Ant Project Nodes in the Explorer
See Also
The IDE displays all Ant build scripts as Ant project nodes (
)
in the Explorer.
Contextual Menu Commands
You can right-click any Ant project node to access the following commands:
- Execute. Runs the Ant project's default target.
- Run Target. Lets you run a specific target in the Ant project. You
can also run a target by double-clicking its Explorer node (
)
or by creating a shortcut to the target. See Creating
a Shortcut to a Target for more information.
- Change Order. Changes the order of the Ant project's contents.
- Add. Adds a task, target, or other Ant element.
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You can use the Explorer to mount Ant scripts that are stored in special
filesystems, such as JARs or FTP filesystems. You can then view and edit
these Ant scripts if the special filesystem supports these actions. Ant
scripts stored in special filesystems cannot, however, be run in the IDE.
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Node Icons
Icon |
Description |
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Ant target |
 |
Ant target with a description. These targets are more visible
to the user. For example, running ant -projecthelp at the command
line shows these targets first. |
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Ant task |
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Data structure |
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A project with an XML parse error |
 |
A data structure that is out of place. The node's tooltip
gives an explanation of the error. |
Ant Project Node Properties
The Properties tab of an Ant project node's property sheet contains the following
properties:
- Base Directory. The base directory from which all path calculations
are done. If this property is not specified, Ant uses the parent directory
of the Ant script.
- Build Sequence (Read-Only). The Ant project's build sequence as specified
by the project's build dependencies.
- Default Target. The default target that is run when the file is Executed.
- Name. The name of the Ant project file.
- Project Name. The internal name of the Ant project.
- Project Properties. The properties used by the Ant project. These
properties are stored in an external .ant.properties file. If no
external properties file is defined, the property displays <Open Properties
File Wizard>. Click the property to open a wizard in which you can
create a new properties file.
- Switch Properties File. The external properties file referenced by
the Ant project. The combo box lists all of the .properties files
in the same directory as the Ant project file. You can switch the properties
file that the Ant project references by selecting a new file in this property.
The Execution tab of an Ant project node's property sheet contains the following
properties:
- Compiler. The compiler type used by the Ant script. Generally this
should be set to (do not compile). If you are using a mix of Ant and the IDE's
native compilation to compile a project, you may want to set the Compiler
property to Ant Script Compilation. For more information, see Compiling
Projects With Ant.
- Executor. The execution type used by the Ant project. Generally this
should be set to Ant Script Execution. Set to (do not execute) to disable
execution for the Ant project.
Ant Target Node Properties
For Ant target nodes, the Properties window displays the following properties:
- Build Sequence (Read-only). The Ant project's build sequence as specified
by the project's build dependencies.
- Depends On. The targets that that must be executed before this target
executes.
- If Defined. The property that must be present for this target to
execute.
- Switch Properties File. The external properties file referenced by
the target. The combo box lists all of the Properties files in the
same directory as the Ant project file. You can switch the properties file
that the target references by selecting a new file in this property.
- Target Name. The name of the Ant target.
- Target Properties. The properties used by the target. These properties
are stored in an external .ant.properties file. If no external properties
file is defined, the property displays <Open Properties File Wizard>.
Click the property to open a wizard in which you can create a new properties
file.
- Unless Defined. The property that that must not be set for this target
to execute.
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