perspective > Java.

• Select your project from the Package Explorer and right-click onto it. the context menu will appear.
• Choose Import... from the context menu.



• Select "Archive file" and press Next.
• Click onto the Browse... button beside the field labeled with "From archive file".
• Select the file "src.zip" from your BEAM directory and press confirm your selection.
• Click the Finish button.

Eclipse will now import the hole BEAM source code into your project's source folder so you are able to edit exising or add new code.

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Creating a run configuration for VISAT

• Open the run configuration dialog by selecting Run > Run....
• Enter a name for your run profile, e.g. VISAT.
• Now search for a main class and select org.esa.beam.visat.VisatMain from the list.
• Press Apply to store your run configuration.

By now you can start VISAT by pressing the Run button. The VISAT splashscreen and a low memory warning will appear. VISAT will start after you have confirmed the warning.

You can avoid the low memory warning with a little change in the run configuration. Open again the run configuration (by clicking Run > Run...) and select the tab Arguments. Enter -Xmx256M into the field "VM arguments" and apply the changes.

Note: The number behind -Xmx specifies the maximal amount of memory in megabyte that is allocated for VISTA during runtime. The amount of available memory depends on your hardware and the programs you are currently running.If possible you should allocate 512 Mb or more.

To ensure that VISAT will run correctly and will find all needed libraries stored in various subdirectories of the BEAM home directory you should add the following variable declaration to your "VM Arguments" field: -Dbeam.home=C:\eclipse-workspace\beam3 -Dncsa.hdf.hdflib.HDFLibrary.hdflib=C:\programme\beam-3.3\bin\jhdf.dll -Dncsa.hdf.hdf5lib.H5.hdf5lib=C:\programme\beam-3.3\bin\jhdf5.dll

Enter -d into the "program arguments" field to start VISAT in debugging mode.

Note: The VISAT debugging mode provides status- and error-messages that will be displayed during runtime in the Eclipse Console. This feature can be very useful for testing and debugging your plug-in.

Apply the changes and start VISAT again. No warning will appear anymore. You can now take a look at the Eclipse Console to see the VISAT status-messages.

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