[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am still a bit confused as to when a class corresponding to a nested element should inherit from the org.apache.tools.ant.types.DataType class (i.e. the fairly simple org.apache.tools.ant.types.Substitution class). The answer seems to revolve around when one needs to use reference ids.
Exactly. Datatypes are only needed if you want to define them and re-use them - and there are some hairy issues you need to take care of to do it right, I believe, and its best to cut-and-paste an existing datatype and adapt it to your needs to ensure you get the reference stuff implemented properly.
For most custom tasks, using the existing datatypes is sufficient, and then using your own custom classes without making those also "datatypes".
I have access to the Oreilly Ant book via Safari http://safari.oreilly.com but have not found a good answer there.
No comment. :)
I do not yet own Erik and Steve's book published by Manning. Is this question answered well there?
We do not cover writing custom datatypes, although we do cover the existing datatypes extensively, and how to use them in custom tasks.
There is not really much different in writing a custom datatype other than being sure you get the circular reference stuff caught, which is what you'll get by adapting an existing datatype to your own. Give it a shot and let us know if you run into any troubles. The <cc> task at Sourceforge is a great example of some datatypes implemented slickly (the ant-contrib project) - so if you're after something more advanced have a look there too.
Erik
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