build.xml(5) File Formats Manual build.xml(5)
NAME
build.xml - configuration file used by Apache Ant to build projects
DESCRIPTION
The file build.xml is the default configuration file used by ant to de-
termine target to build for a specific project. It can be considered
the ant equivalent of Makefile.
The format of ant is XML and for each project a separate file is con-
structed. The buildfile consists of one or more tasks. An example is
given below.
<project default="compile">
<target name="compile">
<javac srcdir="src"/>
</target>
</project>
This example has one target and it is defaulted. The target itself con-
sists of one task javac which compiles the files in the src directory.
TARGETS
Targets can depend on other targets. These dependencies are given by
the depends attribute of the <target> element.
TASKS
A task is a piece of code that is executed. Ant recognizes built-in
task, optional tasks, but one can also write new tasks.
Built-in tasks
The built-in tasks are: Ant, AntCall, AntStructure, AntVersion, Apply,
Apt, Available, Basename, BuildNumber, BUnzip2, BZip2, Checksum, Chmod,
Concat, Condition, Copy, Componentdef, Cvs, CvsChangeLog, CvsVersion,
CVSPass, CvsTagDiff, Defaultexcludes, Delete, Deltree, Dependset, Diag-
nostics, Dirname, Ear, Echo, EchoXML, Exec, Fail, Filter, FixCRLF,
GenKey, Get, HostInfo, GUnzip, GZip, Import, Include, Input, Jar, Java,
Javac, Javadoc, Length, LoadFile, LoadProperties, LoadResource, Local,
MakeURL, Mail, MacroDef, Manifest, ManifestClassPath, Mkdir, Move,
Nice, Parallel, Patch, PathConvert, PreSetDef, Property, Property-
Helper, Record, Replace, ResourceCount, Retry, Rmic, Sequential, Sign-
Jar, Sleep, Sql, SubAnt, Sync, Tar, Taskdef, Tempfile, Touch, Truncate,
TStamp, Typedef, Unjar, Untar, Unwar, Unzip, Uptodate, Waitfor,
WhichResource, War, XmlProperty, XSLT, Zip
Java Executes a Java class within the running (Ant) VM or forks an-
other VM if specified. Below are some of the attributes to the
<java> element:
classname (required) the Java class to execute
fork if enabled triggers the class execution in another VM (dis-
abled by default)
jvm the command used to invoke the Java Virtual Machine, default
is java. The command is resolved by java.lang.Runtime.exec().
Ignored if fork is disabled.
Other arguments are classpath, classpathref, maxmemory, failon-
error, dir and output.
Javac Compiles a source tree within the running (Ant) VM.
srcdir (required) location of the java files
destdir location to store the class files
debug indicates whether source should be compiled with debug in-
formation; defaults to off
target generate class files for specific VM version (e.g., 1.4,
1.5, etc).
includes comma-separated list of patterns of files that must be
included; all files are included when omitted
excludes comma-separated list of patterns of files that must be
excluded; no files (except default excludes) are excluded when
omitted.
defaultexcludes indicates whether default excludes should be
used (yes | no); default excludes are used when omitted.
Other arguments are includesfile, excludesfile, classpath, boot-
classpath, classpathref, bootclasspathref, extdirs, encoding,
deprecation, verbose, includeAntRuntime, includeJavaRuntime and
failonerror.
Properties
A project can have a set of properties, which consist of a name value
combination. Within tasks they can be used by placing them between "${"
and "}", as in "${builddir}/classes".
Built-in Properties
Ant provides access to all system properties as if they had been de-
fined using a <property> task. For example, ${os.name} expands to the
name of the operating system.
basedir
the absolute path of the project's basedir (as set with the
basedir attribute of <project>).
ant.file
the absolute path of the buildfile.
ant.version
the version of Ant.
ant.project.name
the name of the project that is currently executing; it is set
in the name attribute of <project>.
ant.java.version
the JVM version Ant detected.
Classpath
The classpath can be set by using the <classpath> element:
<classpath>
<pathelement path="${classpath}"/>
<pathelement location="lib/helper.jar"/>
<fileset dir="lib">
<include name="**/*.jar"/>
</fileset> </classpath>
SEE ALSO
ant(1)
AUTHOR
This manpage is made by Egon Willighagen <egonw@sci.kun.nl> and based
on the Ant Manual <http://ant.apache.org/manual/>.
Debian Linux February 2010 build.xml(5)
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