Automate the builds of applications

Use the Rational® Application Developer for WebSphere® Software build utility (the build utility) to automate the process of building applications that are created from IBM® Rational Software Delivery Platform. The inputs into the build utility are projects that are developed using by the workbench, and the output is the code that is compiled and packaged into JAR, WAR and EAR files, which can be then used to compose a Java™ EE application.

Overview

The build utility is an extension of Ant. Ant is a Java-based build tool from the Apache Ant project. Ant is similar to make files, except that instead of using operating system shell-based commands, it uses Java classes to perform its operations. The build scripts are XML files containing targets and specifying the tasks (operations) required for each. Ant comes with many build-in tasks sufficient to perform many common build operations.

Typically, your build script for the build utility is composed of a combination of Ant and custom Ant tasks. Additional Ant tasks has been added to perform operations that are specific to the workbench, for example projectImport, projectBuild, workspaceBuild, ejbDeploy, or earExport.

You can read the following topics before creating your build script for the build utility. They provide planning and technology overview information that might be useful if you are new to Ant in this development environment.

Apache Ant Manual: Learn about building Ant scripts in the Using Ant chapter of the Apache Ant Manual available from the Apache Ant project Web site. In addition, a reference to the standard Ant tasks is available in the Ant Tasks chapter.
Ant support: Learn about creating and running Ant build files from the workbench.
General Ant tasks: Read the reference to the general Ant tasks specific for this workbench.
Ant tasks for Java EE: Read the reference to the Ant tasks for working with Java EE application developed with this workbench.
Ant tasks for EJB-enabled tools: Read the reference to the Ant tasks for working with EJB applications developed with this workbench.

Getting started with automating the building of applications

If you are already familiar with Ant technology, the following topics help you set up your environment for building applications using the Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software build utility.

Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software build utility

Start using the stand-alone build utility, by using this information on packaging, system requirements, installation instructions, and examples of how to set up a stand-alone build utility environment.

Running the build utility within the product

If you do not want to install the build utility as a stand-alone tool, use the build utility that is packaged within this product. The typical usage scenario for the build utility that is included with the product is a developer running the tool on a local installation of the product.

Tip: If you want z/OS® operating system support or your role is build administrator for a group of developers, use the stand-alone version of the build utility. For details see Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software build utility.

Running builds with Rational Team Concert

If you have Rational Team Concert client installed on your workbench, there are a number of tasks that can integrate with the headless build feature, such as:

Setup and run builds from the Rational Team Concert command-line build definition
Setup and run builds from the Rational Team Concert Jazz Ant build definition
Analyze build outcome reports, failures, logs and more using the Builds View

Sample

Use the samples that are included in the installation files for the build utility and are located by default in the BuildUtility\eclipse\samples directory. Alternatively, use the build utility samples included with the IBM Rational Software Delivery platform installation files in <installation_directory>\samples directory. For example on Windows operating systems, c:\Program Files\IBM\SDP\samples or on Linux operating systems, /opt/IBM/SDP/samples.

Running the AutoBuild sample in the stand-alone build utility: Read the instructions on how to run the AutoBuild sample on the stand-alone version of the build utility on Windows, Linux, and Solaris systems.

Running the AutoBuild sample within the product: Read the instructions on how to run the AutoBuild sample by using the build utility that is packaged with the product, by using the workbench or the command line.

Running the Java EE sample within the product: Read the instructions on how to run the Java EE sample by using the build utility that is packaged with the product, by running the commands either through the command line (in headless mode) or the workbench..

Web resources for learning

In addition to the information in this product documentation, the following links provide learning material.

IBM Redbooks®: Rational Application Developer V7 Programming Guide: see Chapter 23: Build applications with Ant

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