diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/text/SharedASTJob.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/text/SharedASTJob.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c7e0193fdeb
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+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/text/SharedASTJob.java
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2008 Wind River Systems, Inc. and others.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *     Wind River Systems - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package org.eclipse.cdt.ui.text;
+
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IStatus;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Status;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.jobs.Job;
+import org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.IASTTranslationUnit;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.model.ILanguage;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.model.ITranslationUnit;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.ui.CUIPlugin;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.model.ASTCache.ASTRunnable;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.ui.editor.ASTProvider;
+
+/**
+ * A Job specialized to give access to the shared AST of the currently active editor.
+ * Clients must implement {@link #runOnAST(ILanguage, IASTTranslationUnit)}.
+ * 
+ * @since 5.1
+ */
+public abstract class SharedASTJob extends Job {
+
+	/**
+	 * The translation unit to for which to access the AST.
+	 */
+	protected final ITranslationUnit fUnit;
+
+	/**
+	 * Create a shared AST job for the given translation unit.
+	 * 
+	 * @param name  the display name of this job
+	 * @param tUnit  the translation unit to get the AST for
+	 */
+	public SharedASTJob(String name, ITranslationUnit tUnit) {
+		super(name);
+		fUnit = tUnit;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Run an operation on the shared AST of the requested translation unit.
+	 * This method will only be called if the requested translation unit is open 
+	 * in the currently active editor. 
+	 * 
+	 * @param lang  the associated <code>ILanguage</code> of the translation unit
+	 * @param ast  the AST object of the translation unit or <code>null</code>
+	 * @return A <code>Status</code> object reflecting the result of the operation
+	 * @throws CoreException
+	 */
+	public abstract IStatus runOnAST(ILanguage lang, IASTTranslationUnit ast) throws CoreException;
+
+
+	@Override
+	protected final IStatus run(IProgressMonitor monitor) {
+		ASTProvider provider = CUIPlugin.getDefault().getASTProvider();
+		if (provider == null) {
+			return Status.CANCEL_STATUS;
+		}
+		return provider.runOnAST(fUnit, ASTProvider.WAIT_ACTIVE_ONLY, monitor, new ASTRunnable() {
+			public IStatus runOnAST(ILanguage lang, IASTTranslationUnit ast) throws CoreException {
+				return SharedASTJob.this.runOnAST(lang, ast);
+			}});
+	}
+
+    @Override
+	public boolean shouldSchedule() {
+        return super.shouldSchedule() && PlatformUI.isWorkbenchRunning() && CUIPlugin.getDefault() != null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+	public boolean shouldRun() {
+        return super.shouldRun() && PlatformUI.isWorkbenchRunning() && CUIPlugin.getDefault() != null;
+    }
+
+}