Running your programs

In this section, you will learn more about running Java programs in the workbench.

  1. In the Package Explorer view, find junit.textui.TestRunner.java and double-click it to open it in an editor.
  2. In the Outline view, notice that the TestRunner class has an icon which indicates that the class defines a main method.

    Outline view with selected TestRunner class

  3. Using the drop-down Run button in the toolbar, select Java Application from the cascading Run As menu. This will launch the class in the active editor, or the selected class in the Navigator, as a local Java application.

    Run drop down menu

  4. Notice that the program has finished running and the following message appears in the Console view telling you that the program needs an execution argument.  Running a program as a Java Application uses the default settings for launching the selected class and does not allow you to specify any arguments.

    Console with error message: Usage: TestRunner [-wait] testCaseName, where name is the name of the TestCase class

  5. To specify arguments, use the drop-down Run menu in the toolbar and select Run....

    Run menu of the toolbar

  6. This time, the Launch Configurations dialog opens with the TestRunner launch configuration selected. A launch configuration allows you to configure how a program is launched, including its arguments, classpath, and other options.  (A default launch configuration was created for you when you chose Run as > Java Application).

    Launch configuration dialog showing the Main tab

  7. Select the Arguments tab and type junit.samples.VectorTest in the Program arguments area.

    Arguments tab of the launch configuration dialog

  8. Click Run. This time the program runs correctly, indicating the number of tests that were run.

    Console showing program output

  9. Switch to the Debug perspective. In the Debug view, notice that a process for the program launch was registered each time the program was run.

    Debug view showing two terminated run launches

    Note: You can relaunch any of these processes by selecting Relaunch from its context menu.
  10. Select the drop-down menu from the Run button in the workbench toolbar. This list contains the previously launched programs. These programs can be relaunched by selecting them in the history list.

    Run drop down menu from the workbench toolbar

  11. From the context menu in the Debug view (or the equivalent toolbar button), select Remove All Terminated to clear the view of terminated launch processes.

    Debug view showing context menu

Related tasks
Changing debugger launch options
Connecting to a remote VM with the Remote Java application launch configuration
Disconnecting from a VM
Launching a Java program
Running and debugging

Related reference
Debug view
Run and debug actions

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