How to create Eclipse project with EGit clone

Question

After spending a decade with SVN I've finally taken the plunge with Git. I have set up Git, Gitolite and GitLab on a server and have successfully added code to my local repository, committed, cloned repositories and pushed code back to repositories. So far, so good. Now enters EGit...

I have cloned a repository using the Git Repository Exploring view using the following syntax for the path:

ssh://dexter:vaultanalyser.git

(In GitLab, repositories are referred to as projects, so I assume that I am supposed to have one repository per Eclipse project? Rather than a SVN-style single parent repository that contains multiple projects?)

This imports the repository into:

/Users/mattpainter/git/vaultanalyser

I was expecting this step to automatically create an Eclipse project for me with all the source, but this isn't so. I tried fudging the target directory so it's in my workspace, but this isn't working either.

How do I get the cloned source available within Eclipse? This site implies that if you create a project with the same name as the repository, it all magically works, but this isn't the case (yes, I know the article is about Github, not GitLab, but I figured the two were close enough for the task at hand).

I've then tried creating a project in Eclipse and sharing it - but then the whole project appears as a sub-folder in the repository. If repositories are indeed analogous to projects, this isn't really what I want.

I've looked through other StackOverflow topics that look related, but I fear I'm still missing a key piece of understanding with how this is supposed to work and it's all looking remarkably convoluted thus far.

Help?

Answer 1

In GitLab, repositories are referred to as projects, so I assume that I am supposed to have one repository per Eclipse project?

Yes, but a GitLab "project" isn't necessarily an Eclipse one.
It doesn't have to follow an SVN structure, as illustrated in "Eclipse reference directory outside eclipse project directory but within repository".

All you need to do is to create an Eclipse project, specifying the source directory being not in the default path (Eclipse workspace), but wherever you cloned your repo (as described in "Getting started with Eclipse + EGit - confused").
That way, the eclipse project you just declared (and referenced in the Eclipse workspace) has its files (.project and .classpath) at the root of the Git repo.
And Egit can then manage that project just fine.
Or you can import it directly with Egit: "Eclipse + EGit: clone project into workspace".

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As the OP nullpainter reports below:

The original issue was compounded by invalid permissions in the .git/objects folder on the server.
Running a chmod git:git -R * on the folder solved the issue

He details the right setup below.

Answer 2

To expand on @VonC's answer, the steps to get EGit and Eclipse to play nicely is:

1. Select 'Clone a Git repository' from EGit, accepting all defaults. This will create a folder in a git parent folder, somewhere outside your workspace.

2. Create a new Eclipse project. I'm using Java, but I assume there are similar steps for other languages. On the first dialog, untick 'Use default location' and instead select the repository folder created in step 1. Accept all defaults.

3. Select Team > Share Project... from your new project. Select Git, and tick the 'Use or create repository in parent folder of project'.

Now you can push your code and Eclipse dot files to your git repository from within Eclipse.

(My original issue was compounded by invalid permissions in the .git/objects folder on the server - running a chmod git:git -R * on the folder solved the issues)

Answer 3

I check it out with the command line - then build my projects on top of that. In fact, I end up doing most operations with command line git. EGit is useful for viewing the diffs but I find command line has more power and control. Git is mostly about giving devs lots of power and control.