On Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 10:22 PM, ritchie <ganesh.devaraj...@baml.com> wrote: > > I am trying to add new attributes to a xml file using classes available in > com.oopsconsultancy.xmltask.ant.XmlTask classes but not able to write to the > file because it is write protected. Is it possible to edit a write protected > xml file using ant script?
First question in my mind is why is this file write protected? Ant is mainly used in CM purposes, and a write protected file is usually write protected for good reasons. Some systems, like Perforce, want you to put the file in "Edit" mode, so they can track which files were changed. Other times, a locked file is due to a commit deadlock that needs to be resolved. As Antoine wrote, you can use "chmod" or "attrib" tasks to change the permissions on this file, but unfortunately, these tasks are operating system specific which makes them problematic to use. You might as well run "exec" on the chmod command or "attrib" command in Unix or Windows. To me, Ant scripts should be as portable as possible. I don't know why Ant itself comes with two separate versions of a command to change the read/write attribute of a file which ends up making Ant scripts operating system dependent. What might be better is to use a "copy" task. You can copy the original file over, make the changes there, then copy it back to where it should be. With the copy task, you can specify the force parameter that will overwrite copy protected files. Plus, you can make sure that all changes in this file have been completed before replacing the file. This can make it easier to restore your system in case something causes your Ant script to fail. Remember Ant scripts can fail for reasons not related to the logic of your Ant script. You could end up with a JVM error or run out of memory. A half written file could cause problems. Plus, you also want to understand the implications if you have this Ant script being executed simultaneously as two separate processes. -- David Weintraub qazw...@gmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: user-unsubscr...@ant.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: user-h...@ant.apache.org
