Refresh Gradle Project does not refresh Project and External Dependencies container if .classpath or .project is read-only

[eric-milles]

Expected Behavior

After triggering Gradle > Refresh Gradle Project the contents of Project and External Dependencies are refreshed.

Current Behavior

If the project's .classpath or .project files are read-only -- for whatever reason, like they're in source control for example -- the refresh action/command stops after classpath and project merge steps, without updating the classpath container.

Context

Changed dependency version in build.gradle and that library was not updated in the project's classpath.

Steps to Reproduce

Create a basic gradle project, change the file attributes (Alt+Enter) for .classpath and .project to read only. Change version of a dependency in build.gradle. See the Project and External Dependencies container.

Buildship version is 3.1.3

[donat]

Does anything work if the .classpath file is read-only? I assume you cannot modify anything classpath-related, can you?

[eric-milles]

.classpath and .project are locked by source control. Unlocking for modification creates possibility of accidental commits. Looking for a solution where the libraries are refreshed, which does not require any change to project or classpath XML.

[donat]

I don't know how to deal with this. I've tried locally (on macOS) and for me, the .project and .classpath was refreshed even when I've made the files read-only.

My understanding is that the Eclipse APIs setting project names, classpath entries, etc require editing of those descriptors. Making the descriptors read-only would make Eclipse unusable. I might be wrong though, so if you have a better idea of how to modify the updater classes (e.g. this one) let me know.

[eric-milles]

We have had .classpath and .project in source control and read-only for 10-ish years. Eclipse does not need to write unless you interact with Build Path or other project properties dialogs.