Eclipse
The Eclipse software is really only necessary if you are interested in exploring or further developing the iDynoMiCS source code. Download the newest stable release from the link above and install Eclipse into the directory of your choice (the local directory holding the iDynoMiCS software is fine). At the root of the eclipse directory, there is an executable file called eclipse.exe that you will use to launch Eclipse. To create a desktop shortcut for this executable, right-click on the .exe file and choose Send to -> Desktop. You should also add a shortcut to your Start menu folder for convenience.
When you first start Eclipse, the software will ask you to define your workspace; it is best to choose something simple like C:\java. After choosing the directory, close the introduction screen.
Now we need to create a new Java project based on the iDynoMiCS source code. To do this, click on File -> New -> Java Project; this will open a window where you will define the new project. Write iDynoMiCS, select the Create project from existing source option, and browse to the iDynoMiCS directory of the code you have downloaded. (See the image below for an example.) Finally, click the Finish button. Now in the left panel there should be a project with the ‘src’ and other directories contained inside.
There are other sections of this wiki that detail how to contribute to the development of iDynomics by making code changes within Eclipse and uploading these to the iDynomics repository. We don't cover this explicitly in the tutorial, but check out the other sections of the wiki for information on how to do this.
There is one additional setting to change in order to make use of Eclipse friendlier. From the Package Explorer perspective on the left, click on the small downward arrow (called the View Menu, shown in a red circle on the next figure) and choose Package Presentation -> Hierarchical. Then on the left side of the screen you have a browser to navigate easily through the packages, and on the right side you can find an outline which summarizes all the methods of the current class.
