How can I build a maven project in Eclipse Indigo with m2e with a minimum amount of effort

Question

For the last few years, we've used m2eclipse without issue, however it seems that the "new" version (ie. m2e) has broken backwards compatibility - something that I really hope that I've just misinterpreted.

My problem is this: I'd like to be able to build my existing project with the minimal amount of fuss. I don't have the time to write connectors for the 3 plugins that don't have them - my understanding of 2 of them is quite limited in the first place, and I have no understanding of the Eclipse plugin mechanism - but I'd still like to be able to use Eclipse to build the project.

Can I achieve this without reverting back to the old (working) version m2eclipse?

Am I correct in my understanding that there is no way to upgrade without having a connector for each plugin?

Answer 1

It seems as if my understanding was correct if this blog post is anything to go by: http://grumpyapache.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/mess-that-is-m2e-connectors.html

M2E can invoke a plugin as part of the automatic build process if, and only if, there is a connector for the plugin, or you specially configure the plugin

... which means that:

You can no longer use your own plugins in the Eclipse automatic builds, unless you create a connector for the plugin, or create a project-specific configuration

The post goes on to list the issues with this approach. These are many of the same issues I have with the approach.

RANT: So there you have it - the m2e approach does suck as much as I feared it did! I was beginning to think it was just me!