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Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7
Using Ant with the Samples
This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org). Specifically, the Ant Java[tm]-based build tool is included as part of Sun Java (tm) System Application Server.
 
  » Benefits of Using Ant
  » Ant Environment in Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7
  » Using the Build Facility
  » Custom Ant Tasks
  » Using Sample Build Files in Sun ONE Studio 4

Benefits Of Using Ant

Many server side Java developers have found Ant to be an extremely useful tool for accelerating the development cycle associated with J2EE[tm] applications. Ant contains many built-in functions that relieve the burden of repetitive development tasks. As described in the Ant documentation, "In theory it is kind of like make without make's wrinkles". For more information about Ant, see: 
http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/index.html

Ant Environment in Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7

In the Ant environment, build.xml files are analogous to a Makefiles. A build.xml file can define various targets that are used to compile and assemble a J2EE application. To use Ant with the sample applications provided as part of the application server, you need to ensure that your PATH includes the <install_dir>/bin directory of your application server installation. A simple wrapper script named asant is located in this directory. No further set up is required. 

The following build targets are represented in the build.xml files accompanying the sample applications. The presence or absence of a target depends on the type of J2EE application. Since the Java Pet Store application from Sun Microsystems already includes build.xml files, you might notice that not all of the following targets are represented in the Java Pet Store sample application bundled with the application server.
 
Target Function
compile Compiles all Java source code.
war Assembles the WAR file in <sample_dir>/assemble/war/.
ear Assembles the EAR file in <sample_dir>/assemble/ear/.
core (default)  Compiles all sources, builds stubs/skeletons and assembles EJB[tm] JAR, WAR and EAR files. This is the default target for all build.xml files shipped in the application server.
javadocs Creates Java docs in <sample_dir>/javadocs
all Builds both core and javadocs, verifies, registers resources and deploys app.
deploy  Registers resources, deploys app, but does not install Javadocs.
deploy_common Application deployment only. No resource registration.
undeploy  Removes the deployed sample from application server.
clean Removes <appname>/build/ and <appname>/assemble/ content.
verify  Executes the J2EE application verifier against the sample application. 


Using the Build Facility

1. Set Up Your Environment

In order to use the Ant tool to compile and reassemble the sample applications, you need to ensure that the <install_dir>/bin  directory is in your environment's path (PATH environment variable).

2. Compile and Assemble a Sample Application

Using the simple stateless EJB sample as an example, execute several of the build targets.

Change to the ejb/stateless/simple sample directory:

cd <install_dir>/samples/ejb/stateless/simple/src
Execute the compile target to compile the Java sources:
asant compile
Execute the ear target to assemble the J2EE module files (war and jar) into the EAR file:
asant ear

The ear target's calling war and jar targets for this sample.

Alternatively, you could accomplish all these tasks (compile and ear targets) by simply executing either the core or all targets:
asant core
Since the default build target is core, you could execute ant without arguments to rebuild the entire application: 
asant
3. Additional Build Examples

The following examples demonstrate how one can use the build facility to quickly accomplish recurring development and deployment tasks. 

Build everything including Javadocs and deploy the application: 

asant all
Build everything (except for Javadocs) and then deploy the application (most frequently used approach):
asant core (or simply: asant) 

asant deploy 

Rebuild an EAR After modifying the deployment descriptors (no recompile needed): 
asant ear 

asant deploy_common

Redeploying Applications : To redeploy an application, it is recommended that you use the deploy_common target. Execution of this target will not result in an attempt to register the necessary resources. If you attempt to execute the deploy target several times in succession, then the subsequent deployment attempts may fail because the resources will have already been registered.
common.properties File: In order to deploy sample applications, property settings in the common.properties file under <install_dir>/samples/ must be set to the appropriate values for your environment. If a property contained in this file is not set, you will be prompted for the property's value during the deployment of a sample application. 

See the Creating Your Own Samples Environment section for a detailed description of the properties contained in the common.properties file.

Custom Ant Tasks

The Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7 ships with custom Ant tasks that are part of the build environment for all samples. The following tasks are used in the sample build.xml files:
 
Custom Ant Task Function
sun-appserv-deploy Deploys J2EE modules to the Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7. 
sun-appserv-undeploy Undeploys J2EE components from the Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7. 
sun-appserv-admin Enables arbitrary administrative commands and scripts to be executed on the Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7. 

For more information about these Ant tasks and for a full list of the custom Ant tasks, please see the Sun Java (tm) System Application Server Developer's Guide documentation.

Using Sample Build Files in Sun ONE Studio 4

The Sun ONE Studio 4, Enterprise Edition for Java IDE includes support for Ant build files. To use the IDE to execute the targets contained in the sample application build.xml files, you must ensure that the the JAR file containing the custom Ant tasks for Sun Java (tm) System Application Server 7 is added to the IDE's classpath.

1. Copy the file <install_dir>/lib/sun-appserv-ant.jar from the application server's installation directory to the <ide_install_dir>/modules/patches/org-apache-tools-ant-module/ directory and restart the IDE. 

2. Mount a file system in the IDE that corresponds to a src/ directory of a sample application. For example:

<samples_dir>/jdbc/simple/src
3. Expand the build node under the src/ directory to list the targets available in the sample's build.xml file.

4. Double click the compile target to recompile the sample application.

5. Execute additional targets to experiment with other operations such as deployment and undeployment of applications.

In order to deploy a sample application, ensure that you modify thesamples/common.properties file by setting the admin.password to the appropriate value.

 
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