Lexical

The following concepts are used all over this document :

[PROJECT DIR] : Refers to the root folder of the project to build (or to run commands on). This is where you would put pom.xml or build.xml files.

[JEKA HOME] : Refers to the folder where Jeka is installed. You should find jeka.bat and jeka shell scripts at the root of this folder.

[JEKA USER HOME] : Refers to the folder where Jeka stores caches, binary repository and global user configuration. By default it is located at [USER DIR]/.jeka.

Def Classes : Java source files located under [PROJECT DIR]/jeka/def. They are compiled on the flight by Jeka when invoked from the command line.

Def Classpath : Classpath on which depend def classes to get compiled and command classes to be executed. By default, it consists in Jeka core classes. it can be augmented with any third party lib or def Classpath coming from imported project. Once def classes sources have been compiled, def Classpath is augmented with compiled def classes.

Command Classes : Classes extending JkCommands. Their commands can be invoked from the command line and their pubic fields set from the command line as well. Generally def classes contains one command class though there can be many or none. Command classes can come from def classes but can also be imported from a library or external project.

Commands : Java methods member of command classes and invokable from command line. They must be instance method (not static), public, zero-args and returning void. Every method verifying these constraints within a command class or a plugin is considered as a command.

Options : This is a set of key-value used to inject parameters. Options can be mentioned as command line arguments, stored in specific files or hard coded in command classes.

Plugins : Classes extending JkPlugin and named as JkPluginXxxxx where_Xxxxx_ is the name of the plugin. In short, a plugin add dynamically commands and options to the running command class.

Install Jeka

1. Download and unzip the lastest core-x.x.x-distrib.zip file found on snapshot or release repository to the directory you want to install Jeka
2. Make sure that either a valid JDK is on your PATH environment variable or that a JAVA_HOME variable is pointing on. For now, Jeka only runs with JDK8 (though it can build Java project of any Java version). If your defaulf JDK version is not 8 or your JAVA_HOME environment variable does not point to a JDK8 then add a JEKA_JDK environment variable pointing on a JDK8 (JEKA_JDK/bin/java must point on a java execuable).
3. Add [JEKA HOME] to your PATH environment variable
4. execute jeka help in the command line. You should get an output starting by :

Usage:

jeka (method | pluginName#method) [-optionName=<value>] [-pluginName#optionName=<value>] [-DsystemPropertyName=value]

Executes the specified methods defined in command class or plugins using the specified options and system properties.

Ex: jeka clean java#pack -java#pack.sources=true -LogVerbose -other=xxx -DmyProp=Xxxx
...

 _______     _
(_______)   | |
     _ _____| |  _ _____
 _  | | ___ | |_/ |____ |
| |_| | ____|  _ (/ ___ |
 \___/|_____)_| \_)_____|

                           The pure Java build tool.


Working Directory : C:\Users\djeang\IdeaProjects\jeka
Java Home : C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\jre
Java Version : 1.8.0_121, Oracle Corporation
Jeka Version : null
Jeka Home : C:\Users\djeang\IdeaProjects\jeka\dev.jeka.core\jeka\output\distrib
Jeka User Home : C:\Users\djeang\.jeka
Jeka Run Repositories : [https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/, file:/C:/Users/djeang/.jeka/maven-publish-dir/]
Jeka Repository Cache : C:\Users\djeang\.jeka\cache\repo
Jeka Classpath : C:\Users\djeang\IdeaProjects\jeka\dev.jeka.core\jeka\output\distrib\dev.jeka.jeka-core.jar
Command Line : -LH help
Specified System Properties : none.
Standard Options : RunClass=null, LogVerbose=false, LogHeaders=true, LogMaxLength=230
Options :   LH=null  LML=230  jdk.9=C:/Program Files (x86)/Java/jdk9.0.1 jdk.10=C:/Program Files (x86)/Java/jdk10.0.2  repo.download.url=https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/
Compile and initialise command classes ...
│ Initializing class JkCommands at C:\Users\djeang\IdeaProjects\jeka ...
│ │ Run instance initialized with options []
│ └ Done in 57 milliseconds.
└ Done in 336 milliseconds.
Jeka commands are ready to be executed.
Method : help on JkCommands
Usage:
jeka (method | pluginName#method) [-optionName=<value>] [-pluginName#optionName=<value>] [-DsystemPropName=value]

Execute the specified methods defined in command class or plugins using the specified options and system properties.
Ex: jeka clean java#pack -java#pack.sources=true -LogVerbose -other=xxx -DmyProp=Xxxx
...

