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Setting properties directly in the build file is okay if you are working with a handful of properties. However, for a large project, it makes sense to store the properties in a separate property file.
Storing the properties in a separate file allows you to reuse the same build file, with different property settings for different execution environment. For example, build properties file can be maintained separately for DEV, TEST and PROD environments.
Specifying properties in a separate file is useful when you do not know the values for a property (in a particular environment) up front. This allows you to perform the build in other environments where the property value is known.
There is no hard and fast rule, but typically the property file is named build.properties and is placed along side the build.xml file. You could create multiple build properties file based on the deployment environments - such as build.properties.dev and build.properties.test
The contents of the build property file are similar to the normal java property file. They contain one property per line. Each property is represented by a name and a value pair. The name and value pair are separated by an equals sign. It is highly recommended that the properties are annotated with proper comments. Comments are listed using the has character.
The following shows a build.xml and an associated build.properties file
<?xml version="1.0"?> <project name="Hello World Project" default="info"> <property file="build.properties"/> <target name="info"> <echo>Apache Ant version is ${ant.version} - You are at ${sitename} </echo> </target> </project> |
# The Site Name sitename=www.tutorialspoint.com buildversion=3.3.2 |
In the above example, sitename is a custom property which is mapped to the site's name, You could declare any number of custom properties in this fashion. Another custom property listed in the above example is the buildversion, which, in this instance refers to the version of the build.
In addition to the above, ant comes with a number of predefined build properties, which have been listed in the previous section, but is represented below once again.
Properties | Description |
---|---|
ant.file | The full location of the build file |
ant.version | The version of the Apache Ant installation |
basedir | The basedir of the build, as specified in the basedir attribute of the project element. |
ant.java.version | The version of the JDK that is used by Ant. |
ant.project.name | The name of the project, as specified in the name atrribute of the project element. |
ant.project.default-target | The default target of the current project |
ant.project.invoked-targets | Comma separated list of the targets that were invoked in the current project |
ant.core.lib | The full location of the ant jar file |
ant.home | The home directory of Ant installation |
ant.library.dir | The home directory for Ant library files - typically ANT_HOME/lib folder. |
In the example presented in this section, we have used the ant.version built in property.
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