org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.unix

Class Symlink

public class Symlink extends DispatchTask

Creates, Deletes, Records and Restores Symlinks.

This task performs several related operations. In the most trivial and default usage, it creates a link specified in the link attribute to a resource specified in the resource attribute. The second usage of this task is to traverse a directory structure specified by a fileset, and write a properties file in each included directory describing the links found in that directory. The third usage is to traverse a directory structure specified by a fileset, looking for properties files (also specified as included in the fileset) and recreate the links that have been previously recorded for each directory. Finally, it can be used to remove a symlink without deleting the associated resource.

Usage examples:

Make a link named "foo" to a resource named "bar.foo" in subdir:

 <symlink link="${dir.top}/foo" resource="${dir.top}/subdir/bar.foo"/>
 

Record all links in subdir and its descendants in files named "dir.links":

 <symlink action="record" linkfilename="dir.links">
    <fileset dir="${dir.top}" includes="subdir/**" />
 </symlink>
 

Recreate the links recorded in the previous example:

 <symlink action="recreate">
    <fileset dir="${dir.top}" includes="subdir/**/dir.links" />
 </symlink>
 

Delete a link named "foo" to a resource named "bar.foo" in subdir:

 <symlink action="delete" link="${dir.top}/foo"/>
 

LIMITATIONS: Because Java has no direct support for handling symlinks this task divines them by comparing canonical and absolute paths. On non-unix systems this may cause false positives. Furthermore, any operating system on which the command ln -s link resource is not a valid command on the command line will not be able to use action="delete", action="single" or action="recreate", but action="record" should still work. Finally, the lack of support for symlinks in Java means that all links are recorded as links to the canonical resource name. Therefore the link: link --> subdir/dir/../foo.bar will be recorded as link=subdir/foo.bar and restored as link --> subdir/foo.bar.

Method Summary
voidaddFileset(FileSet set)
Add a fileset to this task.
voiddelete()
Delete a symlink.
static voiddeleteSymlink(String path)
Delete a symlink (without deleting the associated resource).
static voiddeleteSymlink(File linkfil)
Delete a symlink (without deleting the associated resource).
voidexecute()
The standard method for executing any task.
voidinit()
Initialize the task.
voidrecord()
Record symlinks.
voidrecreate()
Restore symlinks.
voidsetAction(String action)
Set the action to be performed.
voidsetFailOnError(boolean foe)
Set failonerror mode.
voidsetLink(String lnk)
Set the name of the link.
voidsetLinkfilename(String lf)
Set the name of the file to which links will be written.
voidsetOverwrite(boolean owrite)
Set overwrite mode.
voidsetResource(String src)
Set the name of the resource to which a link should be created.
voidsingle()
Create a symlink.

Method Detail

addFileset

public void addFileset(FileSet set)
Add a fileset to this task.

Parameters: set The fileset to add.

delete

public void delete()
Delete a symlink.

Throws: BuildException on error.

Since: Ant 1.7

deleteSymlink

public static void deleteSymlink(String path)
Delete a symlink (without deleting the associated resource).

This is a convenience method that simply invokes deleteSymlink(java.io.File).

Parameters: path A string containing the path of the symlink to delete.

Throws: FileNotFoundException When the path results in a File that doesn't exist. IOException If calls to File.rename or File.delete fail.

deleteSymlink

public static void deleteSymlink(File linkfil)
Delete a symlink (without deleting the associated resource).

This is a utility method that removes a unix symlink without removing the resource that the symlink points to. If it is accidentally invoked on a real file, the real file will not be harmed, but an exception will be thrown when the deletion is attempted. This method works by getting the canonical path of the link, using the canonical path to rename the resource (breaking the link) and then deleting the link. The resource is then returned to its original name inside a finally block to ensure that the resource is unharmed even in the event of an exception.

Parameters: linkfil A File object of the symlink to delete.

Throws: FileNotFoundException When the path results in a File that doesn't exist. IOException If calls to File.rename, File.delete or File.getCanonicalPath fail.

execute

public void execute()
The standard method for executing any task.

Throws: BuildException on error.

init

public void init()
Initialize the task.

Throws: BuildException on error.

record

public void record()
Record symlinks.

Throws: BuildException on error.

Since: Ant 1.7

recreate

public void recreate()
Restore symlinks.

Throws: BuildException on error.

Since: Ant 1.7

setAction

public void setAction(String action)
Set the action to be performed. May be "single", "delete", "recreate" or "record".

Parameters: action The action to perform.

setFailOnError

public void setFailOnError(boolean foe)
Set failonerror mode. If set to true (default) the entire build fails upon error; otherwise the error is logged and the build will continue.

Parameters: foe If true throw BuildException on error, else log it.

setLink

public void setLink(String lnk)
Set the name of the link. Used when action = "single".

Parameters: lnk The name for the link.

setLinkfilename

public void setLinkfilename(String lf)
Set the name of the file to which links will be written. Used when action = "record".

Parameters: lf The name of the file to write links to.

setOverwrite

public void setOverwrite(boolean owrite)
Set overwrite mode. If set to false (default) the task will not overwrite existing links, and may stop the build if a link already exists depending on the setting of failonerror.

Parameters: owrite If true overwrite existing links.

setResource

public void setResource(String src)
Set the name of the resource to which a link should be created. Used when action = "single".

Parameters: src The resource to be linked.

single

public void single()
Create a symlink.

Throws: BuildException on error.

Since: Ant 1.7