Method help succeeded in 660 milliseconds.
  ______                                     _
 / _____)                                   | |
( (____  _   _  ____ ____ _____  ___  ___   | |
 \____ \| | | |/ ___) ___) ___ |/___)/___)  |_|
 _____) ) |_| ( (__( (___| ____|___ |___ |   _
(______/|____/ \____)____)_____|___/(___/   |_|

                                               Total run duration : 1.159 seconds.

Configure your IDE

For now, there is no valuable Jeka Visual Plugin for your IDE but you can work pretty well without thanks to Intellij and Eclipse Jeka plugin whose generating IDE metadata files (.iml and .classpath).

But first you have to instruct your IDE where is located Jeka distribution and repositories.

Intellij

Declare the 2 path variables (go settings -> Apparence & behavior -> Path Variables)

• JEKA_HOME which point to [Jeka Home],
• JEKA_REPO which point to [Jeka User Home]/cache/repo

Eclipse

Declare the 2 classpath variables in Eclipse.

1. Open the Eclipse preference window : Window -> Preferences
2. Navigate to the classpath variable panel : Java -> Build Path -> Classpath Variables
3. Add these 2 variables :
   • JEKA_HOME which point to [Jeka Home],
   • JEKA_REPO which point to [Jeka User Home]/cache/repo.

Note

By default [Jeka User Home] point to [User Home]/.jeka but can be overridden by defining the environment variable JEKA_USER_HOME.

Basic automation project

First, let's create a simple automation project that read content from url and display it on the console.

Create a project

1. Create the root directory of your project (here 'sample1').
2. Open a terminal/console and cd to sample1 directory. Jeka should be always executed from the root of the project.
3. Execute jeka scaffold#run intellij# under this directory (replace intellij# by eclipse# if you're using Eclipse).
   This will generate a project skeleton as follow :

sample1
   + .idea
       + sample1.iml    <----- Intellij metadata containing project dependencies (At least dev.jeka.core)
   + jeka             
      + def             <-----  Java code that build your project goes here
         + Build.java   
      + output          <---- Genererated files are supposed to lie here  

4. Import the project in your IDE. Eveything should be Ok, in particular Build.java should compile and execute within your IDE.

import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkCommands;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkInit;

class Commands extends JkCommands {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Commands commands = JkInit.instanceOf(Commands.class, args);
        commands.clean();
    }

}

Add a command

Add the following method to the Commands class.

import dev.jeka.core.api.utils.JkUtilsIO;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkCommands;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkInit;

import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;

class Commands extends JkCommands {

    public void displayGoogle() throws MalformedURLException {
        String content = JkUtilsIO.read(new URL("https://www.google.com/"));
        System.out.println(content);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        JkInit.instanceOf(Commands.class, args).displayGoogle();
    }

}

Open a console/:terminal in sample1 directory and execute jeka displayGoogle. You should see the Google source displayed.

Execute jeka help and the output should mention your new method.

...
From class Commands :
  Methods :
    displayGoogle : No description available.

From class JkCommands :
  Methods :
    clean : Cleans the output directory except the compiled command classes.
    help : Displays all available methods and options defined for this command class.
...

Any public instance method with no-args and returning void fits to be a command. You can call several commands in a single row.

You can also launch/debug command directly from your IDE, using the main method. Note that for so, you must instantiate your command class using JkInit.instanceOf.

Self document your method

Add the following annotation to the command.

