Trying to compile an old Java project but missing resources and I don't know how to include them

Question

Very new to Java. I have some old code I'm looking at and I have a problem with findbugs. I'm using Eclipse and a regular Java project. I've installed it using the Install new software from the Help menu but now I don't know how to continue. I can see that it's added to the .project file too.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<projectDescription>
    <name>My Project</name>
    <comment></comment>
    <projects>
    </projects>
    <buildSpec>
        <buildCommand>
            <name>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javabuilder</name>
            <arguments>
            </arguments>
        </buildCommand>
        <buildCommand>
            <name>edu.umd.cs.findbugs.plugin.eclipse.findbugsBuilder</name>
            <arguments>
            </arguments>
        </buildCommand>
    </buildSpec>
    <natures>
        <nature>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javanature</nature>
        <nature>edu.umd.cs.findbugs.plugin.eclipse.findbugsNature</nature>
    </natures>
</projectDescription>

.classpath

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<classpath>
    <classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-16">
        <attributes>
            <attribute name="module" value="true"/>
        </attributes>
    </classpathentry>
    <classpathentry kind="src" path="src"/>
    <classpathentry kind="output" path="bin"/>
</classpath>

I get the below unresolved error.

Answer 1

The first part of a jar name, using the usual naming convention for imported jars, is a reverse of the url where the jar originates. So in this case, given "edu.umd" I did a search for "umd.edu" and came to the site for the University of Maryland.

From their, using their search field, I entered keywords derived from the rest of the name: "findbugs plugin". The keyword "eclipse" would have also be a good try. The results of the search showed that UMD has an Eclipse plugin called findbugs.

To load a plugin, in Eclipse, on the tab "Help" select "Eclipse Marketplace". From there, enter "findbugs". The plugin that you are missing will likely be one of the first shown. I believe in this case it is called "FindBugs Eclipse Plugin 3.0.1". If you install this, the error will likely disappear.

It might be worth checking first to see if the plugin is already installed. To do this, click on the "Help" tab the "About" at the bottom. (It probably says "About Eclipse"--I'm using a variant of Eclipse so mine says "About Spring Tool Suite 4" so I can't give you the exact phrase you will see.) From the popup that appears, there should be a button "Installation Details". Click this for yet another popup and on this one, there should be a tab for "Plug-ins". Clicking this should give you a list of all your current plug-ins.

Given the elapsed time, sometimes things go stale, so you may actually have an older version of the plugin. If so, it will require updating or reinstalling. Also, depending on the age of the code you are trying to run, your code may need some modification if it's attempting to use deprecated/deleted elements of the plug-in. So you might not be totally out of the woods yet. However, Eclipse should give you the error messages needed for determining the next steps if that is the case.

But there IS a good chance adding the plug-in to your Eclipse IDE will be sufficient to get the code running again.