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I would like to configure an "Ant" External Tool to prompt for Ant targets using the "Run Ant" GUI rather than having to hard code the "tool arguments" ant targets using ${ant_target:...}? I have some build.xml files that must be stored outside the workspace due to Eclipse project nesting constraints. As a result, I can't use the "Run Ant" GUI to invoke them. It would be nice to optionally hook the "Run Ant" GUI to External Tool configurations.
When you are using the New/Edit External Tools dialog, you can press the "Browse Variables" button and select "Ant Targets". This will give you a list of Ant targets you can run (select as many as you want). It will generate the variables for you in the arguments field. You could also create a simple project and for its content location point it to the directory where your ant script files are. Then, they would show up and you could use "Run Ant..."
Yes, I know about the "Browse Variables" feature. But, I have a build.xml file with lots of targets which get used in lots of different combinations. I don't want to create lots of different "tools" with hard-coded targets that attempt to cover all various combinations. I want the target selection to be defined at run-time. In response to your second point, my build.xml file lives at the root of my source tree. I have numerous project directories underneath the root, each of which has a corresponding Eclipse project in the workspace. Unfortunately, Eclipse will not allow me to define a project at the root level since it Eclipse disallows project nestings. Myself and lots of other people previously worked-around this limitation by creating symbolic links from the eclipse data directory to the actual root project directory. With the new External Tools feature, this symbolic linking hack is no longer necessary for most folks, I suspect. Most people use these root projects predominantly for master ant activities. So, it would be very useful if External Tools provided a "Run Ant..." like feature for build.xml files that must live outside the workspace. Does that make sense?
Valid request. Defer until after release 2.0 when the UI will be evaluated for enhancements.
The new external tool support will allow you to configure the tool to prompt for targets before running or you can run a tool and force it to prompt for targets (Run With... action) Note: new external tool work is not yet released to the head stream and won't for a while yet.
This bug has not been fixed.
Need a prompt for targets option for ant scripts. I beleive the generic "prompt for arguments" option/tab should be removed from the Ant launch tabs, and replaced with an Ant specific tab.
In the current code base, there are two features that solve this problem. (1) use the ant view to dynamically select and run targets (2) use the "Run Ant..." action from the navigator menu with a selected ant build file. You will be prompted with the launch config before executing, where you can select targets. Marking as "works for me". Please enter a new bug/feature request if this does not suffice.