@JkDoc("Fetch Google page and display its source on the console.")
public void displayGoogle() throws MalformedURLException {
    String content = JkUtilsIO.read(new URL("https://www.google.com/"));
    System.out.println(content);
}

Execute jeka help and the output should mention documentation.

From class Build :
  Methods :
    displayGoogle : Fetch Google page and display its source on the console.

Add an option (parameter)

May you like to see Google page source but you probably want to apply this method to any other url.

To make it configurable, just declare the url in a public field so its value can be injected from command line.

class Commands extends JkCommands {

    @JkDoc("The url to display content.")   // Optional self documentation
    public String url = "https://www.google.com/";

    @JkDoc("Fetch Google page and display its source on the console.")
    public void displayContent() throws MalformedURLException {
        String content = JkUtilsIO.read(new URL(url));
        System.out.println(content);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        JkInit.instanceOf(Commands.class, args).displayContent();
    }

}

Execute jeka displayContent -url=https://github.com/github and you should see the Github page source displayed.

If you execute jeka help you should see the url option mentioned.

...
From class Commands :
  Methods :
    displayContent : Fetch Google page and display its source on the console.
  Options :
    -url (String, default : https://www.google.com/) : The url to display content.
...

Use 3rd party libs in your command class

You can mention inline the external libraries you need to compile and execute your command class. For exemple, you main need Apache HttpClient library to perform some non basic HTTP tasks.

1. Annotate your class with modules or jar files you want to use.

@JkImport("org.apache.httpcomponents:httpclient:jar:4.5.8")  // Can import files from Maven repos
@JkImport("../local_libs/my-utility.jar")   // or simply located locally
class Commands extends JkCommands {
   ...
}

2. Execute jeka intellij#generateIml or jeka eclipse#generateFiles to add properly the dependencies to your IDE (You may need to refresh it).

3. You can add code depending on the imported libs

import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpPost;
...
public void post() {
    HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost();
    httpPost.setHeader("content-type", "application/json");
    ...
}

Execute post method as usual : jeka post.

Import a command class from another project

Imagine that you want to want to reuse displayContent method from project sample1 in another project. Let's create a new sample2 project located in a sibling folder than sample1.

1. Execute mkdir sample2 then cd sample2 followed by jeka scaffold#run intellij# (or jeka scaffold#run eclipse#)
2. Rename sample2 command class 'Sample2Commands` to avoid name collision. Be careful to rename its filename as well unless Jeka will fail.
3. Add a field of type JkCommands annotated with JkImportProject and the relative path of sample1 as value.

class Sample2Commands extends JkCommands {

    @JkImportProject("../sample1")
    private JkCommands project1Run;

    public void hello() throws MalformedURLException {
        System.out.println("Hello World");
    }
    
}

4. Execute jeka intellij#generateIml (or jeka eclipse#generateFiles) to add sample1 dependencies to your IDE. Now Sampl2Commands can refer to the command class of sample1.

5. Replace JkCommands Type by the Commands type from sample1 and use it in method implementation.

class Sample2Commands extends JkCommands {

    @JkImportProject("../sample1")
    private Commands sample1Commands;  // This class comes from sample1

    public void printUrlContent() throws MalformedURLException {
        System.out.println("Content of " + sample1Commands.url);
        sample1Commands.displayContent();
    }

}

Executing jeka printUrlContent displays :

Content of https://www.google.com/
<!doctype html><html itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/WebPage" lang="nl-BE"><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"><meta content="/images/branding/googleg/1x/googleg_standard_color_128dp.pn
    g" itemprop="image"><title>Google</title><script nonce="JkJFrHNh1i7pdGGBGDk/tw==">(function(){window.google={kEI:'AyndXKnDGrLgkgW-kp7gAw',kEXPI:'0,1353747,57,1958,1640,782,698,527,731,223,1575,1257,1894,58,320,207,1017,167,438,
...

