variable in depends?

[derek moose]

i want to use a variable in depends.
i.e.

<property name="listOfDepends" value="x,y,z"/>
<target name="foo" depends="${listOfDepends}"/>

this doesn't work - is there any other way i can achieve this effect?
(what i want to do is have the ant script parse eclipse's .classpath information and alter the dependencies automatically).
any help appreciated.

[eammon bannon]

Ant does give you conditional logic - see the <condition /> tag. You can set a property and check its value this way. It means that instead of your target depending on something else, it would always run, but conditionalliy based on this property. Something like:

<target name="MyTarget">
   <condition property="some.property.you.set.earlier">
     ... some actions
   </condition>
   
   <!-- you could also add:
   <fail unless="some.property.you.set.earlier">
      An error message
    </fail> -->
</target>

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by eammon bannon:
Ant does give you conditional logic - see the <condition /> tag. You can set a property and check its value this way. It means that instead of your target depending on something else, it would always run, but conditionalliy based on this property. Something like:

<target name="MyTarget">
   <condition property="some.property.you.set.earlier">
     ... some actions
   </condition>
   
   <!-- you could also add:
   <fail unless="some.property.you.set.earlier">
      An error message
    </fail> -->
</target>

Sorry, that's wrong - the condition task *sets* the property based on the conditions specified inside. It doesn't execute any "actions".

[eammon bannon]

Woops! I'll remind myself of the documentation before posting in future. Cheers for the correction Ilja.