From b9421dc80af485591a9c50cc8921f912e0def11e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ashlee Young This document provides a step by step tutorial for starting java programming with Apache Ant.
-It does not contain deeper knowledge about Java or Ant. This tutorial has the goal
-to let you see, how to do the easiest steps in Ant.Tutorial: Hello World with Apache Ant
-
-Content
-
We want to separate the source from the generated files, so our java source files will -be in src folder. All generated files should be under build, and there -splitted into several subdirectories for the individual steps: classes for our compiled -files and jar for our own JAR-file.
-We have to create only the src directory. (Because I am working on Windows, here is -the win-syntax - translate to your shell):
- --md src -- -
The following simple Java class just prints a fixed message out to STDOUT, -so just write this code into src\oata\HelloWorld.java.
- --package oata; - -public class HelloWorld { - public static void main(String[] args) { - System.out.println("Hello World"); - } -} -- -
Now just try to compile and run that: -
-md build\classes -javac -sourcepath src -d build\classes src\oata\HelloWorld.java -java -cp build\classes oata.HelloWorld --which will result in -
-Hello World -- - -
Creating a jar-file is not very difficult. But creating a startable jar-file needs more steps: create a -manifest-file containing the start class, creating the target directory and archiving the files.
--echo Main-Class: oata.HelloWorld>myManifest -md build\jar -jar cfm build\jar\HelloWorld.jar myManifest -C build\classes . -java -jar build\jar\HelloWorld.jar -- -
Note: Do not have blanks around the >-sign in the echo Main-Class instruction because it would -falsify it!
- - - -After finishing the java-only step we have to think about our build process. We have to compile our code, otherwise we couldn't -start the program. Oh - "start" - yes, we could provide a target for that. We should package our application. -Now it's only one class - but if you want to provide a download, no one would download several hundreds files ... -(think about a complex Swing GUI - so let us create a jar file. A startable jar file would be nice ... And it's a -good practise to have a "clean" target, which deletes all the generated stuff. Many failures could be solved just -by a "clean build".
- -By default Ant uses build.xml as the name for a buildfile, so our .\build.xml would be:
--<project> - - <target name="clean"> - <delete dir="build"/> - </target> - - <target name="compile"> - <mkdir dir="build/classes"/> - <javac srcdir="src" destdir="build/classes"/> - </target> - - <target name="jar"> - <mkdir dir="build/jar"/> - <jar destfile="build/jar/HelloWorld.jar" basedir="build/classes"> - <manifest> - <attribute name="Main-Class" value="oata.HelloWorld"/> - </manifest> - </jar> - </target> - - <target name="run"> - <java jar="build/jar/HelloWorld.jar" fork="true"/> - </target> - -</project> -- -
Now you can compile, package and run the application via
--ant compile -ant jar -ant run --
Or shorter with
--ant compile jar run -- -
While having a look at the buildfile, we will see some similar steps between Ant and the java-only commands: -
java-only | -Ant | -
---|---|
-md build\classes -javac - -sourcepath src - -d build\classes - src\oata\HelloWorld.java -echo Main-Class: oata.HelloWorld>mf -md build\jar -jar cfm - build\jar\HelloWorld.jar - mf - -C build\classes - . - - - -java -jar build\jar\HelloWorld.jar - |
- -<mkdir dir="build/classes"/> -<javac - srcdir="src" - destdir="build/classes"/> -<!-- automatically detected --> -<!-- obsolete; done via manifest tag --> -<mkdir dir="build/jar"/> -<jar - destfile="build/jar/HelloWorld.jar" - - basedir="build/classes"> - <manifest> - <attribute name="Main-Class" value="oata.HelloWorld"/> - </manifest> -</jar> -<java jar="build/jar/HelloWorld.jar" fork="true"/> - |
-
Now we have a working buildfile we could do some enhancements: many time you are referencing the -same directories, main-class and jar-name are hard coded, and while invocation you have to remember -the right order of build steps.
-The first and second point would be addressed with properties, the third with a special property - an attribute -of the <project>-tag and the fourth problem can be solved using dependencies.
