[Taras1]

RAPC ant task version 1.4 released.
Now .JDW can be built from command line even if Ant is not installed. Other new features: ribbon position, multiple icons for BlackBerry application, alternate entry points for CLDC and MIDlet applications.
For details refer to http://www.etaras.com/blackberry/rapc/.

[lorennorman]

<creative criticism>
This tool needs more functionality for those of us who don't want to use JDE. For instance, i want to pass it a directory or a *.java or *.class command, as opposed to having to jar them up, or specify every single .java file individually. Also, some syntax is nasty, for the import line i found that if you needed to specify multiple imports (net_rim imports as well as a 3rd party library) then you would have to use some very specific (but unknown) syntax.

import=library1;library2

even a space after the semicolon (which i first assumed should have been a comma) would cause it to fail. Wrap the whole ugly RAPC compiler up and give us developers a new interface on it, those sorts of ugly things are unprofessional and hobble the entire community.
</criticism>

Note: i'm blaming RIM for these shortcomings, not you. Thanks for a great tool, i couldn't have gotten as far as i have without it! And apologies in advance if you DID already add any of that functionality, i just didn't see it in the changelog.

[Taras1]

Originally Posted by lorennorman

<creative criticism>
This tool needs more functionality for those of us who don't want to use JDE. For instance, i want to pass it a directory or a *.java or *.class command, as opposed to having to jar them up, or specify every single .java file individually.

Is it a problem for you to pass a directory of *.java files using the syntax provided by files nested element as in example below?

<rapc ...> <!-- RAPC task definition -->
	<workspace...> <!-- Workspace definition -->
		<cldc src="Project.jdp" ...> <!-- Project definition -->
			...
				<files dir=".">
					<include name="src/**/*.java" />
				</files>
			...
		</cldc>
	</workspace>
</rapc>

By the way, such a syntax is supported by RAPC Ant task starting from first release. That is a standard Ant fileset and you can build it in any way you want.

Originally Posted by lorennorman

Also, some syntax is nasty, for the import line i found that if you needed to specify multiple imports (net_rim imports as well as a 3rd party library) then you would have to use some very specific (but unknown) syntax.

import=library1;library2

even a space after the semicolon (which i first assumed should have been a comma) would cause it to fail.

That syntax is really very specific. I even don't know where you got it, but definitely not from our documentation. The good news that RAPC Ant task doesn't use it. If you want to import some libraries there is another nested element: imports. Here is an example from our documentation on how to use it:

<rapc ...> <!-- RAPC task definition -->
	<workspace...> <!-- Workspace definition -->
		<cldc src="Project.jdp" ...> <!-- Project definition -->
			...
				<imports dir=".">
					<include name="lib/**/*.jar" />
				</imports>
			...
		</cldc>
	</workspace>
</rapc>

Originally Posted by lorennorman

Wrap the whole ugly RAPC compiler up and give us developers a new interface on it, those sorts of ugly things are unprofessional and hobble the entire community.
</criticism>

I agree with you absolutely. That is why we developed RAPC Ant task. Our task is not a simple wrapper over RAPC compiler. It uses RAPC compiler to perform more complex tasks like building multiple BlackBerry workspaces or projects with complex dependencies.

Note: i'm blaming RIM for these shortcomings, not you. Thanks for a great tool, i couldn't have gotten as far as i have without it! And apologies in advance if you DID already add any of that functionality, i just didn't see it in the changelog.

Please read documentation and examples for RAPC ant task carefully before writing some posts on it.
If there is some feature you want to see in RAPC Ant task, please give us know using the Contacts form on our site.