taskdef class weblogic.ant.taskdefs.management.WLSTTask cannot be found

In my build.xml I have declared

taskdef name="wlst" classname="weblogic.ant.taskdefs.management.WLSTTask"

and I get the blessed error



The solution could simply be adding a "classpath" element to the taskdef:

taskdef classpath="${bea.home}/wlserver_10.3/server/lib/weblogic.jar" name="wlst" classname="weblogic.ant.taskdefs.management.WLSTTask"


In fact taskdef uses the same attributes as typedef

http://ant.apache.org/manual/Tasks/typedef.html

Ant, Junit and the forked JVM

I have a classpath defined as:


<path id="classpath.test">
<fileset dir="lib">
<include name="*.jar"/>
</fileset>
<pathelement location="/path/to/user_projects/domains/acme_osb/config/osb/"/>
</path>


I can trace it this way:

<echo message="${toString:classpath.test}"/>


and I use it in a junit task

<junit printsummary="true">
<classpath refid="classpath.test" />
<formatter type="brief" usefile="false"/>
<test name="com.acme.gu.ft.GUFT" outfile="junitout/GUFT">
<formatter type="xml"/>
</test>
</junit>



The alarming thing is that the Unit test is run NOT with the classpath I specify (classpath.test), but with the classpath being used to run ant.

I can trace it with System.getProperty("java.class.path")


The only way to run the Unit Test with the new Classpath is by specifying fork="on"

<junit printsummary="true" fork="on">


one hour wasted for this....

Hudson and Ant

Ever tried to run unit tests from Ant inside Hudson, and gotten the infamous:

Could not create task or type of type: junit

?

There is a (pathetic, just like everything concerning Ant technology) workaround:

add 

-lib /weblogic/bea10.3/tools/eclipse_pkgs/2.0/eclipse_3.3.2/eclipse/plugins/org.junit4_4.3.1/junit.jar 

before the list of targets you want to be run.

YAPPOS ! (yet another pathetic piece of shit)

ALSO, don't forget to set your Java Otions to:

-DLOCALCLASSPATH=/weblogic/bea10.3/tools/eclipse_pkgs/2.0/eclipse_3.3.2/eclipse/plugins/org.junit4_4.3.1/junit.jar

No wonder why people are migrating to .NET.... 

simple lack of any standardization in Java, everything turns into a complete hack.

Profiling a Ant build by logging with Log4J

You would think it's an easy task to profile your build, but Ant authors simply neglected this feature.
In order to timestamp each step, do this way:

1) create a log4j.properties file and put it in the classpath:

# Set root category priority to INFO and its only appender to CONSOLE.
log4j.rootCategory=DEBUG, CONSOLE
#log4j.rootCategory=DEBUG, CONSOLE, LOGFILE

# Set the enterprise logger category to FATAL and its only appender to CONSOLE.
log4j.logger.org.apache.tools.ant=DEBUG, CONSOLE

# CONSOLE is set to be a ConsoleAppender using a PatternLayout.
log4j.appender.CONSOLE=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.CONSOLE.Threshold=DEBUG
log4j.appender.CONSOLE.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.CONSOLE.layout.ConversionPattern=- %m%n

# LOGFILE is set to be a File appender using a PatternLayout.
log4j.appender.LOGFILE=org.apache.log4j.FileAppender
log4j.appender.LOGFILE.File=axis.log
log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Append=true
log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Threshold=DEBUG
log4j.appender.LOGFILE.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.LOGFILE.layout.ConversionPattern=%-4r [%t] %-5p %c %x - %m%n

2) add to the classpath the log4j.jar file

3) run:
set ANT_OPTS=-Dlog4j.debug -Dlog4j.configuration=file:./log4j.properties
ant -listener org.apache.tools.ant.listener.Log4jListener -verbose -buildfile mybuild.xml build


Terrible, eh?

junit.framework.AssertionFailedError: No tests found in BLA

most likely you forgot to set ANT_HOME to the right value... I am using JUnit4, so I want to use the latest version of Ant:

export ANT_HOME=/weblogic/bea10.3/tools/eclipse_pkgs/2.0/eclipse_3.3.2/eclipse/plugins/org.apache.ant_1.7.0.v200706080842
ant -verbose


and remember to set

export CLASSPATH=/weblogic/bea10.3/tools/eclipse_pkgs/2.0/eclipse_3.3.2/eclipse/plugins/org.junit4_4.3.1/junit.jar


Ant is a piece of crap, JUnit even  more so. Why should a man struggle so much to run Unit Tests.

Beanshell and Ant

forget about doing anything fancy in Ant.
you MUST use:
- if and foreach tasks from ant/contrib project
- beanshell for scripting

From beanshell, you can set a Ant property by doing:

antProjectName.setProperty("myproperty", myvalue);


With these tools, you MIGHT have some chance of getting anything done with Ant. Still, I believe all this is really pathetic, we are in 2009 and we are using pre-WWII technologies.

Ant sucks

big time.
Whoever thinks of accomplishing anything non-trivial with Ant is victim of a self-delusion.
Ant contains no easy way to manipulate typed variables,
no flow control mechanisms
no nothing.
It's distilled pain.

You can easily do the same things in Java, with a lot more reusability, debugging, ease of integration of external frameworks....

XML is not meant to write code, it's meant to represent STATIC DATA. If you code in XML, you might as well wash your clothes in a grinder.

Ant SUCKS!

Running Ant tasks from Java

let's face it, Ant is great but it's a pain in the butt when it comes to writing complex code, with variables, loops, conditions etc.

That's why I love the idea of running Ant tasks directly from Java.

Here is how.

The trick is to bear in mind the Ant object model: A Project contains Targets, a Target contains Tasks. A Task can't run without a Project, otherwise you get a NPE (my compliments to Ant developers for handling so gracefully this exception :o) ).

Of course you can build a "Ant Wrapper" framework on top of this paradygm...

package com.pierre.ant;

import java.io.File;

import org.apache.tools.ant.Project;

import org.apache.tools.ant.Target;

import org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Copy;

public class AntRunner {

public static void main(String[] args) {

AntRunner runner = new AntRunner();

runner.scp();

}

/**

Copy file from a to b, locally

*/

public void scp() {

Project project = new Project();

Target target = new Target();

project.addTarget("ciao", target);

Copy scp = new Copy();

scp.setFile(new File("c:/tmp/vacations.xsd"));

scp.setTodir(new File("c:/temp"));

scp.setProject(project);

target.addTask(scp);

target.execute();

}

}