Re: cvs commit: jakarta-cactus/anttasks/src/java/org/apache/cactus/ant RunServerTestsTask.java StartServerHelper.java StopServerHelper.java

[Vladimir Bossicard <vl...@bossicard.com>]

> Properties should (IMHO) be set inside build.xml and
> build.properties is used to override them in exceptional circumstances, but
> is typically not needed.

This is I think a matter of taste.  In a lot of Jakarta projects, external jar files are saved into cvs.  If by pulling the cvs tree, you can compile your project without problems, I agree that in that case, the properties should be placed into the main build.xml file (there's no need to an external build.properties file because everything needed is available in the project's directory).

However, as soon as you don't place your jar files in a 'lib' directory of your cvs repository, there's no point in defining their default location when you don't have any idea where they could be.  In that case, you _have_ to define a build.properties file.

In the end, everything can be resumed in: do we save the external jar files in the cvs repository (and distribute them in our releases) or not.  I know that there is not strict policy for jakarta projects but I personally think that external jars shouldn't be placed in the CVS tree.  That's why I find the solution of an external build.properties file totally ok.  If the developer is not able to figure out what to do with the build.properties file... well I doubt he can really be helpful to the project.

My 2 cents

-Vladimir

--
Vladimir Bossicard
www.bossicard.com

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