[kepler-dev] build.xml and JAVA_HOME

[Christopher Brooks]

Hi Aaron,

You modified build.xml with this log message:

  Added a condition to the preinit target to make sure that the
  environment variables are set.  Otherwise, the build fails with a
  message.

The diff is: 

bash-3.00$ cvs diff -r 1.380 -r 1.381 build.xml
Index: build.xml
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/kepler/build.xml,v
retrieving revision 1.380
retrieving revision 1.381
diff -r1.380 -r1.381
4,6c4,6
<  *     '$Author: crawl $'
<  *       '$Date: 2008/04/02 21:09:41 $'
<  *   '$Revision: 1.380 $'
---
>  *     '$Author: aschultz $'
>  *       '$Date: 2008/04/17 23:45:07 $'
>  *   '$Revision: 1.381 $'
118a119,126
>   	<condition property="env_ok">
>   	   <and>
>   	     <isset property="env.PTII"/>
>   	     <isset property="env.KEPLER"/>
>   	     <isset property="env.JAVA_HOME"/>
>   	   </and>
>   	</condition>
>   	<fail message="Environment not initialized: PTII=${env.PTII} KEPLER=${env.KEPLER} JAVA_HOME=${env.JAVA_HOME}" unless="env_ok"/>


This means that we are now requiring JAVA_HOME be set.

It looks like the automatic build is failing, see
ttp://nmi-s003.cs.wisc.edu/nmi/index.php?page=results/runDetails&runid=83360


If JAVA_HOME is not set, then I get this error message:

bash-3.00$ ant run-dev
Buildfile: build.xml

preinit:

BUILD FAILED
/export/home1/cxh/src/kepler/build.xml:126: Environment not initialized: PTII=/home/eecs/cxh/ptII KEPLER=/home/eecs/cxh/src/kepler JAVA_HOME=${env.JAVA_HOME}

Total time: 1 second
bash-3.00$ 

I looked at this message and had no clue that I had to set JAVA_HOME.
Perhaps the error message could be more explicit, perhaps each
variable could be checked separately?

However, it it really necessary that JAVA_HOME be set?  Can't we
determine this programmatically?  The problem is that if the
java in the user's path and JAVA_HOME are different, then there
will be problems.

In Ptolemy II, we compile and invoke ptII/config/JavaHome.java,
which will tell us the value of the java.home property.

What was the error message that you were seeing?  Did it have
to do with compiling PtDoclet.java, which requires
${JAVA_HOME}/lib/tools.jar?

I'm not sure how best to handle this in ant, but is there
a way that ant can compile a Java program and use that value?

I'm somewhat resistant to have the user set JAVA_HOME, I've
found that it ends up causing no end of support problems.

BTW - The ant docs say that JAVA_HOME must be set, but the reality
is that ant works ok without JAvA_HOME being set.  
IMHO - it is a bug in ant that I'm asked to set JAVA_HOME.

_Christopher