Develop Reference

Using Ant to build dependencies of the current build target

Say I have a library and a binary target, let's call them MyLib and MyBin,
MyBin depends on MyLib.
I'm trying to create an Ant buildfile for MyBin that first builds MyLib and then includes it in the classpath when building MyBin.
I've tried using Ant tasks as in Building other, dependent projects with Ant .
However, it's not working, and from ant -v I think the MyBin build-deps target is not even building MyLib. Seems like it's confusing MyBin and MyLib properties? I'm not sure how to prevent this though.
I'm dumping only MyBin/build.xml below, but the MyLib is almost identical, except it does not have the build-deps target.
<project name="MyBin" default="main" basedir=".">
<property name="projectName" value="MyBin" />
<property name="src.dir" location="src" />
<property name="build.dir" location="bin" />
<property name="dist.dir" location="dist" />
<property name="dist.lib.dir" location="dist/lib" />
<property name="lib.dir" value="lib" />
<target name="build-deps" depends="init">
<!-- MyLib main target does clean -> build -> jar to dist folder -->
<!-- Its build.xml uses many of the same property values as above -->
<ant antfile="../MyLib/build.xml" target="main"/>
</target>
<path id="classpath">
<fileset dir="${basedir}/">
<include name="../MyLib/dist/**/*.jar" />
</fileset>
</path>
<!-- Need classpath to run this -->
<target name="compile" depends="build-deps" description="compile the source ">
<javac includeantruntime="false" srcdir="${src.dir}"
destdir="${build.dir}" classpathref="classpath" />
</target>
<!-- Group all dependencies into a big dependency-all.jar -->
<target name="copy-dependencies">
<mkdir dir="${dist.lib.dir}" />
<jar jarfile="${dist.lib.dir}/dependencies-all.jar">
<zipgroupfileset dir="${lib.dir}">
<include name="**/*.jar" />
</zipgroupfileset>
</jar>
</target>
<!-- jar it, extract above dependency-all.jar and zip it with project files -->
<target name="jar" depends="compile, copy-dependencies"
description="package, output to JAR">
<mkdir dir="${dist.dir}" />
<mkdir dir="${dist.lib.dir}" />
<jar jarfile="${dist.dir}/${projectName}.jar" basedir="${build.dir}">
<manifest>
<attribute name="Main-Class" value="${main-class}" />
</manifest>
<zipfileset src="${dist.lib.dir}/dependencies-all.jar"
excludes="META-INF/*.SF" />
</jar>
</target>
<target name="clean" description="clean up">
<delete dir="${build.dir}" />
<delete dir="${dist.dir}" />
</target>
<!-- Default, run this -->
<target name="main" depends="clean, compile, jar" />
</project>
What I see with ant -v in MyBin is something along the lines of:
build-deps:
Project base dir set to: /MyBin
[ant] calling target(s) [main] in build file /MyLib/build.xml
parsing buildfile /MyLib/build.xml with URI = file:/MyLib/build.xml
Project base dir set to: /MyBin
Override ignored for property "projectName"
Override ignored for property "build.dir"
Override ignored for property "dist.dir"
Override ignored for property "dist.lib.dir"
Override ignored for property "lib.dir"
[pathconvert] Set property classpath.name =
[ant] Entering /MyLib/build.xml...
Build sequence for target(s) `main' is [clean, init, copy-dependencies, jar, main]
Complete build sequence is [clean, init, copy-dependencies, jar, main, ]
clean:
[delete] Deleting directory /MyBin/bin
[delete] Deleting directory /MyBin/bin
init:
[mkdir] Created dir: /MyBin/bin
copy-dependencies:
[ant] Exiting /MyLib/build.xml.

