Gradle - Running a Build

Gradle provides a command line to execute build script. It can execute more than one task at a time. This chapter explains how to execute multiple tasks using different options.

Executing Multiple Tasks

You can execute multiple tasks from a single build file. Gradle can handle that build file using gradle command. This command will compile each task in the order that they are listed and execute each task along with the dependencies using different options.

Example − There are four tasks - task1, task2, task3, and task4. Task3 and task4 depends on task 1and task2. Take a look at the following diagram.

In the above 4 tasks are dependent on each other represented with an arrow symbol. Take a look into the following code. Copy can paste it into build.gradle file.

task task1 << {
   println 'compiling source'
}

task task2(dependsOn: task1) << {
   println 'compiling unit tests'
}

task task3(dependsOn: [task1, task2]) << {
   println 'running unit tests'
}

task task4(dependsOn: [task1, task3]) << {
   println 'building the distribution'
}

You can use the following code for compiling and executing above task.

C:\> gradle task4 test

Output:

:task1
compiling source
:task2
compiling unit tests
:task3
running unit tests
:task4
building the distribution

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 1 secs

Excluding Tasks

While excluding a task from the execution you can use –x option along with the gradle command and mention the name of the task, which you want to exclude.

Use the following command to exclude task4 from the above script.

C:\> gradle task4 -x test

Output:

:task1
compiling source
:task4
building the distribution

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Total time: 1 secs

Continuing the Build When a Failure Occurs

Gradle will abort execution and fail the build as soon as any task fails. You can continue the execution even when a failure occurs. For this you have to use –continue option with the gradle command. It handles each task separately along with their dependences. And the main important point is it will catch each encountered failure and report at the end of the execution of the build. Suppose if a task fails then the dependent subsequent tasks also will not be executed.

Selecting Which Build to Execute

When you run the gradle command, it looks for a build file in the current directory. You can use the –b option to select a particular build file along with absolute path. The following example selecting a project hello from myproject.gradle file which is located in the subdir/ take a look into it.

task hello << {
   println "using build file '$buildFile.name' in '$buildFile.parentFile.name'."
}

You can use the following command to execute the above script.

C:\> gradle -q -b subdir/myproject.gradle hello

Output:

using build file 'myproject.gradle' in 'subdir'.

Obtaining Build Information

Gradle provides several built-in tasks for retrieving the information details regarding the task and the project. This can be useful to understand the structure and the dependencies of your build and for debugging problems. You can use project report plugin to add tasks to your project, which will generate these reports.

Listing Projects

You can list the project hierarchy of the selected project and their sub projects using gradle –q projects command. Here is the example, use the following command to list all the project in the build file.

C:\> gradle -q projects

Output:

------------------------------------------------------------
Root project
------------------------------------------------------------

Root project 'projectReports'
+--- Project ':api' - The shared API for the application
\--- Project ':webapp' - The Web application implementation

To see a list of the tasks of a project, run gradle <project-path>:tasks
For example, try running gradle :api:tasks

The report shows the description of each project if specified. You can use the following command to specify the description. Paste it in the build.gradle file.

description = 'The shared API for the application'

Listing Tasks

You can list all the tasks which belong to the multiple projects by using the following command.

C:\> gradle -q tasks

Output:

------------------------------------------------------------
All tasks runnable from root project
------------------------------------------------------------

Default tasks: dists

Build tasks
-----------
clean - Deletes the build directory (build)
dists - Builds the distribution
libs - Builds the JAR

Build Setup tasks
-----------------
init - Initializes a new Gradle build. [incubating]
wrapper - Generates Gradle wrapper files. [incubating]

Help tasks
----------
buildEnvironment - Displays all buildscript dependencies declared in root project 'projectReports'.
components - Displays the components produced by root project 'projectReports'. [incubating]
dependencies - Displays all dependencies declared in root project 'projectReports'.
dependencyInsight - Displays the insight into a specific dependency in root project 'projectReports'.
help - Displays a help message.
model - Displays the configuration model of root project 'projectReports'. [incubating]
projects - Displays the sub-projects of root project 'projectReports'.
properties - Displays the properties of root project 'projectReports'.
tasks - Displays the tasks runnable from root project 'projectReports' 
   (some of the displayed tasks may belong to subprojects).

To see all tasks and more detail, run gradle tasks --all

To see more detail about a task, run gradle help --task <task>

You can use the following command to display the information of all tasks.

C:\> gradle -q tasks --all

Output:

------------------------------------------------------------
All tasks runnable from root project
------------------------------------------------------------

Default tasks: dists

Build tasks
-----------
clean - Deletes the build directory (build)
api:clean - Deletes the build directory (build)
webapp:clean - Deletes the build directory (build)
dists - Builds the distribution [api:libs, webapp:libs]
   docs - Builds the documentation
api:libs - Builds the JAR
   api:compile - Compiles the source files
webapp:libs - Builds the JAR [api:libs]
   webapp:compile - Compiles the source files

Build Setup tasks
-----------------
init - Initializes a new Gradle build. [incubating]
wrapper - Generates Gradle wrapper files. [incubating]

Help tasks
----------
buildEnvironment - Displays all buildscript dependencies declared in root project 'projectReports'.
api:buildEnvironment - Displays all buildscript dependencies declared in project ':api'.
webapp:buildEnvironment - Displays all buildscript dependencies declared in project ':webapp'.
components - Displays the components produced by root project 'projectReports'. [incubating]
api:components - Displays the components produced by project ':api'. [incubating]
webapp:components - Displays the components produced by project ':webapp'. [incubating]
dependencies - Displays all dependencies declared in root project 'projectReports'.
api:dependencies - Displays all dependencies declared in project ':api'.
webapp:dependencies - Displays all dependencies declared in project ':webapp'.
dependencyInsight - Displays the insight into a specific dependency in root project 'projectReports'.
api:dependencyInsight - Displays the insight into a specific dependency in project ':api'.
webapp:dependencyInsight - Displays the insight into a specific dependency in project ':webapp'.
help - Displays a help message.
api:help - Displays a help message.
webapp:help - Displays a help message.
model - Displays the configuration model of root project 'projectReports'. [incubating]
api:model - Displays the configuration model of project ':api'. [incubating]
webapp:model - Displays the configuration model of project ':webapp'. [incubating]
projects - Displays the sub-projects of root project 'projectReports'.
api:projects - Displays the sub-projects of project ':api'.
webapp:projects - Displays the sub-projects of project ':webapp'.
properties - Displays the properties of root project 'projectReports'.
api:properties - Displays the properties of project ':api'.
webapp:properties - Displays the properties of project ':webapp'.
tasks - Displays the tasks runnable from root project 'projectReports' 
   (some of the displayed tasks may belong to subprojects).
api:tasks - Displays the tasks runnable from project ':api'.
webapp:tasks - Displays the tasks runnable from project ':webapp'.

Here are some list of commands in a table description different options.