Ant exec refactoring

Question

I've this code in my build.xml:

    <exec executable="cmd" osfamily="winnt">
        <arg value="/c"/>
        <arg value="xsltproc\bin\xsltproc.exe"/>
        <arg value="--xinclude"/>
        <arg value="-o"/>
        <arg value="dist/html/main.html"/>
        <arg value="xsl/html/docbook.xsl"/>
        <arg value="xml/main.xml"/>
    </exec>
    <exec executable="xsltproc" osfamily="unix">
        <arg value="--xinclude"/>
        <arg value="-o"/>
        <arg value="dist/html/main.html"/>
        <arg value="xsl/html/docbook.xsl"/>
        <arg value="xml/main.xml"/>
    </exec>

the sequence is the same... I'm wondering about how refactoring this small fragment in order to keep it DRY.

Answer 1

maybe try using a property for the common bits with arg-line? something like this:

<property name="xslt.common" value="--xinclude -o dist/html/main.html xsl/html/docbook.xsl xml/main.xml"/>
<exec executable="cmd" osfamily="winnt">
    <arg value="/c"/>
    <arg value="xsltproc\bin\xsltproc.exe"/>
    <arg line="${xslt.common}"/>
</exec>
<exec executable="xsltproc" osfamily="unix">
    <arg line="${xslt.common}"/>
</exec>

Answer 2

Define a macro.

You can glob the shared portions in an element, and conditionally execute the specific parts.

Answer 3

I think the Unix version will work under NT if you have the xsltproc.exe available in via the PATH environment variable. You could try removing the osfamily and see.