- - --<project name="HelloWorld" basedir="." default="main"> - - <property name="src.dir" value="src"/> - - <property name="build.dir" value="build"/> - <property name="classes.dir" value="${build.dir}/classes"/> - <property name="jar.dir" value="${build.dir}/jar"/> - - <property name="main-class" value="oata.HelloWorld"/> - - - - <target name="clean"> - <delete dir="${build.dir}"/> - </target> - - <target name="compile"> - <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/> - <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}"/> - </target> - - <target name="jar" depends="compile"> - <mkdir dir="${jar.dir}"/> - <jar destfile="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" basedir="${classes.dir}"> - <manifest> - <attribute name="Main-Class" value="${main-class}"/> - </manifest> - </jar> - </target> - - <target name="run" depends="jar"> - <java jar="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" fork="true"/> - </target> - - <target name="clean-build" depends="clean,jar"/> - - <target name="main" depends="clean,run"/> - -</project> -- - -
Now it's easier, just do a ant and you will get
--Buildfile: build.xml - -clean: - -compile: - [mkdir] Created dir: C:\...\build\classes - [javac] Compiling 1 source file to C:\...\build\classes - -jar: - [mkdir] Created dir: C:\...\build\jar - [jar] Building jar: C:\...\build\jar\HelloWorld.jar - -run: - [java] Hello World - -main: - -BUILD SUCCESSFUL -- - - -
Somehow told us not to use syso-statements. For log-Statements we should use a Logging-API - customizable on a high -degree (including switching off during usual life (= not development) execution). We use Log4J for that, because
We store our external libraries in a new directory lib. Log4J can be -downloaded [1] from Logging's Homepage. -Create the lib directory and extract the log4j-1.2.9.jar into that lib-directory. After that we have to modify -our java source to use that library and our buildfile so that this library could be accessed during compilation and run. -
-Working with Log4J is documented inside its manual. Here we use the MyApp-example from the -Short Manual [2]. First we have to modify the java source to -use the logging framework:
- --package oata; - -import org.apache.log4j.Logger; -import org.apache.log4j.BasicConfigurator; - -public class HelloWorld { - static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(HelloWorld.class); - - public static void main(String[] args) { - BasicConfigurator.configure(); - logger.info("Hello World"); // the old SysO-statement - } -} -- -
Most of the modifications are "framework overhead" which has to be done once. The blue line is our "old System-out" -statement.
-Don't try to run ant - you will only get lot of compiler errors. Log4J is not inside the classpath so we have -to do a little work here. But do not change the CLASSPATH environment variable! This is only for this project and maybe -you would break other environments (this is one of the most famous mistakes when working with Ant). We introduce Log4J -(or to be more precise: all libraries (jar-files) which are somewhere under .\lib) into our buildfile:
- --<project name="HelloWorld" basedir="." default="main"> - ... - <property name="lib.dir" value="lib"/> - - <path id="classpath"> - <fileset dir="${lib.dir}" includes="**/*.jar"/> - </path> - - ... - - <target name="compile"> - <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/> - <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}" classpathref="classpath"/> - </target> - - <target name="run" depends="jar"> - <java fork="true" classname="${main-class}"> - <classpath> - <path refid="classpath"/> - <path location="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar"/> - </classpath> - </java> - </target> - - ... - -</project> -- -
In this example we start our application not via its Main-Class manifest-attribute, because we could not provide -a jarname and a classpath. So add our class in the red line to the already defined path and start as usual. Running -ant would give (after the usual compile stuff):
- --[java] 0 [main] INFO oata.HelloWorld - Hello World -- -
What's that?
Why we have used Log4J? "It's highly configurable"? No - all is hard coded! But that is not the debt of Log4J - it's -ours. We had coded BasicConfigurator.configure(); which implies a simple, but hard coded configuration. More -comfortable would be using a property file. In the java source delete the BasicConfiguration-line from the main() method -(and the related import-statement). Log4J will search then for a configuration as described in it's manual. Then create -a new file src/log4j.properties. That's the default name for Log4J's configuration and using that name would make -life easier - not only the framework knows what is inside, you too!
