I'm calling one target (e.g target) from other targets (e.g. first, second). Is there a way to define a property (or whatever) in target in such a way that it could be used in first and second. Please don't advise me to pass a variable as a parameter into first and second
Every "variable" (property) ever set in ant is always "global"
<project name="foo" default="first">
<target name="first" depends="target">
<echo message="${foo}"/>
</target>
<target name="second" depends="target">
<echo message="${foo}"/>
</target>
<target name="target">
<property name="foo" value="bar"/>
</target>
</project>
In latest versions of ant you can use the "local" task to declare a variable as local.
Otherwise properties are always global.
Related
Below is the example Ant task.
<target name="evalTask">
<condition property="conditionValue" >
<mycustomTask:evaluateCondition/>
</condition>
</target>
<target name="checkAndUpdateFlag" unless="conditionValue">
<property name="isEnabled" value="true"/>
</target>
<target name="targetA" depends="checkAndUpdateFlag" unless="conditionValue">
<echo message="Do something if the conditionValue is set" />
</target>
<target name="targetB">
<echo message=" Value of isEnabled : ${isEnabled} />
</target>
In the above example target "evalTask" will set the property "conditionValue" is the my custom task "evalauateCondition returns true.
The target "targetA" will get executed only if the property "conditionValue" is set. Which I am working fine. But the property "isEnabled" in "checkAndUpdateFlag" is not getting set or it never gets inside "checkAndUpdateFlag" target and I still get the "isEnabled" property value inside "targetB" as ${isEnabled}. Basically the "isEnabled" is never set.
Below is the ant command I used to run this targets.
ant targetA targetB
Any suggestion on why I am not getting the value of isEnabled in targetB ?
In your example, the evalTask target never runs so the conditionValue property is never set.
Since the conditionValue property isn't set, the checkAndUpdateFlag target won't run:
<target name="checkAndUpdateFlag" unless="conditionValue">
The unless="conditionValue" tells Ant to skip the <target name="checkAndUpdateFlag"> if the conditionValue property isn't set.
Possible solution #1:
Add a depends to checkAndUpdateFlag:
<target name="checkAndUpdateFlag" unless="conditionValue" depends="evalTask">
<!-- ... -->
Possible solution #2:
Call the evalTask target first on the command line:
ant evalTask targetA targetB
I have to run a pre-existing immutable target twice with different property values and have written a macrodef for it. I'm able to set the property value and run the macrodef twice but I do not know how to execute the target from within the macrodef. I've gone through many related posts and it seems that using antcall is my only option. Is there another way?
Pre-existing, immutable target: unit-tests
Main target called: release
<macrodef name="unit-tests-macrodef">
<attribute name="is-special-host"/>
<sequential>
<echo message="Running target with #{is-special-host}" />
<property name="jvmargs" value="${baseJvmArgs} -Dis.special.host=#{is-special-host}" />
</sequential>
</macrodef>
<target name="run-unit-tests">
<unit-tests-macrodef is-special-host="false"/>
<unit-tests-macrodef is-special-host="true"/>
</target>
<target name="release" depends="run-unit-tests" />
How do I ensure that unit-tests-macrodef runs unit-tests every time it is invoked?
Within ant, I have a macrodef.
Assuming I have to use this macrodef, and there is a item inside said macrodef that I want to run if the property special.property exists and is true, what do I do?
I currently have
<macrodef name="someName">
<sequential>
<someMacroDefThatSetsTheProerty />
<some:thingHereThatDependsOn if="special.property" />
<sequential>
</macrodef>
Which doesn't work - the some:thingHereThatDependsOn doesnt have an "if" attribute, and I cannot add one to it.
antcontrib is not available.
With a target I can give the target an "if", what can I do with a macrodef?
In Ant 1.9.1 and higher, there is now a new implementation of if and unless attributes. This might be what you're thinking of.
