Apache Ant is a Java-based build tool (similar to Make). Ant projects are contained in XML files which specify a number of Ant targets and their dependencies. The body of each Ant target consists of a collection of Ant tasks. Each Ant task is a small Java program for performing common build operations (such as Java compilation and packaging).
Ant features
Ant includes the following features:
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The configuration files are XML-based.
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At runtime, a user can specify which Ant target(s) they want to run, and Ant will generate and execute tasks from a dependency tree built from the target(s).
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Instead of a model extended with shell-based commands, Ant is extended using Java classes. Each task is run by an object that implements a particular task interface.
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Ant build files are written in XML (and have the default name
build.xml). -
Each build file contains one project and at least one (default) target.
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Targets contain task elements.
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Each task element of the build file can have an
idattribute and can later be referred to by the value supplied to this. The value has to be unique. -
A project can have a set of properties. These might be set in the build file by the
propertytask, or might be set outside Ant. -
Dynamic or configurable build properties (such as path names or version numbers) are often handled through the use of a properties file associated with the Ant build file (often named
build.properties).
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For more about Ant, see the Ant project page. |
Writing an Ant build file by example
It is generally easier to write Ant build files by starting from a working example.
The sample applications bundled with the Rhino SDK use Ant management scripts.
They are good examples of how to automate the compilation and deployment steps.
See rhino-connectivity/sip-*/build.xml in your Rhino SDK installation folder.
Two Rhino tools can be used to create the build.xml file:
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The Eclipse plugin creates a
build.xmlfile that helps in building and creating components and deployable unit jar files. -
The rhino-export tool creates a
build.xmlfile that can redeploy deployed Rhino components to another Rhino instance. This feature is very useful during development — a typical approach is to manually install and configure a number of SLEE components, then userhino-exportto create abuild.xmlfile, to automate provisioning steps.
