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From: rubys@us.ibm.com
To: ant-dev@jakarta.apache.org
Message-ID: <85256893.0074FC4B.00@d54mta04.raleigh.ibm.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 16:13:09 -0500
Subject: Re: ANT semantics and power
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Costin wrote:
>
> Wrong use of property and ant. You use it as a programming language, it's
> not a variable, property is used to define constants. Since it's a
> constant it can be set anytime.( and must be set before anything else is
> executed )

If properties are intended to be constants, then properties should not be
tasks, nor should their definitions be allowed to be nested inside of
targets.  If this is the case, then I'll go back and undo my changes of
this morning to the various build.xml files and add logic to Ant to enforce
this.  Similar arguments could be made for Available, Filter, and Tstamp.

Alternatively, I gather that the collective expectations are that
properties *are* in fact a task, and this implies that their values will
change at runtime.

- Sam Ruby