Importing patterns

Patterns are Eclipse plug-ins packaged and stored as RAS assets. You import RAS pattern assets to install the pattern plug-in. Then you can apply the patterns contained in the RAS asset. You can import RAS pattern assets from a directory location or from a RAS repository.

A RAS pattern asset may contain more than one pattern. You must import the entire asset to use one of its patterns. You do this by selecting the RAS asset, not the pattern asset.

You import the RAS pattern asset with the RAS Import wizard. During import of the RAS asset, the plug-in is added to an Eclipse plug-in directory and the patterns contained in the plug-in are listed in the Pattern Explorer view.

After you perform a search and locate a pattern you want to apply, you can import the related RAS pattern asset by clicking its icon RAS asset library icon in the Search view. Or, you can choose to view the asset in the RAS Asset Explorer view and import it from there. Note that any patterns that appear in the Pattern Explorer view are already imported.

To import a pattern:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • In the Search view, right-click the icon for the RAS asset that includes the pattern and click Import.
    • In the RAS Asset Explorer view, right-click the icon for the RAS asset that includes the pattern and clickImport.
    • Click File > Import, click RAS asset and then click OK.
    The Import RAS Asset window opens.
  2. To select the asset and the location of the asset, do one of the following:
    • Click File System Location and then browse to find the asset in the file system
    • Click Repository and, if the repository and asset name are not filled in for you, browse to find the repository and asset manifest
  3. Skip the Save the asset manifest(s) check box. Pattern manifests are automatically saved in the plug-in for you.
  4. Click OK. The asset is imported and installed as a plug-in, and the patterns are listed in the Pattern Explorer view.
Related concepts
Reusable Asset Specification (RAS) pattern assets
Related tasks
Using the Apply Pattern wizard
Using drag and drop
Specifying arguments for pattern instances
Modifying pattern instances
Reviewing pattern information
Setting pattern preferences
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