Gradle - Add folder to Eclipse classpath

Question

I am migrating a legacy application from Ant to Gradle. The requirement is to build a zip file with a certain folder structure which is used by the deployment team. I am able to create the zip file in the correct format, so-far-so-good.

I am able to open the project in Eclipse, but cannot run it. In Eclipse (and IntelliJ) I need src/main/conf to be added to Eclipse's classpath, but not be included in the JAR (e.g. if I were to run gradle jar).

This is how the project is currently structured:

src
    /main
        /java
            /com
                /example
                    /App.java
        /resources
            /applicationConfiguration.xml
        /conf
            /dev.properties
            /staging.properties
            /prod.properties

How can I add the conf folder to Eclipse's classpath so that it is not included in the JAR that Gradle creates?

Answer 1

Given the limitations of Gradle's EclipseClasspath API, the most straightforward solution I can think of is to declare src/main/conf as another source directory:

sourceSets.main.java.srcDir "src/main/conf"

As long as the directory doesn't contain any Java files, this won't affect the outcome of the Gradle build. However, the directory will show up as a source directory in Eclipse, and its properties files will therefore be copied into the Eclipse output directory.

Answer 2

Another tip. If you need it to run in Eclipse WTP, then I set the sourceDirs property of eclipse.wtp.component:

eclipse {

    project {
        natures 'org.eclipse.wst.common.project.facet.core.nature',
                'org.eclipse.wst.common.modulecore.ModuleCoreNature',
                'org.eclipse.wst.jsdt.core.jsNature'

        name 'blah-blah'

    }

    wtp {
        facet {
            facet type: 'fixed', name: 'wst.jsdt.web'
            facet name: 'java', version: '1.7'
            facet name: 'jst.web', version: '3.0'
            facet name: 'wst.jsdt.web', version: '1.0'
        }

        component {

            sourceDirs = new HashSet([
                    new File(project.getProjectDir().getAbsolutePath() + "/src/main/java"),
                    new File(project.getProjectDir().getAbsolutePath() + "/src/main/resources"),
                    new File(project.getProjectDir().getAbsolutePath() + "/src/main/conf")
            ])
        }
    }