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Bug 324499 - bin directory naming convention conflicts with standard use
Summary: bin directory naming convention conflicts with standard use
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: JDT
Classification: Eclipse Project
Component: Core (show other bugs)
Version: 3.7   Edit
Hardware: PC Linux
: P3 normal (vote)
Target Milestone: ---   Edit
Assignee: Jay Arthanareeswaran CLA
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard: stalebug
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2010-09-03 19:05 EDT by Andrew Taylor CLA
Modified: 2018-10-03 09:12 EDT (History)
2 users (show)

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Description Andrew Taylor CLA 2010-09-03 19:05:53 EDT
Build Identifier: 20100617-1415

The naming of the bin directory is not consistent with unix naming conventions, and can cause conflict with unix-like project layout.  Typically /bin is used for executable binaries, but eclipse uses it (by default) for compiled class files.  If the project uses a unix layout, binaries will be in bin, and if a new project is created which overlays such a layout, the default directory for the build files is bin/.  If this is not changed at the very first step, the pre-existing contents of bin will be deleted and are unrecoverable.  

I know it's a pretty deep change, but might I suggest build/?  I use the unix convention for project templates, and beginners (and mysqelf) are always missing the first step of build directory renaming.  I could (and probably will) change the bin/ dir to something else in my template, but that does not change the fact that it is misnamed (in my understanding) and that others may also be seeing this problem.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. create a dir in workspace with bin/ directory and contents
2. create a new java project with default settings with same name as directory
3. preexisting bin/ contents will be overwritten
Comment 1 Ayushman Jain CLA 2010-09-06 02:09:22 EDT
Jay/Olivier, what is your take on this?
Comment 2 Stephan Herrmann CLA 2010-09-07 06:59:34 EDT
Some unsolicited deliberations:

- Unifying naming schemes across all platforms is close to impossible

- Is it actually a common case to have both Java and true binary
  (compiled from some other language like C) within the same project?

- Perhaps the point where Eclipse could help is this: when creating a project
  from an existing directory structure, a warning/question could be issued
  if an output folder already exists and has some content. This seems to
  be a more general solution than changing a default name.
Comment 3 Andrew Taylor CLA 2010-09-07 10:59:51 EDT
A prompt before overwrite sounds like a great idea to me.
Comment 4 Olivier Thomann CLA 2010-09-07 11:04:24 EDT
(In reply to comment #2)
> Some unsolicited deliberations:
> - Unifying naming schemes across all platforms is close to impossible
Agree.

> - Perhaps the point where Eclipse could help is this: when creating a project
>   from an existing directory structure, a warning/question could be issued
>   if an output folder already exists and has some content. This seems to
>   be a more general solution than changing a default name.
Yes, we should prevent data from being lost.
Jay, please investigate.
Comment 5 Eclipse Genie CLA 2018-10-03 09:12:33 EDT
This bug hasn't had any activity in quite some time. Maybe the problem got resolved, was a duplicate of something else, or became less pressing for some reason - or maybe it's still relevant but just hasn't been looked at yet.

If you have further information on the current state of the bug, please add it. The information can be, for example, that the problem still occurs, that you still want the feature, that more information is needed, or that the bug is (for whatever reason) no longer relevant.

--
The automated Eclipse Genie.