Eclipse IDE + Vizard

Eclipse is a free open-source IDE that supports many programming languages. The Pydev addon for Eclipse enables Python support within the IDE. This article describes how to configure Eclipse to run Vizard scripts.

  1. Install Eclipse

    Visit the Eclipse Downloads page to download and install Eclipse Classic.

  2. Install Pydev

    Follow these instructions from the Pydev site to install Pydev for Eclipse.

  3. Configure Vizard interpreter

    You can add the Vizard Python interpreter to Pydev by going to Window > Preferences > Pydev > Interpreter - Python from the main Eclipse menu bar. From the dialog you will be able specify the path to the Vizard python installation, as shown below.

    Add Python interpreter

    Once added, various Vizard directories will appear in the PYTHONPATH list. However, if you want Pydev to properly auto complete Vizard libraries, you will need to manually add the [Vizard]\python directory to the list (i.e C:\Program Files\WorldViz\Vizard30\python).

  4. Configure Vizard External Tool

    You must use the External Tools option to run scripts using Vizard. To set this up, go to Run > External Tools > External Tools Configurations... from the main Eclipse menu bar. Select the Program item within the dialog and press the 'New' icon to configure a new external tool. For the "Location" browse to the winviz.exe file in the Vizard bin directory. For the "Arguments" enter "${resource_loc}" (including the quotes).

    Configure External Tools

  5. Running scripts using Vizard

    To run scripts using Vizard, make sure the script is selected in the project explorer then select Run > External Tools > Vizard from the main menu bar. Eclipse also provides a button in the toolbar for running an external tool.