More plug-in deployment options

Now that we've run the default target for our build.xml buildfile, it's time to explore some more options.

As can be seen in the Outline view, the default build.xml Ant buildfile has a number of targets.
Outline view of default build.xml file

Solid green circles denote targets, while internal targets are represented by hollow green circles. The following are the useful top-level targets:

Remember that this build.xml file is simply the default deployment buildfile for an Eclipse plug-in. There will be times when you will want/have to modify this buildfile to handle your particular projects. For example, if you have a directory that contains resources necessary for your plug-in, you will want to update the build.xml file to include this directory in the jars and zips it creates.

This completes our look at using Ant buildfiles to deploy Eclipse plug-ins. The key points to remember are that you can easily create a default deployment buildfile for a plug-in that contains many useful targets, and that while this default buildfile is useful, you may have to modify it to suit your needs.

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