Random Thoughts

The IntelliJ plugin is a great tool. However, one important thing to note is that it wants the source distribution of grails in the grails directory. Why? Because the GSP support requires the source code for the GSP tags.

Plugin Setup Process

In order to properly set up the Grails plugin, do the following:

1. Download the grails source code zip file (which also contains the binary)


2. Unzip the source code distribution


3. Download the Groovy source and binary code distributions. Since the source release does not include a built binary, I had to download both the source and binary distributions and merge them together (building on my OS X machine failed). YMMV.


4. Open IntelliJ Idea, go to the Preferences / Plugins page, and download JetGroovy and install it


5. Restart Idea


6. Open the Preferences / Plugins page again, and select Groovy


7. Set the folder locations for Groovy and Grails to your new directories

There, that's it. Now, you can create Groovy and Grails projects, debug Groovy code, and use the Apple/Ctrl click trick to jump into Groovy or Grails source code.

GSP Tags

GSP tags are closures, so the plugin can't figure out attributes. That's ok, if you want to see more information, just CTRL or Apple click on the GSP tag name, and it will jump to the source code of the tag closure in the editor.