XPairtise - A Distributed Pair Programming Plug-in For Eclipse

Introduction

The Eclipse plug-in XPairtise provides a platform for distributed pair programming. The plug-in offers shared editing, project synchronization, shared program and test execution, user management, built-in chat communication and a shared whiteboard.

Pair programming is a key practice in eXtreme Programming (XP) whereby two programmers share the same terminal and program together. Distributed pair programming is the practice of pair programming where the two programmers comprising the pair are in different locations.

Scope of this guide

This guide is intended for the release of version 1.0.1. The design of the views might differ from the ones showing up on the reader's computer screen, as this guide was created on a Windows XP operating system.

Download

XPairtise is available in binary and source form from http://sourceforge.net/projects/xpairtise/.

Installation

The client package has to be installed in your Eclipse "plugins" directory. If your Eclipse is installed in the directory C:\Eclipse, then the client package should be copied into the directory C:\Eclipse\plugins. Restart Eclipse. The plug-in should be available now. (Sometimes, it is necessary to start Eclipse once with the "-clean" option, which makes Eclipse update its plug-in configuration.)

Running XPairtise

To run the XPairtise clients, you need a server to handle the replicated objects and to synchronize the resources. Start the server using the following commands:

runserver.bat
on a Windows system
runserver.sh
on a Unix-like operating system
java -jar <jarfile>
alternatively

On the time of the first release, the jar file bears the name de.fuh.xpairtise_server_1.0.1.jar.

Once the server is up and running, you may start Eclipse with the XPairtise plug-in. Verify your installation by selecting Window->Open Perspective->Other. The XPairtise perspective should be an available entry in the listed choice of perspectives.

System Architecture

This short documentation is meant to bridge the gap between Javadoc and the source code (still work in progress):

Getting Started

  1. Switching to the XPairtise perspective
  2. Setting up an account
  3. Logging in
  4. Importing or creating a project
  5. Creating a new session
  6. Assuming the roles
  7. Joining the session as a spectator
  8. A new user joins in
  9. Inviting users
  10. Switching roles
  11. A common chat view
  12. Communication via the session chat
  13. A whiteboard for sharing ideas visually
  14. Synchronized editors
  15. Leaving a session

Miscellaneous

Related Pair Programming Plug-ins For Eclipse

License

 Copyright 2006, 2007 The XPairtise Team

 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 You may obtain a copy of the License at

     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.

 

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