The JEnable program gives an easy way of controlling different
build options within Java source code. It allows you to maintain and distribute a single set of
source files which can support multiple configurations. The program can be executed from
various types of build scripts (including Ant scripts) to automatically change the source configuration on demand.
Although similar in some respects to preprocessors used with other programming
languages, JEnable differs in that it is intended to be run as a batch
processor to change the current configuration for an entire project at once. After the
configuration has been changed, source files can be edited and compiled normally with
no need to rerun the JEnable program until the configuration is again changed.
JEnable uses control information embedded in Java code as comment
lines with a special format. This approach means that there is no need to maintain a
separate database of the source code changes needed to implement a configuration change.
Normal editing of the source code is not effected by the use of JEnable
control information at all.
Examples of the type of configuration options which JEnable makes easy
are debug vs non-debug builds, JDK 1.1 vs 1.2 support, and reduced function builds for a
smaller distribution file size.
