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Failing to build working .jar file using ANT

I've made a simple 'AntExecutor' app in eclipse that can run ant tasks programmatically and it works. But for university purposes I need to keep it independant from IDE. So, funnily, I'm strugling to create ant tasks which would compile,build my 'AntExecutor' app (which executes ant-tasks) :)
Stripped-down version I'm currently trying to define ant-tasks for only contains one source file in 'storageAccess' package:
./src/storageAccess/AntExecutor.java
I've got some libraries that AntExecutor.java makes use of at:
./lib
And the build file is at:
./build.xml
AntExecutor.java also needs ant libraries to execute ant tasks so they're added to CP at compile at. in build file:
<classpath path="${build};D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/;"/>
Full build.xml file:
<project name="AntExecutor" default="dist" basedir=".">
<description>
simple example build file
</description>
<!-- set global properties for this build -->
<property name="src" location="src"/>
<property name="build" location="build/classes/"/>
<property name="dist" location="build/jar/"/>
<target name="init">
<!-- Create the time stamp -->
<tstamp/>
<!-- Create the build directory structure used by compile -->
<mkdir dir="${build}"/>
</target>
<target name="compile" depends="init"
description="compile the source " >
<!-- Compile the java code from ${src} into ${build} -->
<javac destdir="${build}">
<src path="${src}"/>
<classpath path="${build};D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/;"/>
</javac>
</target>
<target name="dist" depends="compile"
description="generate the distribution" >
<!-- Create the distribution directory -->
<mkdir dir="${dist}"/>
<!-- Put everything in ${build} into RunExecutor.jar file -->
<jar destfile = "${dist}/RunExecutor.jar" basedir="${build}">
<manifest>
<attribute name = "Main-Class" value = "storageAccess.AntExecutor"/>
<attribute name = "Class-Path" value = "D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/;"/>
</manifest>
</jar>
<copy todir="${dist}\lib">
<fileset dir="lib"/>
</copy>
</target>
<target name="clean"
description="clean up" >
<!-- Delete the ${build} and ${dist} directory trees -->
<delete dir="${build}"/>
<delete dir="${dist}"/>
</target>
</project>
now if i run 'ant dist' command I get no errors, build succeeds and RunExecutor.jar file is created at ./build/jar
To check contents of RunExecutor.jar, I ran: jar tf build/jar/RunExecutor.jar
result:
META-INF/
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
storageAccess/
storageAccess/AntExecutor.class
so it seems like storageAcces.AntExecutor class was indeed successfully compiled to .jar file.
However, if i try running it like this: java -jar build/jar/RunExecutor.jar
I get this error:
Error: Could not find or load main class storageAccess.AntExecutor
Main-question:
How come it can't find the class that is clearly in it.(as 'jar tf' shows) how do I fix this?
Also, what is the corret way to add ant/lib/*.jar files to CP for compiling and running 'RunExecutor.jar' ?
is it okay just to specify the path to them as I do now? :
<attribute name = "Class-Path" value = "D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/;"/>
or, maybe I should use wildcard like:
<attribute name = "Class-Path" value = "D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/*.jar;"/>
or, should I frustratingly add all the files one by one?
<attribute name = "Class-Path" value = "D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/ant.jar;"/> , etc...

The problem with
<attribute name = "Class-Path" value = "D:/DevTools/apache-ant-1.9.8/lib/;"/>
is you are hard-coding path which is not a good practice. This jar will not execute on other machines as there are chances that they won't have lib under same location.
You can directly create executable jar from eclipse project itself. For steps refer this.
You can also put required lib in same jar file and they will by default get added to class-path.

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).

apache ant mutable file type property

I'm looking for a way to load properties from a file in ant script. Specifically, I want to loop through a list of properties files, and on each loop load the properties from the current file and do something with it. Something like this:
<for param="file">
<path>
<fileset containing my properties files.../>
</path>
<sequential>
<property file="#{file}" prefix="fromFile"/>
<echo message="current file: #{file}"/>
<echo message="property1 from file: ${fromFile.property1}"/>
</sequential>
</for>
The code above results in only the first properties file from being read, even though each loop does go through each properties file name. I know property is immutable, and I can get around it by using local task or variable task from ant-contrib. However, I don't know how to apply them here, or if they even contribute to a solution in this case.