On your specific question:
seems like it's confusing MyBin and MyLib properties? I'm not sure how
to prevent this though.
You are using this to invoke the MyLib build:
<ant antfile="../MyLib/build.xml" target="main" />
A build invoked via the <ant> task this way by default inherits all properties from the caller, including basedir, hence the build is run in the wrong place.
Instead you could use, for example:
<ant dir="../MyLib" />
That will run build.xml in the specified directory, set the basedir property, and call the default target, which should be main if you are using a very similar buildfile for the library as you say. If you don't want to inherit properties from MyBin when executing the MyLib task, specify inheritAll=false in the task.
From the <ant> task docs for the dir attribute:
the directory to use as a basedir for the new Ant project (unless
useNativeBasedir is set to true). Defaults to the current project's
basedir, unless inheritall has been set to false, in which case it
doesn't have a default value. This will override the basedir setting
of the called project. Also serves as the directory to resolve the
antfile and output attribute's values (if any).

java.util.logger.Logging: keeping logger.properties file outside the jar file

In my project I have a properties file which I use to set the level of logging. Now when I export my project as a jar and use it to run the project on a remote machine (linux), I cannot set the level. Is there a way to keep the properties file outside the jar file such that I can set the level and make the jar read that properties file. (preferred using environment variable)

There are several ways to achieve this, for example:
Configure your IDE to export resources outside the JAR: usually I don't consider this option since the specific solution depends by the developer's IDE
Use a generic build tool, for example Ant, and specify in the build.xml file which properties files should be packaged outside the jar
Integrate your project with Maven and customize the package goal in order to copy some specific properties file outside jar
From your question I guess you are exporting the JAR from your IDE, but as I stated above the solution depends by the IDE. For this reason, in order to adopt an IDE independent solution, I would suggest to use Ant. This would allow you to solve this and many similar issues that could arise in the future.
You can get Ant here: just download and unpackage it in any folder, it takes a couple of minutes. Then add a reference to Ant bin directory in your PATH variable (not strictly necessary but suggested) and create a sample build.xml file. Here it is a template example:
<project name="template" default="compile" basedir=".">
<description>Build file template</description>
<property name="project.name" value="myProject"/>
<property name="driver.log" value="log4j-1.2.15.jar"/>
<property name="driver.database" value="ojdbc6.jar"/>
<property name="library.home" value="lib"/>
<property name="env.type" value="dev"/>
<property name="src.version" value="Demo" />
<property name="src.folder" value="root/folder/template"/>
<property name="src.package" value="root.folder.template"/>
<property name="src.home" value="${basedir}/src/${src.folder}"/>
<property name="dist.home" value="${basedir}/dist"/>
<property name="build.home" value="${basedir}/build"/>
<property name="docs.home" value="${basedir}/docs"/>
<!-- Setting the classpath necessary to compile -->
<path id="compile.classpath">
<pathelement location="${library.home}/${driver.log}"/>
<pathelement location="${library.home}/${driver.database}"/>
</path>
<!-- DELETE the class files from the ${build.home} directory tree -->
<target name="clean" description="Clean up the build folder">
<delete dir="${build.home}"/>
<delete dir="${dist.home}"/>
</target>
<!-- CREATE the build directory structure used by compile -->
<target name="init" description="Creates the necessary directories">
<mkdir dir="${dist.home}"/>
<mkdir dir="${build.home}"/>
</target>
<!-- COMPILE the project and copy all necessary resources -->
<!-- Options: <compilerarg value="-Xlint"/> -->
<target name="compile" depends="init" description="Compile the sources">
<javac srcdir="${src.home}" destdir="${build.home}" includeantruntime="false">
<classpath refid="compile.classpath"/>
</javac>
<copy todir="${build.home}/${src.folder}/resources">
<fileset dir="${src.home}/resources">
<include name="messages_list.properties"/>
<include name="messages_list_en.properties"/>
</fileset>
</copy>
<copy file="${src.home}/resources/log4j_${env.type}.properties" tofile="${build.home}/${src.folder}/resources/log4j_${project.name}.properties"/>
<copy file="${src.home}/resources/configuration_${env.type}.properties" tofile="${build.home}/${src.folder}/resources/${project.name}_config.properties"/>
</target>
<!-- Creates the DISTRIBUTABLE JAR package and add 3d part libraries -->
<target name="dist" description="Create the distributable JAR archive">
<jar destfile="${dist.home}/${project.name}.jar">
<fileset dir="${build.home}">
<exclude name="place_holder\"/>
</fileset>
<!-- Setting MANIFEST properties -->
<manifest>
<section name="${ant.project.name} - ver. ${src.version}">
<attribute name="Built_By" value="${user.name}"/>
<attribute name="Created" value="${ts}"/>
</section>
<attribute name="Main-Class" value="package.mine.MainClass"/>
<attribute name="Class-Path" value=". lib/${driver.log} lib/${driver.database}"/>
</manifest>
</jar>
<!-- Adding third part libraries -->
<mkdir dir="${dist.home}/lib"/>
<copy file="${library.home}/${driver.database}" todir="${dist.home}/lib"/>
<copy file="${library.home}/${driver.log}" todir="${dist.home}/lib"/>
</target>
<tstamp><format property="ts" pattern="dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss" /></tstamp>
</project>
Remark: in the template above you should replace the sample JARS (log4j and the OJDBC driver) with the actual JARS needed by your project. Then you can customize the copy task in order to place the properties files where you wish. You can copy those file in any directory you like, as long as such path appears in the application's classpath.

