SUMMARY:
Using the "full" syntax, [project's name attribute].[target], to
reference targets causes builds to fail unless that target exists in
more than one build file! Can anyone explain why this is the case?
BACKGROUND:
I've begun using Ant 1.6-based constructs to break up large build
files, I may have found a bug, certainly the behavior is a mystery to
me. I've googled and searched bugzilla with no success, I'd like to
hear from the experts before reporting this as a bug.
[ Aside: What's the right terminology for the 1.6 target names
which are prefixed with their project name's? The "fully
qualified" concept, like a file path, comes to mind. Does it
make sense in the Ant target name context? Knowing the correct
term would have made my searches more useful. ]
Consider this example:
helper.xml
----------
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project name="helper">
<target name="init">
<echo message="1. helper init"/>
</target>
</project>
build.xml
-----------
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project name="main" default="go">
<import file="helper.xml" />
<target name="init" depends="helper.init">
<echo message="2. main init"/>
</target>
<target name="go" depends="init">
<echo message="3. Run build!" />
</target>
</project>
Here I show how this works as expected:
$ ant -version
Apache Ant version 1.6.5 compiled on June 2 2005
$ ant
Buildfile: build.xml
helper.init:
[echo] 1. helper runs init
init:
[echo] 2. main init
go:
[echo] 3. Run build!
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 0 seconds
BUT, if I give the init target a different name, IN EITHER FILE, and
continue to use the helper.[target] syntax for naming targets in the
depends attribute, the build fails!! That is, if I change build.xml
to:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project name="main" default="go">
<import file="helper.xml" />
<target name="main-init" depends="helper.init">
<echo message="2. main init"/>
</target>
<target name="go" depends="main-init">
<echo message="3. Run build!" />
</target>
</project>
...then this failure results:
$ ant
Buildfile: build.xml
BUILD FAILED
Target `helper.init' does not exist in this project. It is used from target
`main-init'.
Total time: 0 seconds
Seems that the target named "helper.init" only works there is another
init target somewhere. Even a dummy/unused target is enough to make
the failure go away. Adding:
<target name="init" /> <!-- dummy -->
...anywhere in the main build.xml makes the above error go away.
This issue surfaced because I'd like to structure our build files so a
"global.init" target is always depended upon regardless of whether a
project has added their own local "init" target.
I conclude that you can only use the "fully qualified" target naming
scheme to when distinguishing ambiguity is required. Does anyone else
think this is a bug? Thanks in advance.
--Cyril
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