Get source jar files attached to Eclipse for Maven-managed dependencies

I am using Maven (and the Maven Eclipse Integration) to manage the dependencies for my Java projects in Eclipse. The automatic download feature for JAR files from the Maven repositories is a real time saver. Unfortunately, it does not include API documentation and source code.

How can I set up Maven to automatically also get the source and javadoc attachments and register them properly with Eclipse?

Solution 1:

I am sure m2eclipse Maven plugin for Eclipse - the other way around - can do that. You can configure it to download both the source files and javadoc automatically for you.

This is achieved by going into Window > Preferences > Maven and checking the "Download Artifact Sources" and "Download Artifact JavaDoc" options.

Solution 2:

mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadSources=true

or

mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadJavadocs=true

or you can add both flags, as Spencer K points out.

Additionally, the =true portion is not required, so you can use

mvn eclipse:eclipse -DdownloadSources -DdownloadJavadocs