IDE Automatic Working Set Grouping for Project Organization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional integrated development environments (IDEs) do not automatically group and manage associations between related projects, requiring manual arrangement and management by programmers.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that automatically groups projects into working sets within an IDE by scanning for available projects, identifying those that match predetermined criteria, and visually presenting them together, allowing operations to be performed on entire working sets with a single user command, with the grouping updated as criteria change.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If projects are manually arranged in conventional IDEs, then programmers have full control over project organization, but this requires significant manual effort and time
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically groups projects into working sets by scanning for available projects, identifying those that match predetermined criteria, and organizing them without requiring manual intervention from the programmer. The IDE performs self-service project organization by autonomously creating and updating working sets based on the defined criteria.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining criteria for project grouping and automatically applying these criteria to organize projects before the programmer needs to access them. Working sets are prepared in advance with all related projects already grouped together based on the predetermined criteria.
2Productivity
If projects are manually managed, then programmers can customize each project's arrangement, but operations on multiple projects require individual actions
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple related projects into a single working set, allowing the programmer to perform operations on all grouped projects simultaneously with a single command. Related projects are combined into a unified group that can be manipulated as one unit, improving operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The working set mechanism provides universal functionality by enabling a single operation command to act on multiple diverse projects that share common criteria. The same working set can be used for different operations (build, debug, deploy) across multiple projects, making the system multi-functional.
3Extent of automation
If automatic grouping is implemented, then project organization is automated and efficient, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the project management functionality by separating the automatic grouping mechanism from the core IDE operations. Working sets are implemented as distinct containers that hold grouped projects, allowing the automation logic to be modular and independent from other IDE features.
Solution Approach 2:
The working set acts as an intermediary layer between the programmer and the multiple projects. Instead of directly managing individual projects, the programmer interacts with working sets that mediate the organization and coordination of related projects, simplifying the interface while enabling automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A processing device executing an integrated development environment scans for available projects, each project having a directory structure that contains source code. The processing device identifies available projects that match predetermined criteria. The processing device then automatically groups the projects that match the predetermined criteria into a working set, wherein projects arranged into the working set are visually presented to a user together, and wherein one or more operations can be performed on every project in the working set based on a single user command.