Java Extreme Programming Cookbook

Generating the cactus.properties File Automatically

Problem

You want to automatically generate the cactus.properties file to match the current environment.

Solution

Create a target within your Ant buildfile to generate the cactus.properties file each time Cactus tests are run.

Discussion

Writing Cactus tests is pretty straightforward, but configuring your environment can be cumbersome, especially if your environment changes over time. Automatically generating configuration files eases the burden of keeping your testing environment in sync with your development environment.

Ant is the obvious choice for generating the cactus.properties file. The first step is to ensure that the following Ant properties are defined in your buildfile:^[37]

<property name="dir.build" value="build"/>
<property name="host" value="http://localhost"/>
<property name="port" value="8080"/>
<property name="webapp.context.name" value="xptest"/>
<property name="servlet.redirector" value="ServletRedirector"/>
<property name="jsp.redirector" value="JspRedirector"/>
<property name="filter.redirector" value="FilterRedirector"/>

By setting up global properties, you ensure that a single change ripples through the rest of the buildfile. Next, your buildfile should execute the propertyfile task:

<target name="prepare">
  <mkdir dir="${dir.build}"/>

  <propertyfile file="${dir.build}/cactus.properties">
               <entry key="cactus.contextURL"
           value="${host}:${port}/${webapp.context.name}"/>
               <entry key="cactus.servletRedirectorName"
          value="${servlet.redirector}"/> ...