Hi, I

AT LAST! =)))

This is *exactly* what I have been thinking (see f.eg http://forum.hibernate.org/viewtopic.php?p=2433#2433) about for quite some time now. You're the man! =)

Now, here are my suggestions/findings:

*Add a "Connection wizard" for configuring hibernate.cfg.xml or hibernate.properties files. This wizard could be reached for example by right-clicking on the project in the package explorer and selecting "HiberClipse->Add connection configuration"

*In the Relationship view, add the option to right-click and select "Import relation.." that launches another wizard that lets you select a DB connection, connect, and select the tables you want to import.

*Also (and this is the killer feature, IMHO): add a "property inspector" view that lists / lets the user change mapping types, ie, if the user has selected the arrow from AUTHOR to AUTHOR_WORK in the Relationships view, he/she can select if this should be mapped as a Set/List/Bag/Map/.../. Etc for other data types.

Note: When browsing for a JDBC driver, I noticed that HiberClipse currently adds a windows-style dir separator ("\") after closing the file browser. This doesn't hold for Mac/Linux systems. Just a small thing, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

I'm happy to support you with ideas (and possibly also some coding!) if you want to, this plugin could ROCK!

- Mikael.

Looks interesting. I have a preference for eclipse and many use that platform so the plugin (and the other ones) are going to help a large portion of the hibernate community. It would be good to see a plan of some form. In anycase, it will be interesting to see this project develop.

thanks,

a "property inspector" will be the next feature :-)

the other plugins, like hibernator, provides a database connectivity, but my plugin is easily because it finds a hibernate.properties in the classpath and open a connection...

what do you think about this? Should I provide a database connectivity?

Not everybody use hibernate.cfg.xml or hibernate.properties files when deploying an app. Those who use an MBean in JBoss have no use for hibernate.cfg.xml or hibernate.properties, for example. Also, I think that what makes a good tool is that it takes away as much manual editing of text files as possible - and these files are indeed text files. And I think those who use these files for deployment will be happy if there is a tool that generates them! Even more, think about how easy it could be to develop a J2EE app with Eclipse if this plugin had this functionality:

1. Develop the database layer (f.eg. using http://www.azzurri.jp/en/software/clay/)
2. In the Java perspective Package explorer, right-click and select "HiberClipse->Connect to database", select a configured connection (or create a new one) -> click "Connect"
3. Select tables to import, click Ok
4. Edit mapping types / laziness / cascading / etc using the Relationship editor
5. When satisfied, generate the Hibernate mapping files
6. Start developing the UI!

Note that if HiberClipse uses hibernate.cfg.xml or hibernate.properties files for storing connection info, these can then be used for deployment as a bonus! (And it already does, it just has to generate them as well)

Glad to hear that the next addition to the plugin will be a property inspector! :)

- Mikael