### Generating Ant scripts from the command line

Ant scripts are typically generated using the Plug-in Development Environment (PDE), but it is also possible to generate them by hand or from other scripts.
Indeed PDE exposes Ant tasks to generate the various build scripts. Build script generation facilities reside in the following tasks. Arguments are also listed for each task.

- eclipse.fetch: generates an Ant script that fetches content from a CVS repository. The eclipse fetch is driven by a file whose format is described below (see Directory file format).

  elements : the entry that will be fetched. The format expected is of the form type@id as specified in the directory file format;

  buildDirectory : the directory into which fetch scripts will be generated and into which features and plug-in projects will be checked out;

  directory : the path to a directory file;

  children : optional, specifies whether the script generation for contained plug-ins and fragments should be invoked. Default is set to true;

  cvspassfile : optional, the name of a CVS password file;

  fetchTag : optional, overrides the tag provided in directory file by the given value;

  configInfo : optional, an ampersand separated list of configuration indicating the targeted configuration. The default is set to be platform independent;

  recursiveGeneration : optional, specify whether or not fetch scripts should be generated for nested features. The default is set to true.

- eclipse.buildScript: generates a build.xml file for the given elements.

  elements : the entry to be fetched from the repository. Entry is expected to be of the form type@id as specified in the directory file format;

  buildDirectory : the directory where the features and plug-ins to build are located;

  children : optional, specifies whether the script generation for contained plug-ins and fragments should be invoked. Default is set to true;

  recursiveGeneration : optional, specified whether the script generation for contained features should be invoked. Default is set to true;

  devEntries : optional, a comma separated list of directories to be given to the compile classpath;

  buildingOSGi : optional, indicates if the target is 3.x. or 2.1;

  baseLocation : optional, indicates a folder which contains installed features and folders;

  configInfo : optional, an ampersand separated list of configuration indicates the targeted configuration. The default is set to be platform independent;

  pluginPath : optional, a comma separated list of URLs pointing to installed plug-ins. If specified, this list must include the whole list of plug-ins to be compiled;

  archivesFormat : optional, an ampersand separated list of configs and the expected output format for each of those. The format is separated by a dash (-) from the configuration. The values supported are: folder, tar, zip, antZip, respectively meaning don't archive, use tar to create the archive, use the version of info zip available on the platform, use ant zip . The default value is antZip.

  product : optional, '/' separated path to the location of an RCP product being built. The first segment of the path must refer to the plug-in id of a plug-in containing the .product file.

  signJars : optional, indicates if the scripts generated must sign jars for features and plug-ins. The default value is false. The parameters to the sign task are controlled by the following ant properties: sign.alias, sign.keystore and sign.storepass respectively being passed to the alias, keystore and storepass parameters from the ant signJar task. The default value is false.

  generateJnlp : optional, indicates if a jnlp file should be generated for all the features being built.

  outputUpdateJars : optional, generates plug-ins and features in the update site format when set. The default value is false. Note that the site.xml is not generated nor updated.

  forceContextQualifier : optional, uses the given value to replace the .qualifier being by plug-ins and features.

#### Examples

    <eclipse.fetch elements="bundle@org.eclipse.osgi"
    		buildDirectory="c:\toBuild"
    		directory="directory.txt"
    		configInfo="win32,win32,x86 & linux, motif, x86"
    		/>

    <eclipse.buildScript elements="bundle@org.eclipse.osgi"
    		buildDirectory="c:\toBuild"
    		archivesFormat="macosx, carbon, ppc - tar"/>

### Directory file format

Directory files are used to indicate where the plug-ins and features are located, as well as indicating which version should be fetched. It is a Java property file whose line format is "type@id=version, repositoryLocation, password,path".

- type: a string describing the type of the element. It must be one of the following: plugin, fragment, feature, bundle;
- id: the name of the CVS module where the element is located. Note that the feature/plugin/fragment.xml must be in the root of this module;
- version: an existing version tag in the repository;
- repositoryLocation: a CVS repository location;
- password: optional, a password to connect to this repository;
- path: optional, the cvs module name and path to the element manifest.

#### Example of a directory file

`plugin@org.eclipse.pde.build=v20040622,:pserver:anonymous@dev.eclipse.org:/home/eclipse,
feature@org.eclipse.pde.builder=v20040622,:pserver:anonymous@dev.eclipse.org:/home/eclipse,,org.eclipse.pde.build/feature
plugin@org.eclipse.osgi=v20040617a,:pserver:anonymous@dev.eclipse.org:/home/eclipse,`

### Using the targets

The tasks previously described only work if Eclipse is running. In the particular scenario of executing Ant scripts using Eclipse tasks,the scripts must be run using the Eclipse Ant Runner application. The command line for this particular case is the following:

      java -cp startup.jar org.eclipse.core.launcher.Main -application org.eclipse.ant.core.antRunner -buildfile build.xml

Note that the parameters appearing after the application are the parameters that are passed to Ant.