I realize that the elements that support if conditions (like the include elements in a fileset OR target elements themselves) are expecting a simple ant property. ANT then will do the very simple existence check on that property. If it has been defined, the if condition returns true and the unless condition returns false. I have always wished that the if and unless conditions supported full Boolean expressions. Usually the response to this request is to use the condition task and preprocess a complex Boolean expression condition into a single property to set. This is fine, but sometimes it is more efficient to just want to put the expression right in the if/unless condition itself.
I would like to propose that ANT include JEP 2.4.1 jar into the ANT distribution. JEP 2.4.1 is the last known version of this very handy mathematical expression parser/evaluator that was open source and GPL'ed. All newer versions are commercial. By including JEP jar into the ANT distribution, supporting full Boolean expressions in if/unless conditions would be trivial since all the hard grammar parsing and evaluating is already handled by JEP. Just a suggestion. --- Shawn Castrianni ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail, including any attached files, may contain confidential and privileged information for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, use, distribution, or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient (or authorized to receive information for the intended recipient), please contact the sender by reply e-mail and delete all copies of this message.
