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How to create Silverlight apps in Eclipse?

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: Microsoft Silverlight is a cross browser plugin that enables developers to build applications that deliver rich media experience on the Web. Though Silverlight is a Microsoft technology, you're not rectricted to MS Visual Studio to develop apps on it.

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You can use the Open Source Eclipse IDE for the job. A plugin called Eclipse4SL works with Eclipse to enable both Silverlight development and to provide better interoperability between Silverlight and existing Java websites and web services.

Working with Eclipse4SL
Before you install Eclipse4SL, a set of prerequisites have to be met. For integration with Eclipse, it requires Eclipse basic 3.4.1 or above. For Silverlight development, you need to have .NET Framework 3.5 or above and Silverlight 2 SDK along with the Silverlight 2 Runtime.
 
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For Java support, JDK 1.5 update 11 or later will suffice. To install the plugin using Eclipse IDE's Update Manager, select Help > Software Updates and then select Available Updates tab and click on Add Site button. Give the URL http://www.eclipse4 sl.org/ update/ and then proceed with the installation.
 
The Eclipse IDE provides almost similar features as Visual Studio for developing Silverlight apps. It provides the same project system and compiler for packaging Silverlight apps. Even the XAML editor has code hinting feature, drag and drop of tool palette, C# code generation and synchronization with the preview. To explore the features of the plugin, we tried importing an existing Silverlight project into Eclipse and run the project from within the IDE. Let's check out the installation process and the  features with the following visuals.
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After you add the Eclipse4SL site URL, choose the components you want ot install. Here, Runtime component is essential . Once the Eclipse4SL plugin is installed successfully, you can see the Soyatec Eclipse4SL icon appearing when you select Help > About Eclipse Platform option.
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You can initiate a Silverlight development perspective by selecting Window > Open Perspective > Other option, where you can opt between Visual Studio or Eclipse Style Silverlight perspective. For a new Silverlight Web project, Eclipse4SL creates necessary base Silverlight app & its corresponding Web app projects having the page.xaml file and its C# code in the main app project.

 

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To import an existing Silverlight project into Eclipse environment, the eclipse4SL plugin distinguishes the main Silverlight appl & its Web appl project and lists that for selection. Like Visual Studio, Eclipse4SL provides you with drag and drop feature to add controls into the page.xaml source code. The control palette is similar to that in Visual Studio.

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The XAML editor of the plugin provides a similar auto-completion feature of Visual Studio, and also the corresponding changes made to the code gets reflected in the preview pane. Building and running Silverlight app with Eclipse4SL becomes easier. By Run > Run Configuration option, you can select the HTML page to launch the Silverlight app through Run button.
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