In Eclipse, the distinction between preferences and properties is generally a matter of scope. Preferences apply to the entire workspace, while properties apply to individual resources.
Preferences usually apply either to the Eclipse framework itself or to individual plug-ins. To access preference dialogs, select Window > Preferences on the main menu bar. From the preference dialogs, you can access pages containing general Eclipse settings as well as pages for individual plug-ins. For example, there are preferences that apply to all the editors that are installed in the Eclipse workbench. There are also preferences that apply only to specific editors (such as the ABL Editor, the Visual Designer, and XML editors).
Properties tend to have a narrower scope. They apply to individual resources (projects, folders, or files) in a workspace. To access property sheets, right-click on a selected resource in a Resources view and select Properties from the context menu.
Note: When an OpenEdge project uses the shared AVM, some project properties must be set at the workspace level. These properties (AppBuilder, Assemblies, Database Connections, Projects, and PROPATH) are identical for all projects that use the shared AVM. Set workspace-level properties from dialogs under the Shared OpenEdge AVM preference page from the main menu bar (Window > Preferences > Progress OpenEdge > Shared AVM) .
