I'm currently involved in the same conversion, with an extremely complicated build process. We have many targets, all sorts of custom compilers we use, scripts we run, not the most ideal directory structure, not the best separation of source code from generated code from compiled code, etc, etc.
As Diane said, one of the keys is to not try to duplicate your Make process exactly. While my new Ant build file has a general list of targets somewhat resembling what our Makefile had, it also does a lot of things differently, simply because Ant works differently (as well as I've cleaned some things up :) Also, it's worth using/looking at Ant 1.5, since the "selector" stuff can be really handy in further fine tuning file sets and so on. I haven't had any problems with 1.5, even though it's "beta". And finally, download the source to various other Jakarta projects like Tomcat, or get JDOM source, and look at their build files for ideas. A lot will really depend on how complicated your makefile is. If you have a nice directory structure and you have a pure Java application, it should really be pretty trivial to set it up with Ant. While our process is still complicated (not due to Ant or make), I still find reading the Ant build file both clearer and more intuitive. -----Original Message----- From: Diane Holt [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 5:59 PM To: Ant Users List Subject: Re: Convert Makefile to Ant --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I am a new learner to Ant. Currently I am working on converting > Makefile to Ant on Unix. Could someone share some experience, procedure > or even program with me, about how to make this convertion. Any help > will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance. Best first advice I could give would be: Don't try to just duplicate your Make-based process in Ant -- they're very different tools. (Think: round hole, square peg :) For additional info, peruse the list archives, cruise the links on the Resources page off of Ant's home page, and search the web for other Ant-related articles. Oh yes -- and read the doc :) Maybe not cover-to-cover at one sitting, but at least look through the Tasks Overview page, and of course the Using Ant and Running Ant sections, and the Concepts & Types section. Then just start having at it -- learning by doing is usually the best way to go. If you run into snags, ant-user is a great list, with lots of people who are always willing to provide helpful answers. Diane ===== ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
