We have several devs in the team, the source code is managed using the Mercurial DVCS.
The .metadata folder is not under the source control.
The problem, is that when I configure project dependencies (jars, user libraries, source code paths, etc …) they are stored inside the .metadata folder, namely in .metadata\.plugins\org.eclipse.core.runtime\.settings\org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
Since this file is not managed by DVCS, all the devs need to repeat the project configuration process all over again. For a new dev in the team this is a major head ache.
My question is there a sane procedure to share this kind of configuration data? I am new to the world of Java and Eclipse, so maybe I am missing something really basic here.
EDIT
The problem is that I have been using User Libraries, which are defined globally and thus are not shared. Using External Jars solves the problem, because these are recorded in the .classpath file inside the project directory.
You can specify a lot of properties in the project configuration instead of in the global configuration. Just right-click on the project and select “Properties” there.
Eclipse then saves the preferences in the project directory instead of in the workspace configuration directory. That way you can check-in the project specific configuration into your SCM and share it with other project members.