diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 8375ecf8c..abf634bd4 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -156,6 +156,23 @@ Changes that could break older environments:
adapt (by overriding the new two-arg processFile method).
Bugzilla Report 23243.
+ * A new property syntax can be used to set attributes from
+ references: ${ant.ref:some-reference}
+
+ In most cases this will yield the exact same result as
+ ${toString:some-reference} - only when an attribute setter method
+ accepts an object type other than string and the project's
+ reference is an Object of matching type the new syntax will pass in
+ that object.
+
+ If your build file already contains properties whose name starts
+ with "ant.ref:" there is a potential for collision. If your
+ property has been set, normal property expansion will take
+ precedence over the new syntax. If the property has not been set
+ and a reference with the postfix of your property name exists
+ (i.e. in a very unlikely event) then the new syntax would yield a
+ different result (an expanded property) than Ant 1.7.1 did.
+
Fixed bugs:
-----------
diff --git a/docs/manual/using.html b/docs/manual/using.html
index c58832cc5..a8f87e785 100644
--- a/docs/manual/using.html
+++ b/docs/manual/using.html
@@ -804,6 +804,31 @@ For example, here is how to get a listing of the files in a fileset,
There is no guarantee that external types provide meaningful information in such
a situation
+
+
+Any Ant type which has been declared with a reference can also be
+ used as a property by using the ${ant.refid:}
+ operation, with the name of the reference listed after
+ the ant.refid: text. The difference between this
+ operation and ${toString:} is
+ that ${ant.refid:} will expand to the referenced object
+ itself. In most circumstances the toString method will be invoked
+ anyway, for example if the ${ant.refid:} is surrounded
+ by other text.
+
+This syntax is most useful when using a task with attribute setters
+ that accept objects other than String. For example if the setter
+ accepts a Resource object as in
+
+public void setAttr(Resource r) { ... }
+
+then the syntax can be used to pass in resource subclasses
+ preciously defined as references like
+
+ <url url="http://ant.apache.org/" id="anturl"/>
+ <my:task attr="${ant.refid:anturl}"/>
+
Ant supports a plugin mechanism for using third party tasks. For using them you
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
index 133475bc8..c436657e9 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/PropertyHelper.java
@@ -220,6 +220,20 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements GetProperty {
}
};
+ /**
+ * @since Ant 1.8.0
+ */
+ private static final PropertyEvaluator FROM_REF = new PropertyEvaluator() {
+ private final String PREFIX = "ant.refid:";
+ private final int PREFIX_LEN = PREFIX.length();
+
+ public Object evaluate(String prop, PropertyHelper helper) {
+ return prop.startsWith(PREFIX) && helper.getProject() != null
+ ? helper.getProject().getReference(prop.substring(PREFIX_LEN))
+ : null;
+ }
+ };
+
private Project project;
private PropertyHelper next;
private Hashtable delegates = new Hashtable();
@@ -245,6 +259,7 @@ public class PropertyHelper implements GetProperty {
* Default constructor.
*/
protected PropertyHelper() {
+ add(FROM_REF);
add(TO_STRING);
add(SKIP_DOUBLE_DOLLAR);
add(DEFAULT_EXPANDER);
diff --git a/src/tests/antunit/core/ref-propertyhelper-test.xml b/src/tests/antunit/core/ref-propertyhelper-test.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..25f398e41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/antunit/core/ref-propertyhelper-test.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+