Get source jar files attached to Eclipse for Maven-managed dependencies

user_14955 0
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I am using Maven (and the Maven Eclipse Integration) to manage the dependencies for my Java projects in Eclipse. The automatic download feature for JAR files from the Maven repositories is a real time saver. Unfortunately, it does not include API documentation and source code.

How can I set up Maven to automatically also get the source and javadoc attachments and register them properly with Eclipse?

javadoc eclipse maven-2
18 Answers

I am sure m2eclipse Maven plugin for Eclipse - the other way around - can do that. You can configure it to download both the source files and javadoc automatically for you.

This is achieved by going into Window > Preferences > Maven and checking the "Download Artifact Sources" and "Download Artifact JavaDoc" options.

Screenshot of Maven Preferences

user_1004020 
mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadSources=true

or

mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadJavadocs=true

or you can add both flags, as Spencer K points out.

Additionally, the =true portion is not required, so you can use

mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadSources -DdownloadJavadocs
spdenne_117210

The other answers on this work, but if you want to avoid having to remember command line arguments, you can also just add to the downloadSources and downloadJavadocs config to the maven-eclipse-plugin section of your pom.xml:

<project>
    ...
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
                    <downloadJavadocs>true</downloadJavadocs>
                    ... other stuff ...
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
    ...
</project>
user_696890

There is also a similiar question that answers this and includes example pom settings.

belgarat_151480

I've added the pom configuration to the maven-eclipse plugin to download source and javadocs, but I figure/hope that will happen for new dependencies, not existing ones.

For existing dependencies, I browsed in package explorer down to the "Maven Dependencies" and right-clicked on commons-lang-2.5.jar, selected Maven | Download Sources and... nothing appeared to happen (no progress bar or indication that it was doing anything). It did, however, download as I'm able to jump to source in commons-lang now.

user_5708340

overthink suggested using the setup in the pom:

<project>
...
<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-eclipse-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <downloadSources>true</downloadSources>
                <downloadJavadocs>true</downloadJavadocs>
                ... other stuff ...
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plgins>
</build>
...

First i thought this still won't attach the javadoc and sources (as i tried unsuccessfully with that -DdownloadSources option before).

But surprise - the .classpath file IS getting its sources and javadoc attached when using the POM variant!

user_5785220

A Small addition to the answer, if your project is not a maven project still you can get the source code of the jars, by using this plugin provided in eclipse Java Source Attacher

user_48385090
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