Of course you can create, store and retrieve preference values directly via your coding. The following will create three commands . The first command will set the preference values. The next will display the values and the last will clear the preference values.

Create a new RCP project "de.vogella.preferences.test" using the "Hello RCP" as a template.

Create three command which the following handlers and add them to the menu.

			
package de.vogella.preferences.test.handler;

import org.eclipse.core.commands.AbstractHandler;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionEvent;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionException;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.preferences.ConfigurationScope;
import org.osgi.service.prefs.BackingStoreException;
import org.osgi.service.prefs.Preferences;

// Saves some preferences
public class SetPreferences extends AbstractHandler {

	public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
		Preferences preferences = new ConfigurationScope()
				.getNode("de.vogella.preferences.test");
		// This would be using default n scope
		// Preferences preferences = new DefaultScope()
		// .getNode(Application.PLUGIN_ID);
		Preferences sub1 = preferences.node("note1");
		Preferences sub2 = preferences.node("node2");
		sub1.put("h1", "Hello");
		sub1.put("h2", "Hello again");
		sub2.put("h1", "Moin");

		try {
			// Forces the application to save the preferences
			preferences.flush();
		} catch (BackingStoreException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		return null;
	}

}

		

			
package de.vogella.preferences.test.handler;

import org.eclipse.core.commands.AbstractHandler;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionEvent;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.preferences.ConfigurationScope;
import org.osgi.service.prefs.BackingStoreException;
import org.osgi.service.prefs.Preferences;

// Removes the preferences settings
public class DeletePreferences extends AbstractHandler {

	@Override
	public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) {
		Preferences preferences = new ConfigurationScope()
				.getNode("de.vogella.preferences.test");
		Preferences sub1 = preferences.node("note1");
		Preferences sub2 = preferences.node("node2");
		// Delete the existing settings
		try {
			sub1.clear();
			sub2.clear();
		} catch (BackingStoreException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		// Forces the application to save the preferences
		try {
			preferences.flush();
		} catch (BackingStoreException e) {
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
		return null;
	}
}

		

			
package de.vogella.preferences.test.handler;

import org.eclipse.core.commands.AbstractHandler;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionEvent;
import org.eclipse.core.commands.ExecutionException;
import org.eclipse.core.runtime.preferences.ConfigurationScope;
import org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.MessageDialog;
import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Shell;
import org.eclipse.ui.handlers.HandlerUtil;
import org.osgi.service.prefs.Preferences;

// Shows the current preferences
public class ShowPreferences extends AbstractHandler {
	@Override
	public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
		Shell shell = HandlerUtil.getActiveWorkbenchWindowChecked(event)
				.getShell();
		Preferences preferences = new ConfigurationScope()
				.getNode("de.vogella.preferences.test");
		Preferences sub1 = preferences.node("note1");
		Preferences sub2 = preferences.node("node2");
		MessageDialog.openInformation(shell, "Info", sub1.get("h1", "default"));
		MessageDialog.openInformation(shell, "Info", sub1.get("h2", "default"));
		MessageDialog.openInformation(shell, "Info", sub2.get("h1", "default"));
		return null;
	}
}

		

Run and test your program. If you set the preferences via the handler "SetPreferences" and re-start the program the values should still be stored in the application. The handler "ShowPreferences" displays the current values while "DeletePreferences" removes the current values.