In the Project tool window, select the directory, where the build file should be created. IntelliJ IDEA makes it possible to work with existing build files, create new build files from scratch, or generate them automatically. Build file describes the steps, or build targets, required to build a project.

Normally, the name of the build file is build.xml. If you created a new project or you imported an existing project without Ant then you need to create an Ant Build file to use Ant as the build tool in your project.Īnt works with the XML build file. You can create a new project, or if you have an exising project, import it. For more information, refer to the WSL section. You can also create an Ant project and store it in the WSL environment or open it from the WSL file system. Open the Installed tab, find the Ant plugin, and select the checkbox next to the plugin name. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Plugins. If the relevant features are not available, make sure that you did not disable the plugin. This functionality relies on the Ant plugin, which is bundled and enabled in IntelliJ IDEA by default.

IntelliJ IDEA integrates with Ant to provide a comprehensive build process that includes compilation, packaging with the documentation and source code, committing to version control, and so on. These might be set in the build file by the property task, or might be set outside Ant.ĭynamic or configurable build properties (such as path names or version numbers) are often handled through the use of a properties file associated with the Ant build file (often named build.properties).Ant is a flexible and platform-independent build tool from the Apache Ant Project. Instead of a model extended with shell-based commands, Ant is extended using Java classes.Įach task is run by an object that implements a particular task interface.Īnt build files are written in XML (and have the default name build.xml).Įach build file contains one project and at least one (default) target.Įach task element of the build file can have an id attribute and can later be referred to by the value supplied to this. At runtime, a user can specify which Ant target(s) they want to run, and Ant will generate and execute tasks from a dependency tree built from the target(s).

Apache ant user manual