[Javaweb-people] more compilation stuff

[Nic Ferrier]

I've been struggling with the number of projects I'm working on all
requiring java compilation.

I like to use the @filelist makefile system that I developed a while
ago - it's quick and easy and offers a certain amount of dependancy
tracking fairly cheaply.

The trouble is the maintenance of the makefiles is not easy because
they have differing requirements as to the jar files that need to be
built and how they need to be built.


I've just written the attached script which helps to automate the
java compilation bit of makefiles. The idea is that a jar file has a
number of dependancies:

- a set of source files
- a compilation directory where the source files become class files
- a manifest
- a classpath of jar files and class directories

with those 4 bits of information any jar file can be
constructed. This template system takes a similar approach to
automake by requiring the user to specify a target and the attached
variables, eg:


paperclips.jar:
        sourcedir=/home/nferrier/myprojects/paperclips/src
        sourcefiles=`find $sourcedir -name "*.java" -print`
        classpath=$(wildcard lib/*.jar)
        classesdest=/home/nferrier/myprojects/paperclips/classes
        manifest=/home/nferrier/myprojects/paperclips/lib/manifest.mf

As you can see, command substitution and Make functions can be
intermixed (command subst actually gets translated to Make's $(shell)
function).


If the above was in a file called:

  Makefile.aj

then you could generate a real Makefile by doing this:

  automakejar Makefile


The essential idea is the same as with automake (I'm pretty sure the
same thing could be achieved with automake, but I don't know enough
about automake to get that job done). I'll have to maintain all the
rest of my Makefile code, but that is generally pretty static.

I'm posting this here so that people can take a look at it and pick
holes if they want. It would be great if someone could suggest how I
might implement this with automake.


Nic

automakejar.sh
Description: auto java compile magic