You can set directly the value of the url on the command line as option values are injected on all imported commands recursively.

jeka printUrlContent -url=https://github.com/github displays :

Content of https://fr.wikipedia.org
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8"/>
<title>Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</title>
...

Restrictions

Except that command classes must have the same name than their filename, there is not known restriction about what you can do with command classes or def classes. You can define as many classes as you want into def directory. Organise them within Java packages or not.

Work with plugins

Each command class instance acts as a registry for plugins. In turn, plugins can interact each other through this registry.

Let's implements similar commands than previously but using plugins. TODO

Build a Java project

Now let's start more complicated tasks as building a Java poject. It involves compilation, testing, packaging, dependency resolution, releasing, ... There's many option to handle it in Jeka :

• Use low level API (similar to ANT tasks)
• Use high level JkJavaProject API
• Use Jeka Java Plugin

The one you choose is a matter of taste, flexibility, verbosity, reusability and integration with existing tools.

Build Java project using low-level API

TODO

Build Java project using high level API

TODO

Build Java project using Jeka Java plugin.

1. Create the root directory of your project (here 'mygroup.myproject').
2. Execute jeka scaffold#run java# under this directory. This will generate a project skeleton with the following build class at [PROJECT DIR]/build/def/Build.java

mygroup.myproject
   + jeka             
      + def             <-----  Java code that build your project goes here
         + Build.java   
      + output          <---- Build artifacts are generated here
   + src
      + main
          + java        <----- Your project java sources and resources for production go here
      + test
          + java        <----- Your project java sources and resources for testing go here    

Explanation : scaffold#run invokes 'run' method on the 'scaffold' plugin. java# forces the java plugin to be loaded. When loaded, 'java' plugin has the effect to instruct scaffold plugin extra actions for generating a Java project.

By default the project mimics Maven layout convention so sources are supposed to lie in src/main/java.

Below is the content of the generated build class. Guava and Junit are pesent only fo demo purpose. You can remove it safely and add any dependency you need.

import dev.jeka.core.api.depmanagement.JkDependencySet;
import dev.jeka.core.api.java.project.JkJavaProject;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkInit;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkCommands;
import dev.jeka.core.tool.JkPluginJava;

import static dev.jeka.core.api.depmanagement.JkJavaDepScopes.*;

class Build extends JkCommands {

    final JkPluginJava javaPlugin = getPlugin(JkPluginJava.class);

    /*
     * Configures plugins to be bound to this command class. When this method is called, option
     * fields have already been injected from command line.
     */
    @Override
    protected void setup() {
        JkJavaProject project = javaPlugin.getProject();
        project.addDependencies(dependencies());
    }

    private JkDependencySet dependencies() {  // Example of dependencies.
        return JkDependencySet.of()
                .and("com.google.guava:guava:21.0")
                .and("junit:junit:4.11", TEST);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        JkInit.instanceOf(Build.class, args).javaPlugin.clean().pack();
    }
    
}

Execute jeka java#info to see an abstract of the project setup.

Build your project

1. Edit the Build.java source file above. For example, you can add compile dependencies.
2. Just execute jeka clean java#pack under the project base directory. This will compile, run test and package your project in a jar file. You can also lauch the main method from your IDE.

Extra function

If you want to create javadoc, jar sources and jar tests or checksums : just execute jeka clean java#pack -java#pack.tests -java#pack.sources -java#pack.checksums=sha-256.

Explanation '-' prefix means that you want to set an option value. For example -java#pack.sources means that JkPluginJava.pack.sources will be injected the 'true' value.

You can also set it by default in the build class constructor :

    protected Build() {
        javaPlugin.pack.javadoc = true;
        javaPlugin.pack.sources = true;
        javaPlugin.pack.tests = true;
        javaPlugin.pack.checksums = "sha-256";
    }

Explore functions and options provided out-of-thebox

Execute jeka help to display all what you can do from the command line for the current project. As told on the help screen, you can execute jeka aGivenPluginName#help to display help on a specific plugin. The list of available plugins on the Jeka classpath is displayed in help screen.