Trouble importing Strongback user libraries on Windows?

[Dani White]

While our team was setting up Strongback on our computers, those of us on Windows have run into an issue. We were able to complete all the steps outlined in the "Using Strongback" Getting Started section until we had to import the user library: we got to the point where we browsed for the library and selected it; however, once out of the browsing window we could no longer click the final button to import and were instead prompted by Eclipse to report a bug. After that initial attempt, when I go back and try to start the process of importing the library over again, clicking the import button within the user libraries window doesn't do anything at all. Conversely, a team member using a Mac was able to import the library without any trouble. 

Any help would be much appreciated, as we'd really like to test out Strongback!

[Randall Hauch]

Make sure that you're using Eclipse Mars; anything older might very well not work. Feel free to log an issue and include all of the details about versions of Strongback, Windows, Java, WPILib, Eclipse, etc. so that Strongback developers can try to replicate the problem. However, you should be able to try a couple of things.

First, make sure that Strongback was successfully installed. Usually, it is installed on Windows in "C:\Users\<yourUsername>\strongback\java\lib". If it is not, try to move it to that location and import again. (If your username has a space, it will likely cause problems for Eclipse, WPILib, and Strongback.). 

If that doesn't work, try to check the file permissions so that the files are readable and the "strongback\java\bin\strongback.bat" file is executable, then try importing again.

If that doesn't work, try using the Strongback command line to create a robot project in your workspace, and specify the Eclipse option (-e). This should try to add the user library so you don't have to import. Then, delete the project afterward. Eclipse will keep the "Strongback" user library definition, and anytime you create a new robot project or import an existing one (perhaps from files created by another team member) it should find the "Strongback" user library.

If that doesn't work, you can always define the "Strongback" user library manually, though it is a bit of work and you have to carefully follow all of the steps. Each developer needs to do this in their own Eclipse workspace:

1. Go to Preferences and select "Java -> Build Path -> User Libraries" in the left hand panel, then click "New", and in the dialog box carefully enter "Strongback" and press OK to close the dialog and create the new user library.
   
2. Make sure the new user library is selected, and press the "Add External JARs..." button. Using the file chooser, navigate to the "java/lib" directory inside your Strongback installation (e.g., "C:\Users\<yourUsername>\strongback\java\lib") and pick the "strongback.jar" file, and close the file chooser. In the user libraries area, you should see the JAR file show up, and make sure to expand it to see what's underneath. Select "source attachment" and then press the "Edit..." button, choose "External location" and in the dialog press the "External file..." and in the file chooser pick the "strongback-sources.jar" file that is in the same directory as the "strongback.jar" file. Close the file chooser, and close the "Source Attachment Configuration" window.
3. Again, make sure the new "Strongback" user library is selected, and press the "Add External JARs..." button. Using the file chooser, navigate to the "java/lib-tests" directory inside your Strongback installation (e.g., "C:\Users\<yourUsername>\strongback\java\lib-tests") and multi-select all of the JAR files that do NOT end in "-sources.jar", and then close the file chooser. For each of these, expand and select the "source attachment" and then press the "Edit..." button, choose "External location" and in the dialog press the "External file..." and in the file chooser pick the "strongback-sources.jar" file that is in the same directory as the "strongback.jar" file. Close the file chooser, and close the "Source Attachment Configuration" window.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes!

[Randall Hauch]

We've just released Strongback 1.1.1, and this should fix the aforementioned problem on Windows. Please see the Getting Started chapter of the "Using Strongback" online book for details about installing or upgrading Strongback.

This is the latest version of the 1.1.x series, which is supports the latest version of the WPILib for Java that was released on January 7th. It is not compatible with earlier versions of WPILib.