I'm trying to utilizing SASS in an ant file while removing ruby dependencies

I am currently using a ruby gem SASS in order to convert my *.scss files to *.css files on a large project. Here is a mockup of the code I am using:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- scss to CSS -->
<project name="StackOverflowScssCss" default="sass-compile-to-css" basedir=".">
<property file="build.properties" />
<target name="sass-compile-to-css">
<echo message="Compiling scss files to css..." />
<!-- create the css destination dir if it doesn't already exist -->
<property name="css-dest" location="${css.dir}" />
<echo message="Creating directory at ${css.dir} [if it doesn't yet exist]" />
<mkdir dir="${css-dest}" />
<!-- create subdirs if necessary -->
<echo message="Creating css directories (and temporary .css files) for .scss to be compiled..." />
<touch mkdirs="true">
<fileset dir="${sass.dir}" includes="**/*.scss" excludes="**/_*" />
<mapper type="glob" from="*.scss" to="${css.dir}/*.css" />
</touch>
<echo message="Running sass executable against sass files and compiling to CSS directory [${css-dest}] " />
<!-- run sass executable -->
<apply executable="sass" dest="${css-dest}" verbose="true" force="true" failonerror="true">
<arg value="--unix-newlines" />
<!-- Disable creation of map file. THIS SHOULD BE A FLAG -->
<arg value="--sourcemap=none" />
<srcfile />
<targetfile />
<fileset dir="${sass.dir}" includes="**/*.scss" excludes="**/_*" />
<mapper type="glob" from="*.scss" to="*.css" />
</apply>
<echo message="Done compiling scss files!" />
</target>
</project>
Ultimately I want to remove the ruby dependency so I have been looking at this libsass maven plugin. I know that there are many options for libsass but I am trying to stick strictly to Java. Does anyone have any experience with doing this? I don't want to run Node.js, Sass.js ot anything, and I have racked my brain all day on how to do this. Any help is much appreciated!

There is a Java wrapper that can be used with Maven.
If you really want to stick with Java you could either
Use that wrapper and run the mvn task from inside your ant script (see here)
Adapt that wrapper and build your own Ant Task out of it

I ended up using a JRuby dependency in order to run on the JVM. My code is as follows:
<!-- Jruby Dependent SCSS to CSS conversion -->
<path id="JRuby">
<fileset file="packages/jruby-complete-1.7.20.1.jar"/> <!-- Location of JRuby jar file -->
</path>
<target name="compileSass" depends="cleanSass">
<echo message="Compiling scss files..." />
<!-- JRuby Script to convert files into new directory -->
<property name="filesIn" value="${dir.scss}/**/[^_]*.scss" />
<property name="projectDirectory" value="${user.dir}"/>
<script language="ruby" classpathref="JRuby">
<![CDATA[
require ($project.getProperty('projectDirectory')) + '/packages/sass-3.4.14/lib/sass'
require ($project.getProperty('projectDirectory')) + '/packages/sass-3.4.14/lib/sass/exec'
files = Dir.glob($project.getProperty('filesIn'))
files.each do
| file |
newOutDir = File.dirname(file).sub! 'scss', 'css'
FileUtils::mkdir_p newOutDir
puts "[sass compiler] From:" + file
puts "[sass compiler] To:" + newOutDir + "/" + File.basename(file, ".*") + ".css"
opts = Sass::Exec::SassScss.new(["--load-path", File.dirname(file), file, File.join(newOutDir, File.basename(file, ".*") + ".css")], 'scss')
opts.parse
end
]]>
</script>
<echo message="Done compiling scss files!" />
</target>
<target name="cleanSass">
<echo message="removing .css files..." />
<delete includeemptydirs="true" failonerror="false">
<fileset dir="${dir.css}" includes="**/*.css" />
</delete>
<echo message="removing .css.map files..." />
<delete includeemptydirs="true" failonerror="false">
<fileset dir="${dir.css}" includes="**/*.css.map" />
</delete>
</target>

