Can eclipse convert/refactor a method to a class?

Question

This seems like it should be fairly straight-forward, but I can't see anything obvious. What I basically want to do it to point at a method and refactor->extract class. This would take the method in question to a new class with that method as top level public API. The refactoring would also drag any required methods and variables along with it to the new class, deleting them from the old class if nothing else in the old class is using it.

This is a repetitive task I often encounter when refactoring legacy code. Anyway, I'm currently using Eclipse 3.0.2, but would still be interested in the answer if its available in a more recent version of eclipse. Thanks!

Answer 1

I don't think this kind of refactoring exists yet.

Bug 225716 has been log for that kind of feature (since early 2008).
Bug 312347 would also be a good implementation of such a refactoring.

"Create a new class and move the relevant fields and methods from the old class into the new class."

I mention a workaround in this SO answer.

Answer 2

In Eclipse 3.7.1 there is an option to move methods and fields out of a class. To do so:

1. Make sure the destination class exists (empty class is fine, just as long as it exists in the project).
2. In the source class, select the methods that you want to remove (the outline view works great for this), right click on the selection, and choose Move
3. Select the destination class in the drop down/Browse

Your members are now extracted. Fix any visibility issues (Source > Generate Getters and Setters is very useful for this) and you are all set.