Add disable option in Preferences

[RichMacDonald]

PMD continues to operate in the background in Eclipse even when it isn't "being used". I know this because I can see items in the Error log that are pmd-related.

Every Eclipse developer knows the cycle of installing a "fresh eclipse" with no plugins, gradually adding plugins over time, eclipse becoming sluggish, then repeating the cycle.

Is it possible to add a button to the main PMD preferences tab that "turns it off"? That would be much better than installing and uninstalling PMD every few months for a code review.

[adangel]

PMD can be run automatically, whenever the project is built or when a file is saved.

You can disable, that PMD is executed automatically, if a file is saved in "Window > Preferences > PMD: Check code after saving".

If Eclipse builds your projects automatically (Menu "Project > Build automatically" is enabled), then PMD will be executed, if it is enabled for the project. You can disable PMD for a single project via "Project Properties > PMD: Enable PMD". You can still run PMD manually, e.g. via context menu of a project "PMD > Check code".

Does this help?

[RichMacDonald]

Thank you. I will give this a try.

The "Project > Build automatically" is concerning because most developers will keep this turned on. However, I see that the projects all default to "Enable PMD"=false. Is that sufficient to disable PMD even when "build automatically" is enabled? I think your answer was "yes".

What does "enable using java project build path" do? I cannot find documentation.

[RichMacDonald]

Even with "everything turned off", it isn't. Even when I am not doing anything with PMD (i.e., simply writing java code), I see issues in the Error Log:

org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.ResourceException(/vaadin_mri/src/main/java/com/mri/ui/components/builder/CometAssociationLinkBuilder.java)[376]: java.lang.IllegalStateException
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Marker.checkInfo(Marker.java:63)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Marker.getType(Marker.java:214)
	at net.sourceforge.pmd.eclipse.ui.properties.MarkerPropertyTester.test(MarkerPropertyTester.java:23)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.expressions.Property.test(Property.java:65)
	at org.eclipse.core.expressions.TestExpression.evaluate(TestExpression.java:107)
	at org.eclipse.core.expressions.CompositeExpression.evaluateAnd(CompositeExpression.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.expressions.AdaptExpression.evaluate(AdaptExpression.java:121)
	at org.eclipse.core.expressions.CompositeExpression.evaluateAnd(CompositeExpression.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.core.internal.expressions.IterateExpression.evaluate(IterateExpression.java:202)
	at org.eclipse.core.expressions.CompositeExpression.evaluateAnd(CompositeExpression.java:54)
	at org.eclipse.core.expressions.WithExpression.evaluate(WithExpression.java:84)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.services.EvaluationReference.evaluate(EvaluationReference.java:76)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.services.EvaluationReference.evaluate(EvaluationReference.java:106)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.services.EvaluationReference.changed(EvaluationReference.java:100)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.TrackableComputationExt.update(TrackableComputationExt.java:105)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.EclipseContext.processScheduled(EclipseContext.java:358)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.EclipseContext.set(EclipseContext.java:374)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.services.EvaluationService$1.changed(EvaluationService.java:78)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.TrackableComputationExt.update(TrackableComputationExt.java:105)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.EclipseContext.processScheduled(EclipseContext.java:358)
	at org.eclipse.e4.core.internal.contexts.EclipseContext.set(EclipseContext.java:374)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.e4.compatibility.SelectionService.updateSelection(SelectionService.java:156)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.WorkbenchPage$E4PartListener.partActivated(WorkbenchPage.java:212)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.PartServiceImpl$2.run(PartServiceImpl.java:250)
	at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(SafeRunner.java:47)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.PartServiceImpl.firePartActivated(PartServiceImpl.java:247)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.PartServiceImpl.activate(PartServiceImpl.java:780)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.PartServiceImpl.activate(PartServiceImpl.java:686)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.swt.AbstractPartRenderer.activate(AbstractPartRenderer.java:95)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.workbench.renderers.swt.StackRenderer.lambda$28(StackRenderer.java:1164)
	at org.eclipse.swt.events.SelectionListener$1.widgetSelected(SelectionListener.java:84)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.TypedListener.handleEvent(TypedListener.java:265)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.EventTable.sendEvent(EventTable.java:91)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.sendEvent(Display.java:4285)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1160)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1184)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1169)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.notifyListeners(Widget.java:841)
	at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder.setSelection(CTabFolder.java:3259)
	at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder.onMouse(CTabFolder.java:1898)
	at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder.lambda$0(CTabFolder.java:333)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.EventTable.sendEvent(EventTable.java:91)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.sendEvent(Display.java:4285)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1160)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.runDeferredEvents(Display.java:4083)
	at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.readAndDispatch(Display.java:3673)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.swt.PartRenderingEngine$5.run(PartRenderingEngine.java:1151)
	at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:339)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.swt.PartRenderingEngine.run(PartRenderingEngine.java:1042)
	at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.E4Workbench.createAndRunUI(E4Workbench.java:152)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.lambda$3(Workbench.java:639)
	at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:339)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.createAndRunWorkbench(Workbench.java:546)
	at org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI.createAndRunWorkbench(PlatformUI.java:173)
	at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ide.application.IDEApplication.start(IDEApplication.java:152)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.app.EclipseAppHandle.run(EclipseAppHandle.java:208)
	at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:143)
	at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:109)
	at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:439)
	at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:271)
	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DirectMethodHandleAccessor.invoke(DirectMethodHandleAccessor.java:104)
	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:578)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:668)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:605)
	at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:1481)