ANT

Ant, MSBuild, Shell Scripts
8 March 2010

What Is Ant?
A build tool like make
Open source
from the Apache Jakarta project
http://jakarta.apache.org/ant
Implemented in Java
Used to build many open source products

Why Use Ant?
Develop big programs by automating all tasks of compiling code, running tests, packaging and etc.
Ant is more portable
Ant only requires a Java VM
Ant targets are described in XML
Does not have cryptic syntax.

How Does Ant Work?
Ant commands (or tasks) are implemented by Java classes
many are built-in
others come in optional JAR files
custom tasks can be created
Each project using Ant will have a build file
typically called build.xml since Ant looks for this by default
Each build file is composed of targets
these correspond to common activities like compiling and running code
Each target is composed of tasks
executed in sequence when the target is executed
Ant targets can have dependencies
for example, modified source files must be compiled
before the application can be run

How Does Ant Work? (Cont’d)
Targets to be executed
can be specified on the command line when invoking Ant
if none are specified then the default target is executed
execution stops if an error is encountered so all requested targets may not be executed
Each target is only executed once
for example
the “test” and “deploy” targets both depend on “compile”
the “all” target depends on “test” and “deploy”
but “compile” is only executed once when “all” is executed
Some tasks are only executed when they need to be
for example, files that have not changed since the last time they were compiled are not recompiled

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<project name="testAnt" default="run" >
<property name="src" location="src/test" />
<property name="output" location="build/classes" />
<property name="msg" value="First Ant Making Directories..." />
<target name="init">
<echo> ${msg} </echo>
<mkdir dir="${output}" />
</target>
<target name="compile" depends="init">
<echo> Compiling... </echo>
<javac srcdir="${src}" destdir="${output}"/>
</target>
Sample Build File (build.xml)
Default target name
Property values
A target named by “init”
Tasks which is executed in the sequence order
Using property value “output”

Sample Build File (Cont’d)
<target name="run" depends="init,compile" >
<java fork="true" classname="test.Main">
<classpath>
<pathelement location="${output}"/>
</classpath>
</java>
</target>
<target name="clean">
<delete dir="${output}" />
</target>
</project>
Means that the init,compile targets must be executed before this target

MSBuild
Microsoft Build Engine

What Is MSbuild?
A Build tool like Ant
Ships with Microsoft.NET Framework
General purpose build automation system
Uses XML-based language
Syntax similar to Ant

The Basic Elements
Root container for Msbuild file (.csproj)
<Project DefaultTargets="SampleTarget" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
</Project>
Properties
A property defines a value associated with a name
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputDirectory>Output</OutputDirectory>
<AppName>test</AppName>
</PropertyGroup>
Using properties
<Target Name="CreateDirectories“>
<MakeDir Directories="$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)$(OutputDirectory)"/>
</Target>
All other elements
Using
property value

The Basic Elements (cont’d)
Items
An item is a named reference to a file or to many files.
Contain associated metadata, such as the full path or filename.
<ItemGroup>
<Compile Include="Program.cs" />
<Compile Include=“Form.cs" />
</ItemGroup>
Using Items
Reference the item collection in the example above with @(Compile)
Accessing well known meta data of items
syntax %(ItemMetadataName)
Item collection named as Compile

Targets
Is a container for related tasks that will be executed sequentially
Equivalent to Methods
Must have a name
<Target Name="SampleTarget" DependsOnTargets="DepTarget">
<Message Text="SampleTarget executed" />
</Target>
<Target Name=“DepTarget">
<Message Text="DependentTarget executed " />
</Target>
Means that the DepTarget must be executed before this target

Tasks
Equivalent to a Statement
Smallest unit of execution
Must be declared within a Target
Many standard ones included in MSBuild
MakeDir,Copy, Message, Csc, Exec, etc.
Custom tasks can be created
<Project xmlns=“http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003”>
<Target Name="CreateDirectories">
<MakeDir Directories=“output"/>
</Target>
</Project>
Simple task which create directory called “output”

Shell Scripts
Windows scripting

About Shell Scripts
Also called batch programs or scripts
Contains one or more commands and has a .bat or .cmd file name extension
for, goto, call and if, enable you to do conditional processing of the commands
Commands are not case sensitive
Executed by the command interpreter

Batch Parameters
Similar to Command line arguments
Using Batch Parameters
%{argument_no}
Using modifiers with batch parameters
echo %~f0
How to change the position of batch parameter?
Using SHIFT /N command
SHIFT /2
would shift %3 to %2 and so on, and leave %0 and %1 unaffected.
%* Reference to all the arguments, not including %0
Expands %0 to a fully qualified path name.

More Information About Commands
Call

ANT

by guestd845f0

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

ANT Presentation Transcript

ANT