@@ -5,11 +5,72 @@
<body>
<h2><a name="xmlproperty">XmlProperty</a></h2>
<h3>Description</h3>
<p>
Loads property values from a valid xml file.
Loads property values from a valid xml file. This XML property file:
<pre>
<root>
<properties>
<foo>bar</foo>
</properties>
</root>
</pre>
is roughly equivalent to this java property file:
<pre>
root.properties.foo = bar
</pre>
<p>
By default, this load
does <em>no</em> processing of the input. In particular, unlike the
<a href="property.html">Property task</a>, property references
(i.e., ${foo}) are not resolved.
<p>
<a name="semanticAttributes">
<h3>Semantic Attributes</h3>
</a>
Input processing can be enabled by using the <b>semanticAttributes</b>
attribute. If this attribute is set to <i>true</i> (its default is
<i>false</i>), the following processing occurs as the input XML file
is loaded:
<ul>
<li>Property references are resolved.</li>
<li>The following attriubtes are treated differently:
<ul>
<li><b>id</b>: The property is associated with the given id value.</li>
<li><b>location</b>: The property is treated as a file location</li>
<li><b>refid</b>: The property is set to the value of the
referenced property.</li>
<li><b>value</b>: The property is set to the value indicated.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="../using.html#path">Path-like Structures</a> can be defined
by use of the following attributes:
<ul>
<li><b>pathid</b>: The given id is used to identify a path. The
nested XML tag name is ignored. Child elements can be used
(XML tag names are ignored) to identify elements of the path.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
For example, with semantic attribute processing enabled, this XML property
file:
<pre>
<root>
<properties>
<foo location="bar"/>
<quux>${root.properties.foo}</quux>
</properties>
</root>
</pre>
is roughly equivalent to the following fragments in a build.xml file:
<pre>
<property name="root.properties.foo" location="bar"/>
<property name="root.properties.quux" value="${root.properties.foo}"/>
</pre>
</p>
<h3>Parameters</h3>
@@ -31,29 +92,51 @@ Loads property values from a valid xml file.
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">keepRoot</td>
<td valign="top">If false, it doesn't include the xml root tag as a first
value in the property name.</td>
<td valign="top">Keep the xml root tag as the
first value in the property name.</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>true</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">validate</td>
<td valign="top">If true, it enables validation .</td>
<td valign="top">Validate the input file .</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>false</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">collapseAttributes</td>
<td valign="top">If true, it treats attributes as nested elements.</td>
<td valign="top">Treat attributes as nested elements.</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>false</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">semanticAttributes</td>
<td valign="top">Enable special handling of certain attribute names.
See the <a href="#semanticAttributes">Semantic Attributes</a>
section for more information.</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>false</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">includeSemanticAttribute</td>
<td valign="top">Include the semantic attribute name
as part of the property name. Ignored if
<i>semanticAttributes</i> is not set to <i>true</i>.
See the <a href="#semanticAttributes">Semantic Attributes</a>
section for more information.</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>false</i>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top">rootDirectory</td>
<td valign="top">The directory to use for resolving file references. Ignored
if <i>semanticAttributes</i> is not set to <i>true</i>.</td>
<td valign="top" align="center">No, default is <i>${basedir}</i>.</td>
</tr>
</table>
<a name="examples">
<h3>Examples</h3>
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml" /></pre>
</a>
<h4>Non-semantic Attributes</h4>
<p>Load contents of somefile.xml as Ant properties,
generating the property names from the
file's element and attribute names.</p>
<p>Here is an example xml file that does not have any semantic attributes.</p>
<pre>
<root-tag myattr="true">
@@ -62,28 +145,110 @@ file's element and attribute names.</p>
</root-tag>
</pre>
<p>This is an example xml file.</p>
<pre> root-tag(myattr)=true
<h5>default loading</h5>
<p>This entry in a build file:
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml" /></pre>
is equivalent to the following properties:
<pre>
root-tag(myattr)=true
root-tag.inner-tag=Text
root-tag.inner-tag(someattr)=val
root-tag.a2.a3.a4=false
</pre>
<p>These are the properties loaded by this task from the previous example file.</p >
<h5>collapseAttributes=false</h5 >
<p>This entry in a build file:
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml" collapseAttributes="true"/></pre>
<p>Load contents of somefile.xml as Ant properties collapsing attributes as nodes.</p>
<pre> root-tag.myattr=true
is equivalent to the following properties:
<pre>
root-tag.myattr=true
root-tag.inner-tag=Text
root-tag.inner-tag.someatt=val
root-tag.a2.a3.a4=false
</pre>
<p>These are the properties loaded by this task from the previous example file, with
attribute collapsing true.</p>
<h5>keepRoot=false</h5>
<p>This entry in a build file:
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml" keepRoot="false"/></pre>
is equivalent to the following properties:
<pre>
inner-tag=Text
inner-tag(someattr)=val
a2.a3.a4=false
</pre>
<h4>Semantic Attributes</h4>
<p>Here is an example xml file that has semantic attributes.</p>
<pre>
<root-tag>
<version value="0.0.1"/>
<build folder="build">
<classes id="build.classes" location="${build.folder}/classes"/>
<reference refid="build.classes"/>
</build>
<compile>
<classpath pathid="compile.classpath">
<pathelement location="${build.classes}"/>
</classpath>
</compile>
<run-time>
<jars>*.jar</jars>
<classpath pathid="run-time.classpath">
<path refid="compile.classpath"/>
<pathelement path="${run-time.jars}"/>
</classpath>
</run-time>
</root-tag>
</pre>
<h5>default loading (semanticAttributes=true)</h5>
<p>This entry in a build file:
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml"
semanticAttributes="true"/></pre>
is equivalent to the following entries in a build file:
<pre>
<property name="version" value="0.0.1"/>
<property name="build.folder" value="build"/>
<property name="build.classes" location="${build.folder}/classes" id="build.classes"/>
<property name="build.reference" refid="build.classes"/>
<property name="run-time.jars" value="*.jar/>
<classpath id="compile.classpath">
<pathelement location="${build.classes}"/>
</classpath>
<classpath id="run-time.classpath">
<path refid="compile.classpath"/>
<pathelement path="${run-time.jars}"/>
</classpath>
</pre>
<h5>includeSemanticAttribute="true"</h5>
<p>This entry in a build file:
<pre> <xmlproperty file="somefile.xml"
semanticAttributes="true"
includeSemanticAttribute="true"/>
</pre>
is equivalent to the following entries in a build file:
<pre>
<property name="version.value" value="0.0.1"/>
<property name="build.folder" value="build"/>
<property name="build.classes.location" location="${build.folder}/classes"/>
<property name="build.reference.refid" refid="build.location"/>
<property name="run-time.jars" value="*.jar/>
<classpath id="compile.classpath">
<pathelement location="${build.classes}"/>
</classpath>
<classpath id="run-time.classpath">
<path refid="compile.classpath"/>
<pathelement path="${run-time.jars}"/>
</classpath>
</pre>
<hr/>
Stefan Bodewig