XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Wolfgang Hoschek <whoschek AT lbl.gov>]

> On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 15:09:25 -0800, Wolfgang Hoschek 
> <whoschek AT lbl.gov> wrote:
> > Here are the details. Note the funny use of the "delete" task and
> > overwrite="true". This fixes a funny ant behaviour, where ant 
> > sometimes
> > seems to be unable to figure out that a file has indeed changed,
> > unfortunately forgetting to copy it.
>
> You could file a defect with ant's bugzilla, but I think it'd be filed
> as invalid
>
> 1. <copy> compares dest to source timestamps, and unless you say
> 'preservelastmodified=true' timestamps the dest to the copy time.
>
> 2. so all following copies wont work as the dest file is newer than
> the source(s), unless you actually edit the source.
>
> 3. You can use the <different> selector in your fileset to compare
> files for byte-for-byte difference; this is actually very fast if the
> file sizes differ.

It seems that a "smart" copy task should look at both timestamp and 
file size, rather than just timestamp.
But I guess this issue has come up for lots of independent users 
before, and presumably the ant guys have good reasons for why they 
don't check file size (e.g. backwards compatility). Any "fix" would 
probably mean it wouldn't work on older ant versions, and as such be of 
limited value.

Anyway, I don't really care how the optional Text.java version ends up 
in it's compile destination. If there's a better patch for build.xml 
that enables the optional Text.java, all the better, send a patch.

> Any build process that overwrites files in the source tree is
> inherently hazardous. Better perhaps to copy to an intermediate dir
> and building from there.

It's copied to and build in an intermediate "build" dir already...