Here I used Antcontrib and two property files in the same directory as the build.xml.
p1.properties:
property1=from p1
p2.properties:
property1=from p2
The trick is to use antcall inside the for loop to call another target. Properties set in the called target at not propagated back to the caller.
build.xml:
<project name="test" default="read.property.files">
<taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antcontrib.properties">
<classpath>
<pathelement location="ant-contrib/ant-contrib-1.0b3.jar"/>
</classpath>
</taskdef>
<target name="read.property.files">
<for param="file">
<path>
<fileset dir="." includes="*.properties"/>
</path>
<sequential>
<antcall target="read.one.property.file">
<param name="propfile" value="#{file}"/>
</antcall>
</sequential>
</for>
</target>
<target name="read.one.property.file">
<property file="${propfile}" />
<echo message="current file: ${propfile}" />
<echo message="property1 from file: ${property1}"/>
</target>
</project>
The output is:
Buildfile: /home/vanje/anttest/build.xml
read.property.files:
read.one.property.file:
[echo] current file: /home/vanje/anttest/p1.properties
[echo] property1 from file: from p1
read.one.property.file:
[echo] current file: /home/vanje/anttest/p2.properties
[echo] property1 from file: from p2
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 0 seconds

In my original question I had trouble loading entire properties file from within for loop (from ant-contrib). Turns out inside for loops, ant-contrib's own var task works just the same as property task from pure ant. All I have to do is replace <property file="#{file}" prefix="fromFile"/> with <var file="#{file}"/>. The properties loaded will be overwritten with the latest values and I don't even need prefix attribute to keep track of which loop I'm currently on.

Ant task to filter JARs for zip file and manifest

I have an Ant file where I am creating a zip file and a manifest for several JAR files. Both the zip and the manifest reference the same libraries, but in slightly different ways. If possible I would like to combine the references to the files instead of explicitly writing them twice and hoping the references in both tasks sync up. Below is an example of what I am currently doing.
<target name="zip" depends="default">
<zip destfile="${dist.dir}/${project.name}_v${project.version}.zip">
<zipfileset prefix="lib" dir="lib/Dom4J" includes="*.jar"/>
<zipfileset prefix="lib" dir="lib/GSON" includes="*.jar"/>
<zipfileset prefix="lib" dir="lib/Guava" includes="*.jar"/>
<!-- ... A bunch more (Note I don't want everything
in the lib directory, just certain subfolders
within the lib directory which are explicitly
listed here like GSON. -->
</zip>
</target>
<target name="createManifest">
<!-- Hard code the classpath by hand and hope
they sync up with the zip task -->
<property name="mfClasspath"
value="dom4j-1.6.1.jar gson-2.1.jar guava-11.0.2.jar" />
<!-- Code to use the mfClasspath when creating the manifest
omitted for brevity -->
</target>
What I would ideally like to have is a fileset of some sort that I could reference in both tasks. Note that the manifest does not contain any folders/paths. The manifest only contains the JAR files found within the directories mentioned in the zip task.

You are right. You can accomplish this with a common fileset shared by both the zip and createManifest tasks. For the zip task, copy the files to a temporary location and then zip them up.
For the createManifest task, use character replacement to remove the folders from the paths. Character-replacement strategies are discussed in "Replacing characters in Ant property." If you have Ant-Contrib, you can simplify the character-replacement algorithm below by using the PropertyRegex Ant task.
<project default="all">
<fileset id="jars" dir=".">
<include name="lib/Dom4J/dom4j-1.6.1.jar" />
<include name="lib/GSON/gson-2.1.jar" />
<include name="lib/Guava/guava-11.0.2.jar" />
</fileset>
<target name="zip">
<copy todir="tmp.dir" flatten="true">
<fileset refid="jars" />
</copy>
<zip destfile="example.zip">
<zipfileset dir="tmp.dir" prefix="lib" />
</zip>
<delete dir="tmp.dir" />
</target>
<target name="createManifest">
<property name="jars.property" refid="jars" />
<echo message="${jars.property}" file="some.tmp.file" />
<loadfile property="mfClasspath" srcFile="some.tmp.file">
<filterchain>
<tokenfilter>
<replaceregex pattern="(?:[^;/]+/)+?([^;/]+\.jar)"
replace="\1" flags="g" />
<replacestring from=";" to=" " />
</tokenfilter>
</filterchain>
</loadfile>
<delete file="some.tmp.file" />
</target>
<target name="all" depends="zip, createManifest">
<echo message="$${jars.property} = "${jars.property}"" />
<echo message="$${mfClasspath} = "${mfClasspath}"" />
</target>
</project>
When I executed the above Ant buildfile, the following was output to the console:
Buildfile: /workspace/StackOverflow/build.xml
zip:
[zip] Building zip: /workspace/StackOverflow/example.zip
[delete] Deleting directory /workspace/StackOverflow/tmp.dir
createManifest:
[delete] Deleting: /workspace/StackOverflow/some.tmp.file
all:
[echo] ${jars.property} = "lib/Dom4J/dom4j-1.6.1.jar;lib/GSON/gson-2.1.jar;lib/Guava/guava-11.0.2.jar"
[echo] ${mfClasspath} = "dom4j-1.6.1.jar gson-2.1.jar guava-11.0.2.jar"
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 675 milliseconds
Also, example.zip contained the following entries:
lib/dom4j-1.6.1.jar
lib/gson-2.1.jar
lib/guava-11.0.2.jar