Jenkins compile problems

this question is quite silly, but I can't find anyone else in the internet it seems who got the same problem and can't fix it themself.
This is my build.xml
I took it from an forum and changed the lines I knew what to put in.
<project name="RPGEssentials" default="dist" basedir="/var/lib/jenkins/workspace/RPGEssentials">
<description>
simple example build file
</description>
<!-- set global properties for this build -->
<property name="src" location="src"/>
<property name="build" location="build"/>
<property name="dist" location="dist"/>
<target name="init">
<!-- Create the time stamp -->
<tstamp/>
<!-- Create the build directory structure used by compile -->
<mkdir dir="${build}"/>
</target>
<target name="compile" depends="init"
description="compile the source " >
<!-- Compile the java code from ${src} into ${build} -->
<javac includeantruntime="false" srcdir="${src}" destdir="${build}" encoding="iso-
8859-1"> <include name="../APIs/*.jar" /> </javac>
</target>
<target name="dist" depends="compile"
description="generate the distribution" >
<!-- Create the distribution directory -->
<mkdir dir="${dist}/lib"/>
<!-- Put everything in ${build} into the MyProject-${DSTAMP}.jar file -->
<jar jarfile="${dist}/lib/RPGEssentials-0.0.1.jar" basedir="${build}"/>
</target>
<target name="clean"
description="clean up" >
<!-- Delete the ${build} and ${dist} directory trees -->
<delete dir="${build}"/>
<delete dir="${dist}"/>
</target>
</project>
This is the console output after building:
Started by user G4meM0ment
Building in workspace /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/RPGEssentials
Checkout:RPGEssentials / /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/RPGEssentials -
hudson.remoting.LocalChannel#389329d0
Using strategy: Default
Last Built Revision: Revision 4b5d8a711c78fbe32efb06f91dd88d8f0660f5c0 (origin/master,
origin/HEAD)
Fetching changes from 1 remote Git repository
Fetching upstream changes from origin
Seen branch in repository origin/HEAD
Seen branch in repository origin/master
Seen 2 remote branches
Commencing build of Revision 4b5d8a711c78fbe32efb06f91dd88d8f0660f5c0 (origin/master,
origin/HEAD)
Checking out Revision 4b5d8a711c78fbe32efb06f91dd88d8f0660f5c0 (origin/master,
origin/HEAD)
Warning : There are multiple branch changesets here
[RPGEssentials] $ ant
Buildfile: /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/RPGEssentials/build.xml
init:
compile:
dist:
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 0 seconds
Archiving artifacts
Finished: SUCCESS
I'm pretty sure the error is in the build.xml the but I don't know what could be wrong.
The resulting jar-file contains some empty directories!
http://www.imagebanana.com/view/v68chgps/jarcontains.jpg
Thanks for your help
~Julian

How do I create a Jar file from my program

I am using eclipse, and I am having difficulty in creating jar files.
So I have codes like getClass().getResource("/imagesfolder/dog.jpg").
How would I create Jar files such that the folder containing my images will also be included. Because error occurs if my Jar file is not in my bin folder with the class files and the imagesfolder.
I tried File>Export>Java>Executable Jar>Save in desktop but when I double click it, it does not start. I tried cmd and it worked but with errors that it can't find imagesfolder.
How will I do a jar file in a separate directory that executes with a double click

I have a class TreeIcon; it uses two images, and I store them in a folder 'images' which is within the package of TreeIcon. For whatever reason, I made the package of TreeIcon spacecheck.images (it could just as easily have been com.mycompany.images). Therefore I used following code to access my images:
expandedIcon = new ImageIcon(TreeIcon.class.getResource("images/Expanded.GIF"));
where the 'images' here is the name of the folder containing just the images, not the one that is part of the package. I.E., in my tree structure for the program source, the images are in a folder named spacecheck.images.images.
Note that there's no slash at the start of my string; this means it references a path relative to that of the class. Putting the slash in front of the spec causes getResource to regard the path as absolute within your jar, so I could also have used the string "/spacecheck/images/images/Expanded.GIF".

