NAME

       build.xml - configuration file used by ant to build projects

DESCRIPTION

       The  file  build.xml  is the default configuration file used by ant to determine 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  constructed.   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 consists 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, Diagnostics, 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,
       PropertyHelper,  Record,  Replace, ResourceCount, Retry, Rmic, Sequential, SignJar, 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 another VM if specified.
              Below are some of the attibutes to the <java> element:

              classname (required) the Java class to execute

              fork if enabled triggers the class execution in another VM (disabled 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,  failonerror,  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 information;  defaults
              to off

              optimize indicates whether source should be compiled with optimization; defaults to
              off

              target generate class files for specific VM version (e.g., 1.1 or 1.2).

              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,  bootclasspath,
              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  defined  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; currently it can hold the values "1.1", "1.2" and
              "1.3".

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://jakarta.apache.org/ant/manual/>.