JDepend Task

JDepend

Description

Invokes the JDepend parser.

This parser "traverses a set of Java source file directories and generates design quality metrics for each Java package". It allows to "automatically measure the quality of a design in terms of its extensibility, reusability, and maintainability to effectively manage and control package dependencies."

Source file directories are defined by nested <sourcespath>; Class file directories are defined by nested <classesespath>, see nested elements.

Optionally, you can also set the outputfile name where the output is stored. By default the task writes its report to the standard output.

The task requires at least the JDepend 1.2 version.

Parameters

Attribute	Description	Required
outputfile	The output file name. If not set, the output is printed on the standard output.	No
format	The format to write the output in. The default is "text", the alternative is "xml"	No
fork	Run the tests in a separate VM.	No, default is "off"
haltonerror	Stop the build process if an error occurs during the jdepend analysis.	No, default is "off"
timeout	Cancel the operation if it doesn't finish in the given time (measured in milliseconds). (Ignored if fork is disabled.)	No
jvm	The command used to invoke the Java Virtual Machine, default is 'java'. The command is resolved by java.lang.Runtime.exec(). (Ignored if fork is disabled.)	No, default "java"
dir	The directory to invoke the VM in. (Ignored if fork is disabled)	No
includeruntime	Implicitly add the classes required to run jdepend in forked mode. (Ignored if fork is disabled). Since ant 1.6.	No, default is "no".
classpathref	the classpath to use, given as reference to a PATH defined elsewhere.	No

Nested Elements

jdepend supports four nested elements: <classpath>, <classespath> and <sourcespath>, that represent PATH like structures, and <exclude>.

<sourcespath> is used to define the paths of the source code to analyze, but it is deprecated. With version 2.5 of JDepend, only class files are analyzed. The nested element <classespath> replaces <sourcespath> and is used to define the paths of compiled class code to analyze; the <sourcespath> variable is still available in case you are using an earlier version of JDepend. The <exclude> element can be used to set packages to ignore (requires JDepend 2.5 or above).

Examples

<jdepend classpathref="base.path">
    <classespath>
        <pathelement location="build"/>
    </classespath>
</jdepend>

This invokes JDepend on the build directory, writing the output on the standard output. The classpath is defined using a classpath reference.

<jdepend outputfile="docs/jdepend.xml" fork="yes" format="xml">
    <sourcespath>
        <pathelement location="src"/>
    </sourcespath>
    <classpath>
        <pathelement location="classes"/>
        <pathelement location="lib/jdepend.jar"/>
    </classpath>
</jdepend>

This invokes JDepend in a separate VM on the src and testsrc directories, writing the output to the <docs/jdepend.xml> file in xml format. The classpath is defined using nested elements.

<jdepend classpathref="base.path">
    <exclude name="java.*>
    <exclude name="javax.*>
    <classespath>
        <pathelement location="build"/>
    </classespath>
</jdepend>

This invokes JDepend with the build directory as the base for class files to analyze, and will ignore all classes in the java.* and javax.* packages.