I would like to summarize a number of ideas I have read concerning import. 1) attributes for the import task itself : -------------------------------------
11) file <import file="a/b/common.xml"/> ===> import relative to the basedir of importing build file 12) href (Peter Reilly) <import href="a/b/common.xml"/> ====> import relative to the directory containing the importing build file. href should also support URLs But as DD pointed out, this is opening a pandora box. If imported files are downloaded from an http server or from a jar file, there will be problems with properties, ... 13) name (Nicola Ken Barozzi and Dominique Devienne) <import file="blah.xml" name="blah"/> Give a name to the imported project Useful to solve conflicts (see point 2) 2) several components should be able to import the same build file ------------------------------------------------------------------- (Alexey Solofnenko) proja.xml import projb.xml import projc.xml projb.xml and projc.xml must be allowed to import both common.xml for instance ProjectHelper2 is complaining about such situations currently 3) new attributes for project ---------------------------- there is a suggestion by Nicola Ken Barozzi to add importable with the values true (meaning that the file can be imported) or false(never imported). if it is not mentioned then it is possible to import the build file with a warning. 4) importable or fragment -------------------------- Conor and others suggest a new top-level tag called <importable> for files which are only meant to be imported It sounds good, the only problem is that IDEs providing support to write ant build files will not support creating these files immediately. The IDEs will certainly catch up with that, but if we do this, in the first months build file writers will need to write the files in basic editors 5) debate about what is the basedir of an imported file ------------------------------------------------------ can be : - the basedir of the imported file - base dir of importing file I would go for : - basedir of importing file if the imported file does not have a basedir - basedir of imported file if the imported file has a basedir 6) magic attributes ------------------ there is already ant.file.[project name] = location of the build file (see ProjectHelper2.java) I think I saw someone asking for another magic attribute, but I cannot remember which one ... 7) antreturn ------------ this is not directly related, but there is a lot of value in the code suggested by Dominique Devienne. I am sure this addresses a need. Now we need someone (Conor ?) to decide in which order these different points are going to be added to our code. (Like what is happening for antlib). Cheers, Antoine --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
