Putting a version number in source code

[Robert Miller]

I'm working on a build process for a Java project which is part of a larger project containing Java and C++ code. I want the Java code to have access to a global version number. If I were doing this in C++ I'd compile it as "g++ -DVERSION=...", but that capability doesn't seem to exist in Java.

Instead, I'm implementing an Ant task as below. Is this the "correct" way of doing things? I haven't seen the <filter> task used this way in any of the documentation I've consulted so I'm a little concerned. I've also noticed that this won't remake the file if the version number changes. How do I get around this? Should I add a task that removes the generated file, that gets called from the scripts that build the full release?

My task is:

<target name="set-version-number">
    <copy file="Version.java.template" tofile="Version.java">
        <filterset>
            <filter token="VERSION" value="${version.number}"/>
        </filterset>
    </copy>
</target>

Thanks!

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Robert Miller:
Instead, I'm implementing an Ant task as below. Is this the "correct" way of doing things? I haven't seen the <filter> task used this way in any of the documentation I've consulted so I'm a little concerned.

Well, it's at least what we are doing, too...

I've also noticed that this won't remake the file if the version number changes. How do I get around this? Should I add a task that removes the generated file, that gets called from the scripts that build the full release?

Yes, deleting the generated file sounds like the right thing to do. I will to look what we are doing tomorow...

[Tim Holloway]

The "depends" task can be used to indicate dependencies.