How do I enable TODO/FIXME/XXX task tags in Eclipse?

121
votes

In all my years of using Eclipse, I never knew until now that TODO / FIXME / XXX comment tags are supposed to appear in the task list. Apparently this is something that is disabled by default because I have been using those tags for as long as I've been using Eclipse and I have never seen one of them appear in the task list. Can anyone indicate how to enable this feature? I see no preferences option anywhere that says anything to the effect of 'Let my source code tags appear in the task list'. It would be a nice feature if it existed, but I'm beginning to be doubtful.

I have asked around, and as others have suggested to me, these are some things which obviously have no effect but that I have tried anyway:

  • Upgrading to the latest version of Eclipse.
  • Restarting Eclipse.
  • Closing and re-opening the task list.
  • Refreshing the project.

I am using:
Eclipse Java EE IDE for Web Developers.
Version: Helios Service Release 1
Build id: 20100917-0705

5
eclipsetagstask
Tasks view and Task List view in Eclipse are not the same. – sjas

5 Answers

136
votes

For me, such tags are enabled by default. You can configure which task tags should be used in the workspace options: Java > Compiler > Task tags

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Check if they are enabled in this location, and that should be enough to have them appear in the Task list (or the Markers view).

Extra note: reinstalling Eclipse won't change anything most of the time if you work on the same workspace. Most settings used by Eclipse are stored in the .metadata folder, in your workspace folder.

39
votes

In the distribution I use, the tasks are listed in the task list by default (at least for Java). For other content types, you may check the following settings.

Display the Tasks View: Window > Show View > Other > General > Tasks

For non-Java Task Tags: check the following settings: Window > Preferences > General > Editors > Structured Text Editors > Task Tags You can enable searching for task tags in the [Task Tags] tab and select the content types in the [Filters] tab.

For Java task tags, you should look in: Window > Preferences > Java > Compiler > Task Tags

J.

20
votes

I'm using Eclipse Classic 3.7.1.

The solution is: Window > Preferences > General > Editors > Sctructured Text Editors > Task Tags and checking "Enable searching for Task Tags" checkbox.

9
votes

All those settings are necessary to choose which tags you are interested in, but in order to display these tags in a list, you also need to select the right Eclipse perspective. I finally discovered that the "Markers" tab containing the "Task" list is only available under the "Java EE" perspective... Hope this helps! :-)

2
votes

There are apparently distributions or custom builds in which the ability to set Task Tags for non-Java files is not present. This post mentions that ColdFusion Builder (built on Eclipse) does not let you set non-Java Task Tags, but the beta version of CF Builder 2 does. (I know the OP wasn't using CF Builder, but I am, and I was wondering about this question myself ... because he didn't see the ability to set non-Java tags, I thought others might be in the same position.)