Return-Path: Mailing-List: contact dev-help@ant.apache.org; run by ezmlm Delivered-To: mailing list dev@ant.apache.org Received: (qmail 43168 invoked from network); 15 Feb 2003 13:30:16 -0000 Received: from exchange.ignitemedia.com (HELO ignitemedia.com) (207.24.163.39) by daedalus.apache.org with SMTP; 15 Feb 2003 13:30:16 -0000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.0.6249.0 content-class: urn:content-classes:message MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Subject: RE: ant xdocs! it ran! Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2003 07:30:47 -0600 Message-ID: X-MS-Has-Attach: X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: Thread-Topic: ant xdocs! it ran! Thread-Index: AcLU27+PgjHdkDGwTKqQW7JjfzGN5wAGMJ3i From: "Steve Cohen" To: "Ant Developers List" , "Ant Developers List" X-Spam-Rating: daedalus.apache.org 1.6.2 0/1000/N My take on this is hard-nosed. Until we figure out a way to designate = the required/optional distinction, in **all** its complexity, I cannot = consider this an improvement whatever other virtues it may bring to the = table. That simple column is the most useful thing to me about the ant = documentation. I consult it whenever I go to write a build.xml that = uses a task with which I am unfamiliar. I know it isn't easy. A is required unless B, C and D or E is = specified. Not fun. But necessary to any automated solution. Here's a random thought of dubious utility (especially since I have no = idea how you're doing this) - isn't this problem similar to designing a = DTD? -----Original Message----- From: Erik Hatcher [mailto:jakarta-ant@ehatchersolutions.com] Sent: Sat 2/15/2003 4:18 AM To: Ant Developers List Cc:=09 Subject: Re: ant xdocs! it ran! On Friday, February 14, 2003, at 08:41 PM, Jesse Stockall wrote: > On Wednesday, February 12, 2003, at 08:46 PM, Erik Hatcher wrote: >> >> What do you folks think? Where do we go from here with it? > > How is the optional vs required, and default values being handed for =20 > attributes? Some tasks such as the VSS and Pvcs tasks have: > "Attribute description; optional, default false." > Others like CCMReconfigure have "Attribute description (default =20 > false)." Ah, now the fun begins! :) The toughest thing about this is the required/optional designations. =20 Steve and I punted on this a little by just making the description of =20 the attributes say "required" or what the default value is. See this =20 for an example on both attributes: =20 http://nagoya.apache.org/gump/javadoc/ant/proposal/xdocs/build/docs/=20 manual/control/condition.html It would be easy enough to tag the simple tasks with @ant.attribute =20 require=3D"true" (or we could shorten it to @ant.required even). But it = =20 gets more complex than that. Think about the task. Its so =20 overloaded with location/value/file/refid/environment that you have to =20 pick exactly one of them, but none of them are required by themselves. = How would we designate this? Its a non-trivial issue.