Disable API analysis?

[Phillipus]

When I check out a different commit of the SWT source code a task "Analyzing API" runs. This can take a long time. Can this be disabled?

[vogella]

I think the only way of disabling the API builder, is to modify the .project file and remove the related nature and builder.

[Phillipus]

Thanks @vogella I removed org.eclipse.pde.api.tools.apiAnalysisNature and builder from the binary project and that did the trick.

[jonahgraham]

You can also "stop" it from running by pressing the stop red button in the progress view. I have also noticed it can take a very long time for it to run, which I think is a bug in itself. I don't know if that is a PDE bug or a deficiency in how we have setup SWT projects.

[Phillipus]

Thanks, that's another way to do it. I might be wrong but I can't remember it taking this long, perhaps a recent change somewhere?

The reason I mention this is that when I'm testing a SWT PR and I switch to another commit to compare, the API analysis takes forever each time.

[jonahgraham]

I can't remember it taking this long, perhaps a recent change somewhere?

I agree - it seems that something in the stack has changed.

[laeubi]

I have also noticed it can take a very long time for it to run, which I think is a bug in itself.

SWT is at the bottom of the food chain and sadly some other bundles are reexporting SWT. If I look at the progress reported then I see not only SWT projects are checked but also a lot of other bundles (likely due to the reexport), so maybe it is getting a bit slower that now its more noticeable but the root cause is more it needs to check a lot as well.

In the end I think API tools might perform better if we put some effort in detecting the actual delta of changes, e.g. changing only a method, or javadoc or non public code must not trigger it (again) but that's of course a major effort.

[HeikoKlare]

I see this kind of "loop" for some weeks now, which, e.g., happens when triggering a clean build of a simple workspace (just containing SWT and Platform). It takes around 2 minutes to finish.

Bildschirmaufnahme.2025-12-22.101215.mp4

[Phillipus]

That's what I see also with just the latest SWT in the workspace.