How to generate build.xml for a new java project?

Question

I am learning about build.xml file for ant build. I have a simple "Hello World" project in Eclipse.

Is there any way to generate a build.xml file in Eclipse for this project?

Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

Yes - click on File -> Export -> General -> Ant Buildfiles and specify the file name, project, etc.

Answer 2

I find that I've got a single generic Ant build.xml that I reuse again and again. It's not something that has to be done from scratch every time.

If you're learning Ant, what's the point of using a generated build.xml?

Something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <project name="xslt-converter" basedir="." default="package">      <property name="version" value="1.6"/>     <property name="haltonfailure" value="no"/>      <property name="out" value="out"/>      <property name="production.src" value="src"/>     <property name="production.lib" value="lib"/>     <property name="production.resources" value="config"/>     <property name="production.classes" value="${out}/production/${ant.project.name}"/>      <property name="test.src" value="test"/>     <property name="test.lib" value="lib"/>     <property name="test.resources" value="config"/>     <property name="test.classes" value="${out}/test/${ant.project.name}"/>      <property name="exploded" value="out/exploded/${ant.project.name}"/>     <property name="exploded.classes" value="${exploded}/WEB-INF/classes"/>     <property name="exploded.lib" value="${exploded}/WEB-INF/lib"/>      <property name="reports.out" value="${out}/reports"/>     <property name="junit.out" value="${reports.out}/junit"/>     <property name="testng.out" value="${reports.out}/testng"/>      <path id="production.class.path">         <pathelement location="${production.classes}"/>         <pathelement location="${production.resources}"/>         <fileset dir="${production.lib}">             <include name="**/*.jar"/>             <exclude name="**/junit*.jar"/>             <exclude name="**/*test*.jar"/>         </fileset>     </path>      <path id="test.class.path">                                     <path refid="production.class.path"/>         <pathelement location="${test.classes}"/>         <pathelement location="${test.resources}"/>         <fileset dir="${test.lib}">             <include name="**/junit*.jar"/>             <include name="**/*test*.jar"/>         </fileset>     </path>      <path id="testng.class.path">         <fileset dir="${test.lib}">             <include name="**/testng*.jar"/>         </fileset>     </path>      <available file="${out}" property="outputExists"/>      <target name="clean" description="remove all generated artifacts" if="outputExists">         <delete dir="${out}" includeEmptyDirs="true"/>         <delete dir="${reports.out}" includeEmptyDirs="true"/>     </target>      <target name="create" description="create the output directories" unless="outputExists">         <mkdir dir="${production.classes}"/>         <mkdir dir="${test.classes}"/>         <mkdir dir="${reports.out}"/>         <mkdir dir="${junit.out}"/>         <mkdir dir="${testng.out}"/>         <mkdir dir="${exploded.classes}"/>         <mkdir dir="${exploded.lib}"/>     </target>      <target name="compile" description="compile all .java source files" depends="create">         <!-- Debug output                 <property name="production.class.path" refid="production.class.path"/>                 <echo message="${production.class.path}"/>         -->         <javac srcdir="src" destdir="${out}/production/${ant.project.name}" debug="on" source="${version}">             <classpath refid="production.class.path"/>             <include name="**/*.java"/>             <exclude name="**/*Test.java"/>         </javac>         <javac srcdir="${test.src}" destdir="${out}/test/${ant.project.name}" debug="on" source="${version}">             <classpath refid="test.class.path"/>             <include name="**/*Test.java"/>         </javac>     </target>      <target name="junit-test" description="run all junit tests" depends="compile">         <!-- Debug output                 <property name="test.class.path" refid="test.class.path"/>                 <echo message="${test.class.path}"/>         -->         <junit printsummary="yes" haltonfailure="${haltonfailure}">             <classpath refid="test.class.path"/>             <formatter type="xml"/>             <batchtest fork="yes" todir="${junit.out}">                 <fileset dir="${test.src}">                     <include name="**/*Test.java"/>                 </fileset>             </batchtest>         </junit>         <junitreport todir="${junit.out}">             <fileset dir="${junit.out}">                 <include name="TEST-*.xml"/>             </fileset>             <report todir="${junit.out}" format="frames"/>         </junitreport>     </target>      <taskdef resource="testngtasks" classpathref="testng.class.path"/>     <target name="testng-test" description="run all testng tests" depends="compile">         <!-- Debug output                 <property name="test.class.path" refid="test.class.path"/>                 <echo message="${test.class.path}"/>         -->         <testng classpathref="test.class.path" outputDir="${testng.out}" haltOnFailure="${haltonfailure}" verbose="2" parallel="methods" threadcount="50">             <classfileset dir="${out}/test/${ant.project.name}" includes="**/*.class"/>         </testng>     </target>      <target name="exploded" description="create exploded deployment" depends="testng-test">         <copy todir="${exploded.classes}">             <fileset dir="${production.classes}"/>         </copy>         <copy todir="${exploded.lib}">             <fileset dir="${production.lib}"/>         </copy>     </target>      <target name="package" description="create package file" depends="exploded">         <jar destfile="${out}/${ant.project.name}.jar" basedir="${production.classes}" includes="**/*.class"/>     </target>  </project>