is it possible to skip junit tests in ant build script?

Question

I downloaded a large project that uses ant to build and it runs an extensive number of junit tests each time after compilation. Is there a way to by pass all those tests without changing every individual build file?

Answer 1

Any decent ANT build file should have well defined execution targets that can be called individually and declare dependencies to other targets if needed, basically something like this:

<project default="unitTests">

    <target name="clean">
        <echo message="Cleaning..." />
    </target>

    <target name="compile" depends="clean">
        <echo message="Compiling..." />
    </target>

    <target name="unitTests" depends="compile">
        <echo message="Testing..." />
    </target>

</project>

The default target (specified in the <project> tag) is usually the most comprehensive task that compiles the project and ensures integrity of the application by also running unit tests.

If your project's build file is constructed like that, then it's a matter of running ANT with the compile target and that will skip the tests. If it isn't built like that then there is no other way than to change the build file and separate the unit tests into it's own target that is not the default.