Setup for writing ImageJ Plugins with IntelliJ

This repo contains a minimal setup for writing ImageJ (1) plugins with the IntelliJ. The projects are set up with <project-root>/plugins/ as the default output folder (for generated .class files).

Setup

Fork and Clone or this repository. It contains a self-contained project for IntelliJ.

Start the IntelliJ IDEA and use Open in the Welcome screen to navigate to the ImageJ-Dev-Plugins/ folder or your chosen name. Editing and saving plugin source files should update the associated class files (in plugins/) automatically.

Starting ImageJ

The ImageJ runtime can be launched in various ways:

• Windows: Execute ImageJ.exe (by double-clicking on the file). When ImageJ starts up, it may ask for the javaw.exe executable, typically located in C:\Program Files\java\jre1.8xxx\bin\. In case of problems, simply delete the ImageJ.cfg file and start a new.
• MacOS: Launch ij.jar.

The entire ImageJ functionality is contained in the single archive ij.jar. To update to the most recent version, simply select Help -> Update ImageJ... from the ImageJ main menu.

Adding/editing your plugin code

Code for ImageJ plugins is contained in the <project-root>/src-plugins/ directory. Plugins may be contained in Java packages (such as my_plugins in this example). Note that packages with plugins may only be one level deep, otherwise ImageJ will not find them! It is recommended to use at least one underscore (_) in a plugin name to make ImageJ automatically install the plugin into the Plugins menu at startup.

Executing plugins

Add new run configuration on the Edit Configurations, after click on + and choose a JAR Application

Name: ImageJ
Path to Jar: select the path to ij.jar file.

Apply changes, OK, then you can launch your application.

At startup, ImageJ automatically installs existing plugins (under the above conditions) into the Plugins menu. To execute, simply select the listed plugin from the menu.

When the plugin's source code is edited in the IDE, the associated .class file in plugins/ is updated by IntelliJ, but not automatically reloaded by the ImageJ runtime. To exectute an edited plugin in ImageJ, use Plugins -> Compile and Run... and select the associated .class file (no compiler is needed).

Additional ImageJ resources

• ImageJ Home
• ImageJ Plugins
• ImageJ API (JavaDoc)