For a while now I have been using a tool that I created called the Jazz Support Handler. I originally created it as part of a thought experiment of how to bring some of the Jazz.net experience into the Rational Team Concert client. The tool automates searching Jazz.net and Google when an error occurs inside of eclipse. This saves me a lot of copy/pasting and additional browser windows. With the upcoming release of CLM 4.0.3 and the move to Eclipse 4.2.2, I thought I would update the dependencies and make it available to the public.

Now this tool will only catch errors passed to the ErrorSupportProvider from the Eclipse Workbench API. it only works while the eclipse workbench is still active. Lastly this is a non-supported tool. Although I do work for IBM this is not supported by IBM nor myself. That being said I do encourage you to comment on this post with any trouble you may have.

Prerequisites

The latest bits are designed to work with the Rational Team Concert 4.0.3 Eclipse client (3.6.2 or 4.2.2 Eclipse clients). If you have RTC 4.0.3 installed in another Eclipse client than it needs to be Eclipse versions 3.6.2 or later. Eclipse also supports numerous operating systems but I have only tested it under Windows XP, Linux (Ubuntu, RHEL 6.2, and Fedora), and Apple OSX.

Installation

Download the Eclipse Update Site archive from this link: JazzSupportHandlerToolUpdateSite
Start your Rational Team Concert 4.0.3 Eclipse Client.
Open the Install New Software Dialog (Help->Install New Software…)
Select Add
Archive…
Point to the com.ibm.rational.jazz.support.handler.site.zip file
From the Work with drop down select “All Available Sites”
Select Jazz Support Handler and its child feature.
Select next…
Select next…
Accept the license.

Getting Started

After the install has completed there will be a new “Jazz Support Handler Category” in your Eclipse Preferences dialog. This new preferences area is where the Jazz Support Handler can be configured and tested.

There are three basic settings available to the user.

Enabling the Jazz Support Error Handler or using the default ErrorSupportProvider.Eclipse only allows for one error handler to be enabled at a time.
Which data sources do you want to display? Google? Jazz.net? both? neither?
What do you want the tool to ignore? I am always amazed how much search engines can know about their users. I normally add filter words for my projects which prevent project specific errors from being googled.

Finally there is a test button. This is very useful for testing filters and also allows you to see the dialog without the need for an workbench error.