The first step to using RCP Developer is to install it. Whether you are working with the trial version or the full product, the installation is the same. Download the installer for your platform and run it. The installation wizard has eight pages but they are all quite simple. Let's take a look at each, in order.
First things first: Make sure Eclipse is not running. That will keep life simple.
Now, start the installer. If you're on MS Windows you'll probably use the *.exe installer. However, the *.jar installer will work for any platform that has Java installed. All the installers look about the same, but the paths in the file system will be a bit different for each platform. These examples are taken from the Windows installer.
The first page is just a Welcome page. It allows you to verify that you are indeed running the RCP Developer Installer, and gives you a short overview of what is to come.
When you're ready, click Next to move to the next page. That's the license agreement.
You should read through the agreement. If you accept it click the top radio button. That enables the Next button. Click it to continue.
This is the directory that RCP Developer will be installed into. Don't worry, you can make it be anything you want, but the default is usually the best place. You only need to install it once even if you want to use it in multiple Eclipse installations. If you need to change the default directory you can either type it directly or use the Browse button to navigate to the directory. Once you're satisfied that the product files are going to be put in the right place click Next to continue with the next page.
If you have multiple versions of Eclipse installed then you can select which ones you want to have RCP Developer available. By default the list shows the Eclipse 3.1 versions that the installer can find. If you click the “Show all Eclipse products” check box then all versions will be searched for. That gets 3.0, 2.0, and even WSAD, RAD, and so forth, into the list. If the installer can't find the version you want then you can navigate to it by clicking the Choose Eclipse button.
You can install RCP Developer into as many versions at once as you like. They will all share a single product installation. Most people only have one, and it will be selected by default.
The next page gives you the option to clean cached configuration data. You don't have to do this, but it can cause problems if you choose not to. The “Details” section of the page gives a really good explanation of what's going on. Feel free to ignore it and move on to the next page.
You know you're about done once you get to the verification page. Check that everything is the way you want it (if you didn't change anything then it probably is) and continue.
The installation page includes a progress bar at the bottom so you can get an idea of how long it will take. Once it completes you'll automatically switch to the final page.
And that's it. RCP Developer is ready to use. If you chose to clean the configuration cache then the next time you start Eclipse it will rebuild that data.
The next section of the tutorial shows you how to generate a sample RCP application.