First, you need to put them into your namespace. Add them to your <project> header:
<project name="myproject" basedir="." default="package"
xmlns:if="ant:if"
xmlns:unless="ant:unless">
Now, you can add them to almost any Ant task or sub entity:
<!-- Copy over files from special directory, but only if it exists -->
<available property="special.dir.available"
file="${special.dir} type="dir"/>
<copy todir="${target.dir}>
<fileset dir="${special.dir}" if:true="special.dir.available"/>
<fileset dir="${other.dir}"/>
</copy>
<!-- FTP files over to host, but only if it's on line-->
<condition property="ftp.available">
<isreachable host="${ftp.host}"/>
</condition>
<ftp server="${ftp.host}"
userid="${userid}"
passowrd="${password}"
if:true="ftp.available">
<fileset dir=".../>
</ftp>
This is only possible if the ANT "thingHereThatDependsOn" task supports an "if" attribute.
As stated above, conditional execution in ANT, normally, only applies to targets.
<target name="doSomething" if="allowed.to.do.something">
..
..
</target>
<target name="doSomethingElse" unless="allowed.to.do.something">
..
..
</target>
<target name="go" depends="doSomething,doSomethingElse"/>
In Ant I want to define a target (called A) that define a property and antcall it from another target (called B). I want that the target B, after antcalling the target A, can access the property defined in the target A.
For example:
<target name="B">
<antcall target="A" inheritAll="true" inheritRefs="true" />
<echo>${myprop}</echo>
</target>
<target name="A">
<property name="myprop" value="myvalue" />
</target>
However it doesn't work and <echo>${myprop}</echo> doesn't print myvalue (I think because the property myprop isn't defined in B).
Is there any way to do that?
According to the Apache Ant FAQ:
<target name="cond" depends="cond-if"/>
<target name="cond-if" if="prop1">
<antcall target="cond-if-2"/>
</target>
<target name="cond-if-2" if="prop2">
<antcall target="cond-if-3"/>
</target>
<target name="cond-if-3" unless="prop3">
<echo message="yes"/>
</target>
Note: <antcall> tasks do not pass property changes back up to the environment they were called from, so you wouldn't be able to, for example, set a result property in the cond-if-3 target, then do <echo message="result is ${result}"/> in the cond target.
In this respect, it is impossible to do what you want using antcall.
========== edit ===========
Try antcallback: AntCallBack is identical to the standard 'antcall' task, except that it allows properties set in the called target to be available in the calling target.
http://antelope.tigris.org/nonav/docs/manual/bk03ch20.html
Sample code pasted from the above page:
<target name="testCallback" description="Test CallBack">
<taskdef name="antcallback" classname="ise.antelope.tasks.AntCallBack" classpath="${antelope.home}/build" />
<antcallback target="-testcb" return="a, b"/>
<echo>a = ${a}</echo>
<echo>b = ${b}</echo>
</target>
<target name="-testcb">
<property name="a" value="A"/>
<property name="b" value="B"/>
</target>
Another approach is to refactor your targets into macros. You are trying to use targets like functions and they are just not intended to be used that way. I typically write the bulk of my logic as macros, so that I can compose it more easily into more complicated macros. Then I write simple wrapper targets for the command-line entry points that I need.
Rather than using <antcall>, why not just have target B depend on target A?
<target name="B" depends="A">
<echo>${myprop}</echo>
</target>
<target name="A">
<property name="myprop" value="myvalue" />
</target>
I think you want to use a param.
<project default="B">
<target name="B">
<antcall target="A">
<param name="myprop" value="myvalue"/>
</antcall>
</target>
<target name="A">
<echo>${myprop}</echo>
</target>
</project>
I surrounded this with a project tag and moved the echo statement into "A". My output says
B:
A:
[echo] myvalue
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
#alem0lars, since you said you would like to subdivide a target, let me offer a different solution (that unfortunately doesn't answer your original question).
<project default="mytarg">
<target name="mytarg">
<property name="tgt" value="build"/>
<antcall target="deps"/>
</target>
<target name="deps" depends="aTgt,bTgt"/>
<target name="aTgt">
<echo>"In aTgt doing a ${tgt}"</echo>
</target>
<target name="bTgt">
<echo>"In bTgt doing a ${tgt}"</echo>
</target>
</project>
This subdivides the build into aTgt and bTgt.
Output will be
aTgt:
[echo] "In aTgt doing a build"
bTgt:
[echo] "In bTgt doing a build"
deps:
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
I'm not very good with Ant, but we're using it as a build tool. Right now, we can run "ant test" and it'll run through all the unit tests.
