For Projects 2 and 3, you must maintain your project code and documentation in SVN and do regular check-ins.
Moreover, you must make sure that your project compiles in Eclipse. You can use any IDE or no IDE at all, but the TAs will be evaluating your work by checking your project out in Eclipse, compiling it, running it, inspecting your modification history, and reading your documentation. So, do not ask "can I ... instead?" We do not have the resources to use different tools to accommodate everyone's preferences: Eclipse was chosen for uniformity, and it is an excellent and free IDE.
If you are using Departmental machines, then Eclipse IDE and Java SDK are already installed. If you are using your own machine, make sure that they are installed (at least Eclipse 3.5.2 and Java SDK 1.6.x).
Important: Verify that the SVN plugin, called Subclipse (which provides interface to SVN), is installed in Eclipse. To do so, start Eclipse, use the menu File.Import. You will see a dialog box. If SVN is there, you do not need to install anything. If it is not there, go to the menu Help.Install new software. Click Add in the dialog box and type http://subclipse.tigris.org/update_1.6.x. You should see some software listed in the dialog. Select Subclipse and click Next. You might have to uncheck "Subversion Revision Graph" and "Subclipse Integration for Mylyn" in the next window, if you get an error message. Click Next and then accept the license. Click Finish and you are done.
If you want to use the revision graph (quite useful), go to this Web site, read the instructions, and install the Mylyn plugin. Then repeat the above installation steps for Subclipse.
Repository: Your repository will be assigned to you when you request it through the Blackboard Wiki, as described in your project assignment. The repository name will have the form cse532-nn, where nn is the number that appears on the Wiki on the line that you used to sign up.
Note: if you do not request your repository promptly, we do not guarantee prompt response either: the system staff is busy. So, you might loose a lot of valuable time and your project will be negatively affected.
Your user Id and password: Your user Id is your NetId. Your password is the same as the one you use to read the Departmental email.
Please also see Departmental SVN information.
Checking out: Go to the menu bar and select File.Import. In the dialog window that follows, double-click on SVN. Select Checkout Project from SVN. Click Next. Choose Create a new repository location (unless you already checked this out once and want to replace) then click Next. Type this URL in the resulting box:
https://svn.cs.stonybrook.edu/repos/cse532-nn
(replace nn appropriately for your repository, of course). Continue following the prompts.
If you ever need help with Eclipse, go to the Help.Help Contents menu. Among other stuff, you will find a section on Subclipse among the available topics.
If you prefer (and know what you are doing), it is faster to check your repository out using command line:
svn checkout --username YOUR-ID https://svn.cs.stonybrook.edu/repos/cse532-nn
Enter your password when asked. Of course a Subversion client should be already installed on your machine for that to work.
You can then import this project into Eclipse. With this method, you do not have to install the Subclipse plugin. Instead, you can use your favorite interface to SVN, such as Emacs' psvn package, TortoiseSVN, and the like. But you must know what you are doing before even contemplating this method!
If you are a macho (wo)man, you can even rely completely on command line interface to SVN (to add/commit files). But I generally frown on this method. You might be a macho, but you must also be an SVN virtuoso (and have a penchant for inflicting misery upon yourself). If you make a mistake, I will not be sympathetic to your plight even one bit!