- --log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, stdout - -log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender - -log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout -log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%m%n -- -
This configuration creates an output channel ("Appender") to console named as stdout which prints the -message (%m) followed by a line feed (%n) - same as the earlier System.out.println() :-) Oooh kay - but we haven't -finished yet. We should deliver the configuration file, too. So we change the buildfile:
- -- ... - <target name="compile"> - <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/> - <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}" classpathref="classpath"/> - <copy todir="${classes.dir}"> - <fileset dir="${src.dir}" excludes="**/*.java"/> - </copy> - </target> - ... -- -
This copies all resources (as long as they haven't the suffix ".java") to the build directory, so we could -start the application from that directory and these files will included into the jar.
- - - -In this step we will introduce the usage of the JUnit [3] testframework in combination with Ant. Because Ant -has a built-in JUnit 3.8.2 you could start directly using it. Write a test class in src\HelloWorldTest.java:
- --public class HelloWorldTest extends junit.framework.TestCase { - - public void testNothing() { - } - - public void testWillAlwaysFail() { - fail("An error message"); - } - -}- -
Because we dont have real business logic to test, this test class is very small: just show how to start. For -further information see the JUnit documentation [3] and the manual of junit task. -Now we add a junit instruction to our buildfile:
- -- ... - - <path id="application" location="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar"/> - - <target name="run" depends="jar"> - <java fork="true" classname="${main-class}"> - <classpath> - <path refid="classpath"/> - <path refid="application"/> - </classpath> - </java> - </target> - - <target name="junit" depends="jar"> - <junit printsummary="yes"> - <classpath> - <path refid="classpath"/> - <path refid="application"/> - </classpath> - - <batchtest fork="yes"> - <fileset dir="${src.dir}" includes="*Test.java"/> - </batchtest> - </junit> - </target> - - ... - -- -
We reuse the path to our own jar file as defined in run-target by - giving it an ID and making it globally available. -The printsummary=yes lets us see more detailed information than just a "FAILED" or "PASSED" message. -How much tests failed? Some errors? Printsummary lets us know. The classpath is set up to find our classes. -To run tests the batchtest here is used, so you could easily add more test classes in the future just -by naming them *Test.java. This is a common naming scheme.
- -After a ant junit you'll get:
- --... -junit: - [junit] Running HelloWorldTest - [junit] Tests run: 2, Failures: 1, Errors: 0, Time elapsed: 0,01 sec - [junit] Test HelloWorldTest FAILED - -BUILD SUCCESSFUL -... -- -
We can also produce a report. Something that you (and other) could read after closing the shell .... -There are two steps: 1. let <junit> log the information and 2. convert these to something readable (browsable).
- -
- ... - <property name="report.dir" value="${build.dir}/junitreport"/> - ... - <target name="junit" depends="jar"> - <mkdir dir="${report.dir}"/> - <junit printsummary="yes"> - <classpath> - <path refid="classpath"/> - <path refid="application"/> - </classpath> - - <formatter type="xml"/> - - <batchtest fork="yes" todir="${report.dir}"> - <fileset dir="${src.dir}" includes="*Test.java"/> - </batchtest> - </junit> - </target> - - <target name="junitreport"> - <junitreport todir="${report.dir}"> - <fileset dir="${report.dir}" includes="TEST-*.xml"/> - <report todir="${report.dir}"/> - </junitreport> - </target> -- -
Because we would produce a lot of files and these files would be written to the current directory by default,
-we define a report directory, create it before running the junit and redirect the logging to it. The log format
-is XML so junitreport could parse it. In a second target junitreport should create a browsable
-HTML-report for all generated xml-log files in the report directory. Now you can open the ${report.dir}\index.html and
-see the result (looks something like JavaDoc).
-Personally I use two different targets for junit and junitreport. Generating the HTML report needs some time and you dont
-need the HTML report just for testing, e.g. if you are fixing an error or a integration server is doing a job.
-
- [1] http://www.apache.org/dist/logging/log4j/1.2.13/logging-log4j-1.2.13.zip - [2] http://logging.apache.org/log4j/docs/manual.html - [3] http://www.junit.org/index.htm -- - - - - - -- cgit 1.2.3-korg