Eclipse CDT add existing source without copying

Question

I have a C++ project proj1 with some source files in, however I would like to also use some of the source files I have in another project proj2. proj1 and proj2 are both subdirs of a directory my_projects. I don't want eclipse to copy the files as I want to ensure I have only one copy to edit. This is like the "add existing item" option of MS Visual Studio.

The end result I'm aiming for is to be able to create makefiles for both proj1 and proj2, zip up the two directories together and send them to coworkers so they can build the two projects themselves using make.

Is this possible in Eclipse? I've searched and haven't found the solution.

Phil

Answer 1

I looked forever for a solution to this, and I finally found it. Right click on the project and select Build Settings. Under the Build header on the left click "Settings". Then under the "Tool Settings" tab click "Directories" under the compiler header. Then click the add button at the top. If the desired files are in another project in the same workspace click the workspace button and then navigate to the exact folder where the files are. Once you have done this voila! you should be able to build the project!

Answer 2

If you have proj2 open in Eclipse right click on the project and choose Import... and then select General > FileSystem and hit next. In the top window choose the directory in proj1 that contains the resources you want to link. After selecting the files you want to link in the top window hit the Advanced button to open up a submenu and select Create Links in Workspace as shown in this screenshot:

This question addresses setting up a Makefile with relative instead of absolute paths: Getting Eclipse CDT to use relative include paths in generated Makefiles