diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/org/apache/ant/buildtarget/BuildTargetTask.java b/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/org/apache/ant/buildtarget/BuildTargetTask.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cead59f17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/org/apache/ant/buildtarget/BuildTargetTask.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package org.apache.ant.buildtarget;
+
+import org.apache.ant.*;
+
+/**
+ * A simple task that builds a target if a property is set to true
+ *
+ * @author James Duncan Davidson (duncan@apache.org)
+ */
+public class BuildTargetTask extends AbstractTask {
+    
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // PRIVATE DATA MEMBERS
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    
+    /**
+     * Data to echo
+     */
+    private String ifProperty;
+    
+    /**
+     * Target to execute
+     */
+    private String targetName;
+    
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------
+    // PUBLIC METHODS
+    // -----------------------------------------------------------------    
+    
+    /**
+     * Executes this task.
+     */
+    public boolean execute() throws AntException {
+        // XXX should really check internal state before proceeding! Target
+        // has to be set...
+        
+        // XXX oh, and we should really check to see if the target exists
+        // and fail out if it doesn't. :)
+        
+        if (ifProperty != null) {
+            String ifPropertyValue = project.getProperty(ifProperty);
+            if (ifPropertyValue.equals("true")) {
+                project.startBuild(targetName);
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                return true;
+            }
+        } else {
+            project.startBuild(targetName);
+            return true;
+        }
+    } 
+    
+    /**
+     * Sets the property that will be examined
+     */
+    public void setIf(String ifProperty) {
+        this.ifProperty = ifProperty;
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Sets the target to be executed
+     */
+    public void setTarget(String targetName) {
+        this.targetName = targetName;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/taskdef.properties b/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/taskdef.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ecc450666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/coretasks/buildtarget/taskdef.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# taskdef.properties for Echo task
+
+tasks=buildtarget
+task.buildtarget.class=org.apache.ant.buildtarget.BuildTargetTask
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/main.ant b/proposal/anteater/source/main.ant
index cb0b93c44..d56ee636d 100644
--- a/proposal/anteater/source/main.ant
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/main.ant
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@
 
   <description>Primary buildfile for building Ant itself</description>
 
-  <property name="foo" value="bar"/>
+  <property name="foo" value="true"/>
 
   <target name="default" depends="main">
     <echo text="Default Target is Executing"/>
+    <buildtarget target="main" if="foo"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="main">
diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/Project.java b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/Project.java
index 0a522b8e9..f2160a535 100644
--- a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/Project.java
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/Project.java
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ public class Project {
     public void startBuild(String targetName) throws AntException {
         
         // notify FrontEnd that we are starting a build on a project
+        
         frontEnd.notifyProjectStart(this);
         
         Target target = getTarget(targetName);
diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/TaskManager.java b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/TaskManager.java
index b9552a9e0..5d79c4910 100644
--- a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/TaskManager.java
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/TaskManager.java
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ public class TaskManager {
      * Creates a new TaskManager.
      */
     TaskManager(FrontEnd frontEnd) {
-        System.out.println("CREATING TM");
         this.frontEnd = frontEnd;
     }
     
@@ -58,7 +57,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
     /**
      * Adds a node to the task path 
      */
-    public void addTaskPathNode(File file) {
+    public void addTaskPathNode(File file) throws AntException {
         taskPathNodes.addElement(file);
         processTaskPathNode(file);
     }
@@ -141,7 +140,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
     /**
      * Processes a jar file to get class definitions from it
      */
-    private void processJar(File file) {
+    private void processJar(File file) throws AntException {
         frontEnd.writeMessage("Scanning " + file + " for tasks", 
                                        FrontEnd.MSG_LEVEL_LOW);
         try {
@@ -155,8 +154,14 @@ public class TaskManager {
             
                 Enumeration enum = getTaskNames(props);
                 while (enum.hasMoreElements()) {
+
                     String taskName = (String)enum.nextElement();
                     String taskClass = props.getProperty("task." + taskName + ".class");
+                    if (taskClass == null) {
+                        String msg = "No class definition for task " + taskName +
+                                     "in jar file " + file;
+                        throw new AntException(msg);
+                    }
                     URLClassLoader loader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[] {file.toURL()});
                     try {
                         Class clazz = loader.loadClass(taskClass);
@@ -183,7 +188,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
      * Processes a node of the task path searching for task definitions there
      * and adding them to the list of known tasks
      */
-    private void processTaskPathNode(File file) {
+    private void processTaskPathNode(File file) throws AntException {
     
         // task path nodes can be any of the following:
         //     * jar file
@@ -214,7 +219,7 @@ public class TaskManager {
      * system directory, and then installation. This allows users or
      * system admins to override or add tasks.
      */
-    private void setUpTaskPath() {
+    private void setUpTaskPath() throws AntException {
         
         // 1st, add user's home dir.
         
diff --git a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/cli/CLIFrontEnd.java b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/cli/CLIFrontEnd.java
index 53655cfa8..3c6151080 100644
--- a/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/cli/CLIFrontEnd.java
+++ b/proposal/anteater/source/main/org/apache/ant/cli/CLIFrontEnd.java
@@ -141,7 +141,14 @@ public class CLIFrontEnd extends FrontEnd {
                 return;
             } else {
                 // XXX need to separate on path seps so that real paths can be taken
-                taskManager.addTaskPathNode(new File(argTaskpath));
+                try {
+                    taskManager.addTaskPathNode(new File(argTaskpath));
+                } catch (AntException ae) {
+                    System.out.println(ae);
+                    System.out.println(ae.getMessage());
+                    ae.printStackTrace(System.out);
+                    return;
+                }
             }
         }