How to change the Path variable in ant exec task?

Question

I tried setting the Path variable in ant exec task using this link. But its not working somehow. I am trying to add THRIFT_HOME which is set to basedir currently and I have the thrift.exe file in the basedir.

Also, when I change executable attribute value to thrift.exe, the thrift compiler works properly but the basedir is not added to the Path.

<exec executable="thrift">
    <env key="Path" value="${env.Path};${THRIFT_HOME}" />
</exec>

I also tried using the setx command as:

<exec executable="setx">
    <arg value="Path"/>
    <arg value="%Path%;${THRIFT_HOME}"/>
</exec>

but it still does not work.

Any help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

I am currently using on Windows 7 and the problem was with spaces in the folder name. That's a big problem when working on Windows.

I tried placing the thrift executable at /d/thrift/ and it worked and assigning THRIFT_HOME = /d/thrift. Then I tried /d/thrift demo/ and there is the problem.

D:\noknok_fido_to_ostp\noknok_fido_to_ostp_workspace\Demo\build.xml:33: Execute failed: java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "thrift-0.9.0.exe": CreateProces
s error=2, The system cannot find the file specified
        at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(ProcessBuilder.java:460)
        at java.lang.Runtime.exec(Runtime.java:593)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Execute$Java13CommandLauncher.exec(Execute.java:862)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Execute.launch(Execute.java:481)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Execute.execute(Execute.java:495)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.ExecTask.runExecute(ExecTask.java:631)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.ExecTask.runExec(ExecTask.java:672)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.ExecTask.execute(ExecTask.java:498)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:291)
        at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:106)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:348)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.execute(Target.java:392)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.performTasks(Target.java:413)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeSortedTargets(Project.java:1399)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTarget(Project.java:1368)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.helper.DefaultExecutor.executeTargets(DefaultExecutor.java:41)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTargets(Project.java:1251)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.runBuild(Main.java:811)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.startAnt(Main.java:217)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.run(Launcher.java:280)
        at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:109)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified
        at java.lang.ProcessImpl.create(Native Method)
        at java.lang.ProcessImpl.<init>(ProcessImpl.java:81)
        at java.lang.ProcessImpl.start(ProcessImpl.java:30)
        at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(ProcessBuilder.java:453)
        ... 23 more

Another problem is that /d/thrift doesn't work in Eclipse Ant plugin build. I tried it using command prompt and the build was successful.

This teaches a new lesson: Always build from command prompt!

Thanks to all who answered for this question.

Answer 2

how about this:

<property environment="env"/>
<!-- to see if you can access it -->
<echo message="${env.Path}" />
<exec executable="thrift">
    <env key="Path" value="${env.Path};${THRIFT_HOME}" />
</exec>

I've found a hint here: http://www.factsandpeople.com/facts-mainmenu-5/23-other-software-technologies/125-using-environment-variables-in-ant-environment-variables-are-not-evaluated

Answer 3

And what about searchpath attribute ?

searchpath: When this attribute is true, then system path environment variables will be searched when resolving the location of the executable. since Ant 1.6.3

So I think something like this:

    <exec executable="thrift" searchpath="true">
       <env key="Path" value="${env.Path};${THRIFT_HOME}" />
    </exec>

should work.

Answer 4

I found it works by quote the value of variable

<exec executable="setx"> <arg line="Path &quot;${env.Path};c:\test Path&quot;" /> <arg line="/m" /> </exec>

https://stackoverflow.com/a/23777929/3659861