@@ -28,13 +28,13 @@
<p>Properties are key-value pairs where Apache Ant tries to expand <code>${key}</code>
to <code>value</code> at run time.</p>
<p>There are many tasks that can set properties, the most common one is
<p>There are many tasks that can set properties; the most common one is
the <a href="Tasks/property.html">property</a> task. In addition properties can be defined
via <a href="running.html">command line arguments</a> or similar mechanisms from outside of
Ant.</p>
<p>Normally property values can not be changed, once a property is set, most tasks will not allow
its value to be modified. In general properties are of global scope, i.e. once they have been
<p>Normally property values can not be changed: once a property is set, most tasks will not allow
its value to be modified. In general properties are of global scope, i.e., once they have been
defined they are available for any task or target invoked subsequently—it is not possible
to set a property in a child build process created via
the <a href="Tasks/ant.html">ant</a>, <a href="Tasks/antcall.html">antcall</a>
@@ -74,12 +74,12 @@
<dd>the name of the currently executing project's default target; it is set via
the <var>default</var> attribute of <code><project></code>.</dd>
<dt><code>ant.project.invoked-targets</code></dt>
<dd>a comma separated list of the targets that have been specified on the command line (the IDE,
an <code><ant></code> task ...) when invoking the current project.<br/> This property
is set properly when the first target is executed. If you use it in the implicit target
(directly under the <code><project></code> tag) the list will be empty if no target has
been specified while it will contain the project's default target in this case for tasks
nested into targets.</dd>
<dd>a comma-separated list of the targets that have been specified (on the command line, inside
of an IDE, by an <code><ant></code> task, etc ...) when invoking the current
project.<br/>This property is set properly when the first target is executed. If you use it in
the implicit target (directly under the <code><project></code> tag) the list will be
empty if no target has been specified while it will contain the project's default target in
this case for tasks nested into targets.</dd>
<dt><code>ant.java.version</code></dt>
<dd>the JVM version Ant detected; currently it can hold the
values <q>9</q>, <q>1.8</q>, <q>1.7</q>, <q>1.6</q>, <q>1.5</q>, <q>1.4</q>, <q>1.3</q>
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
PropertyHelper and its delegates from the context of the Ant buildfile.</p>
<p>There are three sub-interfaces of <code class="code">Delegate</code> that may be useful to
implement. </p>
implement: </p>
<ul>
<li><code>org.apache.tools.ant.property.PropertyExpander</code> is responsible for finding the
@@ -150,11 +150,10 @@
for setting properties.
<p>This is the interface you'd implement if you want to provide your own storage independent
of Ant's project instance—the interface represents the read ing end. An example for
of Ant's project instance—the interface represents the writ ing end. An example for
this would be <code class="code">org.apache.tools.ant.property.LocalProperties</code> which
implements storage for <a href="Tasks/local.html">local properties</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The default <code class="code">PropertyExpander</code> looks similar to:</p>
@@ -204,7 +203,7 @@ public class ToStringEvaluator implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
<p>In its default configuration Ant will expand the text <q>$$</q> to a single <q>$</q> and
suppress the normal property expansion mechanism for the text immediately following it,
i.e. <samp>$${key}</samp> expands to <samp>${key}</samp> and not <code>value</code> even though
i.e., <samp>$${key}</samp> expands to <samp>${key}</samp> and not <code>value</code> even though
a property named <code>key</code> was defined and had the value <samp>value</samp>. This can be
used to escape literal <q>$</q> characters and is useful in constructs that only look like
property expansions or when you want to provide diagnostic output like in</p>
@@ -219,7 +218,7 @@ public class ToStringEvaluator implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
<p>In order to maintain backward compatibility with older Ant releases, a single <q>$</q>
character encountered apart from a property-like construct (including a matched pair of french
braces) will be interpreted literally; that is, as <q>$</q>. The "correct" way to specify this
braces) will be interpreted literally, that is, as <q>$</q>. The "correct" way to specify this
literal character, however, is by using the escaping mechanism unconditionally, so
that <q>$$</q> is obtained by specifying <q>$$$$</q>. Mixing the two approaches yields
unpredictable results, as <q>$$$</q> results in <q>$$</q>.</p>
@@ -235,14 +234,14 @@ public class ToStringEvaluator implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
<li>the literal text <samp>}</samp> resulting from the second closing brace</li>
</ol>
<p>This means you can't use easily expand properties whose names are given by properties, but
<p>This means you can't use easily expand properties whose names are stored in properties, but
there are <a href="https://ant.apache.org/faq.html#propertyvalue-as-name-for-property"
target="_top">some workarounds</a> for older versions of Ant. <em>Since Ant 1.8.0</em> using
the <a href="https://ant.apache.org/antlibs/props/" target="_top">props Antlib</a> you can
configure Ant to use the <code class="code">NestedPropertyExpander</code> defined there if you
need such a feature.</p>
<h2>Expanding a "Property Name" </h2>
<h2>Expanding a Property Reference </h2>
<p>In its most simple form <samp>${key}</samp> is supposed to look up a property
named <code>key</code> and expand to the value of the property.
@@ -254,13 +253,13 @@ public class ToStringEvaluator implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
<h3 id="toString">Getting the value of a Reference with <samp>${toString:}</samp></h3>
<p>Any Ant type which has been declared with a reference can also its string value extracted by
using the <samp>${toString:}</samp> operation, with the name of the reference listed after
<p>Any Ant type item which has been declared with a reference can also its string value extracted
by using the <samp>${toString:}</samp> operation, with the name of the reference listed after
the <code>toString:</code> text. The <code class="code">toString()</code> method of the Java
class instance that is referenced is invoked—all built in types strive to produce useful
and relevant output in such an instance.</p>
<p>For example, here is how to get a listing of the files in a fileset, <p>
<p>For example, here is how to get a listing of the files in a fileset: <p>
<pre>
<fileset id="sourcefiles" dir="src" includes="**/*.java"/>
@@ -271,8 +270,8 @@ public class ToStringEvaluator implements PropertyHelper.PropertyEvaluator {
<h3 id="ant.refid">Getting the value of a Reference with <samp>${ant.refid:}</samp></h3>
<p>Any Ant type which has been declared with a reference can also be used as a property by using
the <samp>${ant.refid:}</samp> operation, with the name of the reference listed after
<p>Any Ant type item which has been declared with a reference can also be used as a property by
using the <samp>${ant.refid:}</samp> operation, with the name of the reference listed after
the <code>ant.refid:</code> text. The difference between this operation
and <a href="#toString"><samp>${toString:}</samp></a> is that <samp>${ant.refid:}</samp> will
expand to the referenced object itself. In most circumstances
Gintas Grigelionis