Eclipse Plug-in Developer Guide (Galileo) - IActionBars (Eclipse Platform API Specification)

Within the workbench each part, editor or view, has a private set of action bars. This set, which contains a menu, toolbar, and status line, appears in the local toolbar for a view and in the window for an editor. The view may provide an implementation for pre-existing actions or add new actions to the action bars.

In a workbench window there are a number of actions which are applicable to all parts. Some common examples are CUT, COPY and PASTE. These actions, known as "global actions", are contributed to the workbench window by the window itself and shared by all parts. The presentation is owned by the window. The implementation is delegated to the active part.

To participate in the global action design an IWorkbenchPart should register a handler for each global action which is implemented by the part. This can be done by calling setGlobalActionHandler. For convenience, the standard global actions are defined in org.eclipse.ui.IWorkbenchActionConstants.

Additional work is required for the Delete global action. In this case the accelerator is defined in the menu item text but is not hooked on the window. This is to support text editors where the Delete key is functional even when the Delete action is disabled (no text is selected). An implementation for this accelerator must be defined locally, in each part, by listening for Delete key events.

A part may also contribute new actions to the action bars as required. To do this, call getMenuManager, getToolBarManager, or getStatusLineManager as appropriate to get the action target. Add the action(s) to the target and call update to commit any changes to the underlying widgets.

This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.

Restriction:: This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.

Method Summary

void clearGlobalActionHandlers ()
          Clears the global action handler list.

IAction getGlobalActionHandler ( String actionId)
          Returns the global action handler for the action with the given id.

IMenuManager getMenuManager ()
          Returns the menu manager.

IServiceLocator getServiceLocator ()
          Returns the service locator for these action bars.

IStatusLineManager getStatusLineManager ()
          Returns the status line manager.

IToolBarManager getToolBarManager ()
          Returns the tool bar manager.

void setGlobalActionHandler ( String actionId, IAction handler)
          Sets the global action handler for the action with the given id.

void updateActionBars ()
          Updates the action bars.

Method Detail

clearGlobalActionHandlers

void clearGlobalActionHandlers()

Clears the global action handler list.

Note: Clients who manipulate the global action list are responsible for calling updateActionBars so that the changes can be propagated throughout the workbench.

getGlobalActionHandler


IAction getGlobalActionHandler(
String actionId)

Returns the global action handler for the action with the given id.

Parameters:: actionId - an action id declared in the registry
Returns:: an action handler which implements the action id, or null if none is registered
See Also:: IWorkbenchActionConstants, setGlobalActionHandler(String, IAction)

getMenuManager


IMenuManager getMenuManager()

Returns the menu manager.

Note: Clients who add or remove items from the returned menu manager are responsible for calling updateActionBars so that the changes can be propagated throughout the workbench.

Returns:: the menu manager

getServiceLocator


IServiceLocator getServiceLocator()

Returns the service locator for these action bars. The locator is found by looking locally, and then ascending the action bar hierarchy.

Returns:: The service locator; never null.
Since:: 3.2

getStatusLineManager


IStatusLineManager getStatusLineManager()

Returns the status line manager.

Note: Clients who add or remove items from the returned status line manager are responsible for calling updateActionBars so that the changes can be propagated throughout the workbench.

Returns:: the status line manager

getToolBarManager


IToolBarManager getToolBarManager()

Returns the tool bar manager.

Note: Clients who add or remove items from the returned tool bar manager are responsible for calling updateActionBars so that the changes can be propagated throughout the workbench.

Returns:: the tool bar manager

setGlobalActionHandler

void setGlobalActionHandler(
String actionId,
                            
IAction handler)

Sets the global action handler for the action with the given id.

Note: Clients who manipulate the global action list are responsible for calling updateActionBars so that the changes can be propagated throughout the workbench.

Parameters:: actionId - an action id declared in the registry; handler - an action which implements the action id, or null to clear any existing handler
See Also:: IWorkbenchActionConstants

updateActionBars

void updateActionBars()

Updates the action bars.

Clients who add or remove items from the menu, tool bar, or status line managers, or that update global action handlers, should call this method to propagated the changes throughout the workbench.