Configuring Eclipse with a VM parameter to avoid "unconfigured" project area editors

This article discusses how to configure recent Eclipse (e.g. Eclipse 4.4 Neon) versions to remove an issue where the project area is shown with all sections "Unconfigured".

VM Argument to Enable Access to External Schema

The issue is caused by a new Java VM parameter that requires opt-in to allow the client to access external schema, which is required to configure the project area. When opening a project area editor in Eclipse, all sections are shown as "Unconfigured".

In addition, an error in the process configuration.xml flags to the access to external schema. The failing "Schema Error" line in the process.xml is like:

<process-specification xmlns="http://com.ibm.team.process">

The fix for this is to add a VM argument to the eclipse.ini file. In Windows this file is the Eclipse installation directory; in Mac you must select eclipse.app and use the menu item "Show Package Contents" then update the /Content/MacOS/eclipse.ini file.

The change is to add a line at the end:

-Djavax.xml.accessExternalSchema=all

A final eclipse.ini file may look like this:

-startup
../../../plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.0.v20140415-2008.jar
--launcher.library
../../../plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.cocoa.macosx.x86_64_1.1.200.v20150204-1316
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
--launcher.XXMaxPermSize
512m
--launcher.defaultAction
openFile
--launcher.appendVmargs
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-XstartOnFirstThread
-Dorg.eclipse.swt.internal.carbon.smallFonts
-XX:MaxPermSize=2048m
-Xms120m
-Xmx2048m
-Xdock:icon=../Resources/Eclipse.icns
-Djavax.xml.accessExternalSchema=all

External Links

• Stack Overflow Discussion
• Oracle Documentation on Access External Schema