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<title>Ant Functional Requirements Document</title> |
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<h2>Ant Functional Requirements</h2> |
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<h3>Roles</h3> |
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<p><b>User: </b>runs Ant with a complete build specification and/or |
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writes Ant build specifications.</p> |
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<p><b>Task Developer: </b>writes/modifies Ant tasks.</p> |
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<p><b>Extensions Developer: </b>develops extensions like a GUI, IDE plugin, |
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(scripting extension?)</p> |
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<p><b>Core Developer: </b>works on the Ant core</p> |
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<h3>Requirements from the Ant User perspective</h3> |
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<p>It should be easy to write a build file for small Java programs. It should |
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be possible to write a build file set for large Java systems. Maintenance |
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of such a set should be easy (e.g. no duplication of information).</p> |
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<p>Every build process contains dependencies (e.g. item A needs B to be available |
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before its own build can start). It should be possible to specify these |
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dependencies in a declarative way.</p> |
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<p>Suppose a working build specification for system A is available. It should |
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be possible for system B to declare dependencies to <i>(modules of?)</i> system |
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A without touching the build specification of A. Ant should be able to handle |
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dependencies between modules which form a DAG.</p> |
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<p>It should be possible to modify details of the actual build (e.g. classpath, |
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used compiler) without the need to change the build specification. This |
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feature is needed when starting Ant (e.g. configuration with command line |
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parameters) and for a subproject build driven by the build of a dependent |
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project.</p> |
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<p>Often similar items have to be built. Therefore it should be possible |
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to provide general <i>(template?)</i> build specifications, and to declare for |
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a concrete item that it should be built according to such a general specification.</p> |
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<p>One result of the build process should be a log which shows what has been done.</p> |
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<h3>Requirements from the task developer perspective</h3> |
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<p>A task should not need to know the structure of a build specification. |
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It would have to provide an interface (not necessarily in the Java language |
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sense) for the Ant core to input the necessary configuration attributes |
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and to execute the task). There should be a standard functionality to allow |
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a task doing log output.</p> |
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<p>An interface (again not necessarily in the Java language sense) should |
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be provided which allows a task to get <i>(and set?)</i> information about it's |
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context in the build process.</p> |
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<h3>Requirements from the extensions developer perspective</h3> |
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<p>The Ant core should be independent from a specific representation of the |
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build specification. It should be possible to create a specification programmatically |
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(thereby allowing the introduction of new representations). The core should |
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do no in- or output itself. Build errors should always lead to throwing |
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an Exception.</p> |
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<p>Access to the current state of a build should be available, and its modification |
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possible.</p> |
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</body> |
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</html> |
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Peter Donald