Question

I’m working with ant on linux using the command line. I’ve got a simple build step with javac. This compiles correctly but it creates a directory structure under build like my namespace.

ie: ./build/com/crosse/samplespace/SampleProgram.class

How can I get this output into one directory (where it’s easier to call java on it).

I tried

 <target name="output" depends="compile">
            <copy todir="${output}">
                    <fileset dir="${build}" includes="**/*.class"/>
            </copy>
 </target>

but that repeats the same thing in my output directory. How can I use ant to get everything into a single directory?

Alternatively how could I use an ant step to copy another file into the root of that path (an apache commons configuration file)?

Edit: This is mainly a convenience factor, I get tired of navigating through the same 3 directories to run my program.

Answer 1

What about creating a jar file containing all your files (classes and other resources)?
A jar also has a ‘default’ class the main method of which gets executed when the user double clicks it or calls it using java -jar <jar-file>.
You can use the Ant jar task.

Beside that, it is important that you keep your directory structure (outside a jar), otherwise the java class loader won’t be happy when it has to load these classes. Or did I get your question wrong?