### Launch shortcuts

Once a launch configuration has been defined using the dialog, it can be shown directly in the appropriate menu, rather than having to open the launch configuration dialog again. When a launch configuration is shown directly in a menu, we refer to it as a launch shortcut. The org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts extension point is used to register these shortcuts. In the extension definition, you can specify in which modes the shortcuts are shown. For each shortcut, you must specify an implementation of ILaunchShortcut. This class is used to launch a program given a particular selection in a view or editor.

You may also specify when the shortcut should be shown. The contexttualLaunch element allows you to describe applicable modes and enabling conditions for the shortcut. This is best demonstrated by example. The following markup registers shortcuts for launching a Java application:

      <extension
             point="org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts">
          <shortcut
                label="%JavaApplicationShortcut.label"
                icon="icons/full/etool16/java_app.png"
                helpContextId="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.shortcut_local_java_application"
                modes="run, debug"
                class="org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.JavaApplicationLaunchShortcut"
                id="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.localJavaShortcut">
             <contextualLaunch>
               <enablement>
                 <with variable="selection">
                   <count value="1"/>
                   <iterate>
                     <or>
                       <test property="org.eclipse.debug.ui.matchesPattern" value="*.java"/>
                       <test property="org.eclipse.debug.ui.matchesPattern" value="*.class"/>
                       <instanceof value="org.eclipse.jdt.core.IJavaElement"/>
                     </or>
                     <test property="org.eclipse.jdt.debug.ui.hasMainType"/>
                   </iterate>
                 </with>
               </enablement>
      		 </contextualLaunch>
             ...
          </shortcut>
          ...

See Boolean expressions and action filters for an explanation of the XML syntax for enabling conditions. The complete syntax is described in the documentation for org.eclipse.debug.ui.launchShortcuts.