I get the error:
C:\dev\ws\springapp\build.xml:81: Unable to find a javac compiler; com.sun.tools.javac.Main is not on the classpath. Perhaps JAVA_HOME does not point to the JDK. It is currently set to "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6"
But I have clearly set my JAVA_HOME to be C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_14
Where is ANT getting this value?
When you say you have "clearly set" JAVA_HOME to "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_14" - is that what you see when you run "set" from the command line? I believe Ant will guess at a value for JAVA_HOME if one isn't set at all... is it possible that you've set JAVAHOME instead of JAVA_HOME?
If it's nothing like that, I suggest you edit the ant.bat batch file (and whatever it calls - I can't remember whether it's convoluted or not offhand) to print out JAVA_HOME at the start and at various other interesting places.
I hope you are aware about System and User environmental variables. The user ones are preferred over system. If you have set your JAVA_HOME in system variables and if there is an entry for the same in user variables, then you will get the latter one only.
Right click on My computer, Go to properties, Select Advanced tab and click on Environmental variables to see the list of user and system environment variables.