my workspace doesn't show up in Luna (updated from Helios)

Question

Windows 7 SP1, Eclipse 3.6 (Helios) updated to Luna.

I downloaded the recent Eclipse dstribution (Luna). Doesn't have an installer for Windows? It seems just to be a .zip (eclipse-java-luna-SR1-win32-x86_64.zip) which has an eclipse root.

Do I just put it into C:\Program Files (no difference between x86 or x64 ?). I moved away the old eclipse directory to avoid a mixing up.

Now, when I start Luna, the project sidebar is empty and I do not see my old (Helios) projects.

I also see no way to invoke any of the projects. The workspace is c:\Users\me\workspace.

Clueless at the moment.

Answer 1

You have to import the projects into your existing workspace.
Go to File --> Import --> Select the type of project you want to import (for eg, select General --> import existing code into workspace) --> browse to the directory where your old projects exists --> Next and Finish. Now you can see your projects in the sidebar.
And as far as I know many eclipse versions do not have an installer, they are just copy paste.

Answer 2

Eclipse distribution is mostly a compressed (zip) file. Just unzipping it to a folder is sufficient for Eclipse installation.

You can copy it to any folder you want, but I (personally) prefer a non-whitespace folder name, and unzip to look like C:\Dev\Luna\eclipse

Open your Helios and note down your workspace (mostly you can find it here:
File > Switch Workspace > Other...

Now create a shortcut of Luna eclipse.exe in Desktop

Right click the shortcut, select Properties and append the following in the Target location:
-data C:\path\of\helios\workspace (You need to give the workspace you previously noted down)

Launch the shortcut, accept the warning Eclipse shows you to update your workspace, and now you should be able to see your existing projects.

And one more point of advice is that do not create projects in the Eclipse workspace, because it ties your projects to the workspace, it can go messy, when the workspace gets corrupted and you need a fresh workspace.