4.4.2.8. External package

An external package functions like an include, which may be used to include a pattern from a code instruction library. You should definately use this if you want to reuse code between projects. View more information on external libraries here.

Usage

External packages are functionally equivalent to a package directly defined in the main code instruction file.

The syntax of the id attribute is as follows:

id="libName/pathInsideLibraryToFile"

Listing 4.36 <external package/> definition syntax

<pattern>
        ...

        <external.package
            id="libName/pathInsideLibraryToFile"
            name=""
            path=""
            foreach="package|object|attribute|reference"
            condition=""
            package=""
            skip="true|false">
        </external.package>

        ...
</pattern>

Example

Say there is an external library defined with name: lib1. You want to use a pattern file with the name authentication.xml located in the folder: packages/seam/component/ under the patternFolder of lib1. The value of the id attribute must then be defined as follows:

<external.package id="lib1/packages/seam/component/authentication.xml" />

In the external package id path you should not repeat the value of <patternFolder> as defined in the <externalLibrary>.

Other attributes of <external.package/>

Table 4.38 attributes of <external package/>

Name	Details
name	The name of the generated Java package.
path	Path pointing to the Java output folder.
foreach	Indicates whether the generation process should be iterative, and if so: what the iteration scope should be be. Possible values: package, object, attribute, reference
package	The name of the package in the model (model.xml) that must be used to apply the foreach attribute.
object	The name of the object in the model (model.xml) that must be used to apply the foreach attribute.
condition	An expression that can be either true or false. The package is generated only If the condition evaulates to true. Example: condition="${object.name}=Person" In this case, the package is generated only if the current model object has the name: Person. Naturally you can’t use this if there is no foreach defined on object.
skip	True or false. This works as a flag to prevent generation of this package whenever the “Use @skip of packages” checkbox of the MetaFactory tool (located inside the menu Transform) is checked. Choosing not to generate specific packages every time can reduce processing time. You might also want to use this when you work on one specific package. Setting its flag to true while false for the other packages allows generation of the package that you are working on only.