ANT is The Way
In eclipse you can use Ant to build your .jar file.
From ant.apache.org
Apache Ant is a Java library and command-line tool whose mission is to
drive processes described in build files as targets and extension
points dependent upon each other. The main known usage of Ant is the
build of Java applications. Ant supplies a number of built-in tasks
allowing to compile, assemble, test and run Java applications. Ant can
also be used effectively to build non Java applications, for instance
C or C++ applications. More generally, Ant can be used to pilot any
type of process which can be described in terms of targets and tasks.
Ant is written in Java. Users of Ant can develop their own "antlibs"
containing Ant tasks and types, and are offered a large number of
ready-made commercial or open-source "antlibs".
Ant is extremely flexible and does not impose coding conventions or
directory layouts to the Java projects which adopt it as a build tool.
Software development projects looking for a solution combining build
tool and dependency management can use Ant in combination with Apache
Ivy.
The Apache Ant project is part of the Apache Software Foundation.
Search with google and you will find many documentation, I will show the basic way to do it.
The Build.xml file
First of all create a new file xml, for example "Build.xml" this will be the file that Ant will read.
The you start writing inside it this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
This is the basic line you have always to include.
<project name="NameOfYourProject" default="try_jar" basedir=".">
This (with its closing tag </project> at the end of the file, is the main tag, declaring the name of the project and the first task (default) that will be executed, each task is something Ant will do, and is called "Target", you can create a single target that do everything or various target that do few things each, in this case you can create different "flow-chart" that ant will follow. For example I usually create 3 route for Ant: try_jar that is used just to try if all is working in the jar without doing many things, new_version_jar that is the same of try_jar but will update version number, will sign the jar and some other stuff, and javadoc that creates the javadoc for the project. Il will show you the basic try_jar.
<description>
This buildfile is used to build the jar of the game.
</description>
No need to explanation.
<!-- ================= File and Directory Names ==================== -->
<property name="src" location="${basedir}/src" />
<property name="conf" location="${basedir}/conf" />
<property name="build" location="${basedir}/build" />
<property name="dist" location="${basedir}/dist" />
<property name="app.name" value="MyAppName" />
<property name="dist.jarHome" value="${user.home}/MyApplicationMainFolder" />
<property name="app.version" value="0.2" />
<tstamp />
<property name="jar.name" value="${app.name}_${app.version}.${DSTAMP}.jar" />
<property name="jar.completePath" value="${dist.jarHome}/${jar.name}" />
Here we declare the base properties of the jar, we tell it where the source code is, where the build folder should be and so on. We also choose to put all the app in a folder in the base user home (in mac this is /user/UserName/) and create the name for the file that will include the name (obviously) the version and the time when this jar is created. This avoid duplicated or overriding of files that we may want to keep.
<property name="shared.lib" value="${basedir}/lib" />
Here we must specify the directory in which jar files needed by this plugin to run are stored
<!-- =============== Custom Ant Task Definitions =================== -->
<property name="compile.debug" value="true" />
<property name="compile.deprecation" value="false" />
<property name="compile.optimize" value="true" />
This are configuration params for ant
<!-- ================== External Dependencies ======================= -->
<property name="LWJGL" value="lwjgl.jar" />
<property name="Timer" value="timer.jar" />
<property name="Database" value="hsqldb.jar" />
<property name="Splice" value="jarsplice-0.25.jar" />
Here you must specify your external dependencies (something like easymock or powermock if you want to create a test target.
<!-- ================== Compilation Classpath ======================= -->
<path id="compile.classpath">
<fileset dir="${src}">
<include name="**/*.java" />
<exclude name="**/server/*.java"/>
</fileset>
<fileset dir="${shared.lib}">
<include name="**/*.jar" />
</fileset>