However, I'd love to be able to do something like ant test some_module and have it accept some_module as a parameter, and only test that.
I haven't been able to find how to pass command line args to Ant - any ideas?
One solution might be as follows. (I have a project that does this.)
Have a separate target similar to test with a fileset that restricts the test to one class only. Then pass the name of that class using -D at the ant command line:
ant -Dtest.module=MyClassUnderTest single_test
In the build.xml (highly reduced):
<target name="single_test" depends="compile" description="Run one unit test">
<junit>
<batchtest>
<fileset dir="${test.dir}" includes="**/${test.module}.class" />
</batchtest>
</junit>
</target>
You can also define a property with an optional default value that can be replaced via command line, e.g.
<target name="test">
<property name="moduleName" value="default-module" />
<echo message="Testing Module: ${moduleName}"/>
....
</target>
and run it as:
ant test -DmoduleName=ModuleX
What about using some conditional in your test target and the specifying -Dcondition=true?
<target name="test" depends="_test, _test_if_true>
...
</target>
<target name="_test_if_true" if="condition">
...
</target>
<target name="_test" unless="condition">
...
</target>
Adapted a bit from the ant faq.
You can define a property on commandline when invoking ant:
ant -Dtest.module=mymodulename
Then you can use it as any other ant property:
...
<fileset dir="${test.dir}" includes="**/${test.module}.class" />
...
Have a look at Ant's manual.
I tried the solutions posted here for the very same original question. Yes just use ant -D<arg_name>. THe -D is a "keyword" I guess. I'm no ant expert and have not read the manuals in detail. Then inside the ant XML files can be accessed like: ${arg_name}
For instance you can have an argument name like: arg.myarg, so in XML ${arg.myarg}.
Ant really doesn't have parameters_ for the build file. I can think of a few ways to do this:
Use a special target to specify the tests. You can use the <for/> task from AntContrib to allow you to specify multiple tests. You'll need to download the Ant-Contrib jar file. I recommend placing it inside your project under the `${basedir}/antlib/antcontrib" directory. That way, when others checkout your project, they get the needed Ant-Contrib jar file.
<property name="antlib.dir" value="${basedir}/antlib"/>
<property name="antcontrib.dir" value="${antlib}/antcontrib"/>
<!-- Set up the ant contrib tasks for your use -->
<taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antlib.xml">
<classpath>
<fileset dir="${antcontrib.dir}"/>
</classpath>
</taskdef>
<target name="select-test"
description="Select the tests to run"
depends="test-compile"
if="junit-tests">
<for parameter="module"
list="${junit-tests}"
delimiter=" ">
<sequential>
<junit
fork="true"
...>
<batchtest todir="$target/unit-tests">
<fileset dir="${test.destdir}">
<include name="**/#{module}.class"/>
</fileset>
</junit>
</sequential>
</for>
</target>
You cab now run multiple tests like this:
$ ant -D"test-one test-two test-three" select-test
You could try this to access one target at a time. Add these lines to your build.xml file :
<project name="whatever" default="default">
<input message="Please select module:" addproperty="mod" />
<target name="default" depends="${mod}/>
...
</project>
This allows you to enter the module you want to execute and execute that itself instead of running the whole build.xml
You might need to make a few more changes to your build.xml for this to work perfectly.
For the arguments , there is Facility called property. You need to set the property. As in ANT plain arguments is taken as target name.
Lest say you have two modules in your project ModuleX and ModuleY where ModuleX has 2 testcases to run and ModuleY with 10 testcases.
You could do something like this :
ant runTestsOnModule -Dtestmodule="ModuleX"
OR to test all modules by calling
ant tests
<target name="runTestsOnModule">
<antCall target="testcase${testmodule}"/>
</target>'
<! -- run single module -->
<target name="runTestsOnModule">
<antCall target="testcase${testmodule}"/>
</target>
<!--run all tests-->
<target name="tests">
<antcall target="testcaseModuleX">
<antcall target="testCaseModuleY">
</target>
<target name="testcaseModuleX">
..run junit task to call 2 testcase
</target>
<target name="testcaseModuleY">
....run junit task to call 10 testcase
</target>