How to use wildcard in Ant's Available command

I'm using an Ant build script to collate my Eclipse-based application for distribution.
One step of the build is to check that the correct libraries are present in the build folders. I currently use the Ant command for this. Unfortunately, I have to amend the script each time I switch to a new Eclipse build (since the version numbers will have updated).
I don't need to check the version numbers, I just need to check that the file's there.
So, how do I check for:
org.eclipse.rcp_3.5.0.*
instead of:
org.eclipse.rcp_3.5.0.v20090519-9SA0FwxFv6x089WEf-TWh11
using Ant?
cheers,
Ian

You mean, something like (based on the pathconvert task, after this idea):
<target name="checkEclipseRcp">
<pathconvert property="foundRcp" setonempty="false" pathsep=" ">
<path>
<fileset dir="/folder/folder/eclipse"
includes="org.eclipse.rcp_3.5.0.*" />
</path>
</pathconvert>
</target>
<target name="process" depends="checkEclipseRcp" if="foundRcp">
<!-- do something -->
</target>

A slightly shorter and more straightforward approach with resourcecount condition:
<target name="checkEclipseRcp">
<condition property="foundRcp">
<resourcecount when="greater" count="0">
<fileset file="/folder/folder/eclipse/org.eclipse.rcp_3.5.0.*"/>
</resourcecount>
</condition>
</target>
<target name="process" depends="checkEclipseRcp" if="foundRcp">
<!-- do something -->
</target>

The pathconvert task is probably the preferred way to go in most cases. But it creates a little problem when the directory tree is very large and one uses the echoproperties task. With a very large directory tree, the string generated by pathconvert can be huge. Then echoproperties sprays the huge string, making the output more difficult to work with. I use a macrodef on Linux that creates a property set to "1" if there are files in the directory:
<macrodef name="chkDirContents" >
<attribute name="propertyName" />
<attribute name="dirPath" />
<attribute name="propertyFile" />
<sequential>
<exec executable="sh" dir="." failonerror="false" >
<arg value="-c" />
<arg value='fyles=`ls -1 #{dirPath} | head -1` ; if [ "$fyles" != "" ] ; then echo #{propertyName}=1 > #{propertyFile} ; fi' />
</exec>
</sequential>
</macrodef>
<target name="test" >
<tempfile destdir="." property="temp.file" deleteonexit="true" />
<chkDirContents propertyName="files.exist" dirPath="./target_dir" propertyFile="${temp.file}" />
<property file="${temp.file}" />
<echoproperties/>
</target>
Executing the "test" target will generate the following echoproperties line if there are files in the ./target_dir/ directory:
[echoproperties] files.exist=1
What "test" does:
It generates a temporary filename, ${temp.file}, that can later be used as a property file.
It then executes the macrodef, which calls the shell to check the contents of the dirPath directory. If there are any files or directories in dirPath, it assigns the propertyName property a value of 1 in the temporary file. It then reads the file and sets the property given in the file. If the file is empty, no property is defined.
Note that the temporary file could be reused for subsequent calls of the macrodef if desired. On the other hand, of course, once a property is set, it is immutable.