--- Peter Donald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Not sure if this is sarcasm or not? Naturally you > can solve it using > dynamic templating. Much like you could write a > webserver in perl or write > a GUI in assembly. Use the right tools for the > problem. The question, is > dynamic templating the right tool?
The fallacy here is that you assume there is one "right" way to write Ant scripts. What works for you may not be right for others, and vice versa. In some circles, any solution, no matter how ugly, is the right one (I'm not one of these :-)). We need to recognize that people think different ways, solve problems different ways, and will run into build scenarios that this team, I, or anyone else on the list cannot anticipate. (Hmmm, ant-icipate. An Ant preprocessor? Sorry, couldn't help it. ;-)) To my way of thinking, the discussion should not center around whether templates (dynamic or static) are "the right thing to do", but rather around how they impact, positively or negatively, the Ant core and therefore the structure and behavior of *all* Ant scripts. There is obviously demand (and therefore need) for this type of functionality, so who are we to say it is "wrong"? If, however, implementing templates would compromise the Ant core (once again, the core code, *not* the "correctness" of scripts), then it can be said that Ant will not support them. It appears to me that <projectref> is a workable solution. Implemented as a task, it has very little impact on the Ant core. Now, I have to say I'm not thrilled with the idea, because as Peter points out, it does break out functionality into many separate files. (However, I fail to see how XSLT templating and configurators don't also do the same. Sure, you can try to read the generated script, but it isn't fun - at least not without reformatting it first.) I would prefer a templating solution that allows (not forces) the build engineer to put everything in one file. However, since this would definitely have a big impact on the Ant core, I would have to say that <projectref> is probably the better idea. roger __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
