>
> VB> - The original aim of this submission is to make Argument a true
> VB> DataType, that can exist under a project just like a Path or a
> VB> FileSet.
>
> In which way would this be used? I don't really see the benefit of
> <arg refid="otherarg"/> over <arg value="${otherarg}"/>.
>
> I've seen that the proposed Argument class can hold nested arguments.
> Do you have a use case for this? I rarely encounter two exec or java
> tasks holding the same arguments (even as a subset). The situations
> where I do are the ones I tried to address with execon.
>
My biggest case for Argument as a full type is when you are compiling multiple
executables
that share a number of arguments. This is a common occurence when you use java
security,
and JAAS in particular:
-Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy=some.file
-Djava.security.auth.policy=some.other.file
-Djava.security.auth.login.config=yet.another.file
Another case is when you are trying to run some of the programs you compile
directly from Ant,
taking advantage of the environment you have. You can get a heap of shared
arguments.
These are some arguments used by Visibroker:
-Dvbroker.agent.port=15555 -Dvbroker.agent.addr=127.0.0.1
-Dorg.omg.CORBA.ORBClass=com.inprise.vbroker.orb.ORB
-Dorg.omg.CORBA.ORBSingletonClass=com.inprise.vbroker.orb.ORB
Finally you often want to have collection of files passed in an argument. Those
files may already be
conveniently arranged in a class path, or in a FileSet.
> VB> - I also wanted references to Path to Argument, to FileSet to be
> VB> meaningful, with an Argument being able to reference a Path for
> VB> example.
>
> Sounds reasonable - but adding pathref and filesetref attributes to
> arg would suffice, doesn't it?
>
If you are trying to build a Path from a reference to an Argument, we are
missing a piece in the current implementation.
> VB> - A Property can now reference a Path, an Argument, or a FileSet
> VB> and, optionally, specify a custom separator.
>
> What would a property referring to a Path, an Argument or a FileSet be
> used for? I cannot think of a use case other than echoing it or
> something like this - maybe my fantasy is too limited 8^).
>
To manufacture a batch or shell script using the exact same arguments you have
used to run your program within Ant.
Properties being able to reference various datatypes alleviate the need for
templates for repetitious tasks as they can
server as place holders.
> VB> - The class PathElement is gone,
>
> I'd rather remove the path and location attributes from path to force
> people to use pathelement.
>
The *Java* class PathElement is gone. I have no attachement to *XML* tag names.
All I was saying there was, the inner class PathElement of Path was no longer
needed since a Path could contain a
Path. This is just an implementation detail.
> VB> - If we allow universal reference, a Task then becomes a sort of
> VB> DataType too.
>
> How would one want to use this - as a DataType I mean, I know of
> several ways a reference to a task might be used - by <script>s for
> example.
>
Again, this could be useful as a poor man's template mechanism (and a lot
easier to implement).
I hope this helps.
Vincent.
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