> DW> Why is it not possible to recursively expand names within the XML
> DW> buildfiles?
>
> because you can't 8^).
>
> When Ant encounters a ${xyz} construct it looks up a property of the
> name xyz. It doesn't even try to see whether xyz holds ${} which could
> be translated again.
>
> And I really don't think I'd like to add it, there should always be a
> cleaner way to achieve the same result - a way that'd be far more
> readable. What would you really want to do with it? Do you have a real
> example?
>
Sorry about bringing this one up again, but here's a non-real example, but a
very real reason (IMHO): If I can set a value in Ant, I should also be able to
use it or view it. Therefore, line two below...
1 <property name="fq_prop" value="${prop.outer}.${prop.inner}"/>
2 <property name="${fq_prop}" value="ant.properties"/>
3 <echo message="So we are setting ${fq_prop} equal to ${${fq_prop}}"/>
...shouldn't even be "legal" Ant, should it?
I mean, I could never _use_ that name in my buildfile to ever meaningfully
resolve to "ant.properties", right?
I think that the property task shouldn't permit expansion inside the "name"
attribute if this is the case.
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