</path>
This is what And (with javac command) will build, you have to specify all the folders you want to build and to add (with <fileset>) any jar that is in the buildpath
<!-- =================== All Target ================================ -->
<!-- ================== Try_jar Target ============================ -->
<target name="try_jar" depends="compile, dist, clean_class_files, run" description="Clean build and dist directories, then compile, create jar and finally run" />
This is our target, as specified in "default" the first line, and will run this. Depends tells Ant what it should do before this target. A you can read it will compile, create the jar (dist), remove the class files, and run it.
<!-- ================== Clean Target ============================== -->
<target name="clean" description="Delete old build and dist directories">
<delete dir="${build}" />
<delete dir="${dist}" />
</target>
This is very clear, before to compile a new version we want to remove any old class file to avoid problems. You may think that this is never called, but pay attention to the dependencies of each target.
<!-- ================== Prepare Target ============================= -->
<target name="prepare" depends="clean">
<mkdir dir="${build}" />
<mkdir dir="${build}/classes" />
<mkdir dir="${build}/lib" />
<copy todir="${build}/lib">
<fileset dir="${shared.lib}" includes="${Timer}, ${LWJGL}, ${Database}" />
</copy>
</target>
This prepare the path, creating new needed folders (like build and build/classes) and adding the external dependencies jars.
<!-- ================== Compile Target =========================== -->
<target name="compile" depends="prepare" description="Compile Java sources">
<mkdir dir="${build}/classes" />
<javac srcdir="${src}" destdir="${build}/classes" encoding="8859_1" debug="${compile.debug}" deprecation="${compile.deprecation}" optimize="${compile.optimize}" source="1.6" target="1.6">
<classpath refid="compile.classpath" />
</javac>
</target>
This is the main compiling target, as you can see it depends on prepare (that depends on clean) so until now we are using all <target> tags.
Ant compile .java files using <javac> tag, that needs to know where the source files are, where to put .class files, the encoding, and the three params we specified earlier.
<!-- =================== Dist Target ================================ -->
<target name="dist" description="Creates Jar archive">
<!-- Create the time stamp -->
<tstamp>
<format property="compile.timestamp" pattern="yyyyMMddHHmm" />
</tstamp>
<!-- update version in manifest -->
<replaceregexp file="${basedir}/manifestClient" match="Implementation-Version: .*" replace="Implementation-Version: ${app.version}.${compile.timestamp}" />
<!-- Create Jar file -->
<jar destfile="${jar.completePath}" manifest="${basedir}/manifest">
<fileset dir="${build}/classes" excludes="**/*.bak" />
<fileset dir="${src}/" excludes="mh/" />
<fileset dir="${shared.lib}/native/macosx" />
<zipfileset src="${shared.lib}/${Timer}" />
<zipfileset src="${shared.lib}/${LWJGL}" />
<zipfileset src="${shared.lib}/${Database}" />
</jar>
</target>
this creates the real jar. <tstamp> and <replaceregexp> are used to update the version in the manifest, you can remove them.
Jar tag will create the .jar file, we specified what files to add in the jar that will be avaible to my classes inside. We have also to specify a manifest that will discuss later.
<!-- =================== Delete .class Target===================== -->
<target name="clean_class_files" description="Delete .class files stored inside build directory and dist folder">
<delete dir="${build}" />
<delete dir="${dist}" />
</target>
This target deletes the two folder used to store .class files (and obviously all the files inside).
<!-- ================== Run Target =============================== -->
<target name="run" description="Run MagicHogwarts">
<java jar="${jar.completePath}" fork="true">
</java>
</target>
The end of our build.xml file, that is the run target that runs the jar.
This is almost what you need to compile and and the correct resources to a jar, if something is not like you are expecting, simply try few times and all will go right.
This is the manifest:
Manifest-Version: 1.0
Created-By: 1.6.0 (Sun Microsystems Inc.)
Main-Class: package.to.class.with.main
Built-by: Gianmarco
Implementation-Vendor: Gianmarco
Implementation-Title: Title
I hope this will be useful to you.
I am editing few things to make the post better, but no contents will be different.