CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javagroovygradle
mr-sk
mr-sk

Reputation: 13407

Gradle "setup" tasks (pre-build / compile / jar)

Relatively new to java and gradle -- trying to do things "right". Prior to building my application (I've added the gradle "application" plugin) I want to setup some environment and system things -- for example, I'd like to create the log/ directory and log.txt file.

So I'm doing something like: 

task setup {
    println 'Setup task executing ...'

    File d = new File('log');
    d.mkdir();
    f = new File(d.getPath() + '/log.txt');
    f.createNewFile();
}

Which works -- but I get a bunch of stdout warnings when running > gradle setup

Setup task executing ...
Creating properties on demand (a.k.a. dynamic properties) has been deprecated and is scheduled to be removed in Gradle 2.0. Please read http://gradle.org/docs/current/dsl/org.gradle.api.plugins.ExtraPropertiesExtension.html for information on the replacement for dynamic properties.
Deprecated dynamic property: "f" on "task ':setup'", value: "log/log.txt".
:setup UP-TO-DATE

So one question: What is the correct way to leverage Gradle to perform setup / installation tasks? (This should only really be executed once, when the application is deployed)

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2049

Answers (1)

Oliver Charlesworth
Oliver Charlesworth

Reputation: 272507

Ah, you are mixing task configuration and execution. This:

task foo {
    // Stuff
}

is not the same as this:

task foo << {
    // Stuff
}

In the first, "stuff" is run at configuration time, leading to the warnings that you're seeing (because f is interpreted as a project variable during this phase). In the second, it's run at execution time.

(Gradle is great, but this very subtle syntax distinction can be the source of many infuriating bugs!)

As for how to do setup properly, as you're using the Application plugin, you should look into Including other resources in the distribution.

(You should also consider moving the directory-creation logic into your application itself, as ideally you want it to be robust against someone deleting the log directory!)

Upvotes: 5

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