This page gives instructions on how to run AM in the Eclipse SDK. Working in Eclipse may not be appropriate for all AM users, since there is somewhat of a learning curve for using Eclipse. But the AM application is rather straightforward, so this documentation is provided for the interested and the curious.

  1. Install Eclipse on your machine if you don't have it already. You can get version 3.4 from here.
     
  2. Install AM::Parallel on your machine if you don't have it already. Follow the instructions here.
     
  3. Install the Eclipse Perl Integration IDE plug-in into Eclipse, following the instructions here. Essentially, all you should have to do is this:

After starting Eclipse select Help > Software Updates... from the menu and switch to the Available Software tab. Click the Add Site... button and enter: http://e-p-i-c.sf.net/updates.

  1. Check that you have EPIC installed correctly. Select Window > Preferences and you should see "Perl EPIC" in the menu on the left.
     
  2. Create a project for each AM task that you run. Select File > New > Other > Perl > Perl Project. A "New Project" wizard dialog box will open. Give the project a name in the "Project name:" field. Run the wizard to completion. You should see the package in the "Package Explorer" panel.
     
  3. If you have more than one version of Perl on your machine (some people do), make sure that Eclipse knows which version's executable file to run. Set this as follows: Run > Run Configurations... to get the "Create, Manage, and Run Configurations" dialog box. Select the "(x)= Arguments" tab and unselect the "Use default working directory" checkbox at the bottom. Click on "Variables..." and then "Edit Variables". You should see a small spreadsheet with a line for the Variable "perlExecutable" and the Value with a pathname to the Perl executable (e.g. c:/Perl/bin/perl.exe). Change that item if you need to (e.g. c:/Perl/bin/perl5.8.7.exe). Then close up the dialog box. Make sure you don't accidentally insert items into fields that you don't want to (e.g. "Working Directory"). Check the "Use default working directory" box again. Then close up the dialog boxes.
     
  4. Select (right-click on) your project in the "Package Explorer" panel and create a new folder for your Perl command file: File > New... > Folder and put the name of your AM project (e.g. finnverb) in the field in the dialog box.
     
  5. Inside the AM project folder that you have just created, place your AM files data and test (and outcomes, if you want one) in that directory. You may do this by copying them in, downloading them from a browser, or using Eclipse editing to create them in place.
     
  6. Place your AM command file (e.g. finnverb.pl) in your Eclipse project. Again, you can do this via copying it in, downloading it from elsewhere, or using Eclipse editing in place. It should have a .pl suffix, and then you should see a camel icon, signifying that Eclipse recognizes it as a Perl file.
     
  7. To run the file, right-click on your Perl command file (e.g. finnverb.pl) and select Run As. You should see the option Perl Local; select that option and AM will be launched.
     
  8. No output is currently sent to the Eclipse console (or elsewhere), so you will need to wait until you think processing is done. When you think it is, select your Eclipse project and hit the F5 key (Refresh). You should see the file amcpresults there if you told AM you want an output file. You can click on the amcpresults file and Eclipse will bring it up in an editor.
     

Why would you want to do all of this? There are several reasons: