Marking files for variable replacement

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Feb 15, 2019 by Ron WheelerVersion comment
2 min read

<parsable> - Mark Text Files For Parsing / Substituting Variables

Pack files marked <parsable> are parsed after copying them to the target system and substitute IzPack variables. Those variables can be defined in a syntax according to their file format, the default for plain files is ${<variable_name>} or $variable_name.

Files must be first added to the pack using <singlefile>, <file> or <fileset> before they can be marked parsable.

The variable replacement happens before the afterpack listeners are executed.

Attributes

Attribute

Description

Required

Values 
(Default)

targetfile

Relative or absolute target path of the pack file in which variables should be replaced.

May contain IzPack variables resolved during installation.

Example: $INSTALL_PATH/conf/app.properties

The file must have been previously added to the pack.

Separators (slashes) in the file name will replaced with the appropriate separator for the operating system.

(required, if no nested fileset is used) 

File path

type

Specifies the text file type:

  • plain - use for plain text files, where the variable definition syntax cannot conflict with the original file's syntax.
    Syntax variant 1: Prefix: $
    Syntax variant 2: Prefix: ${, Suffix: }
    Example: ${MY_VAR} or $MY_VAR.
  • javaprop - use for Java properties file, to choose the right default encoding "ISO-8859-1" and to replace escapes correctly.
  • java - use in Java source files, to replace escapes correctly.
  • xml - use for XML files, to choose the right default encoding "UTF-8".
  • shell - use for shell scripts.
    Syntax variant 1: Prefix: %
    Syntax variant 2: Prefix: %{, Suffix: }
    Example: %MY_VAR or %{MY_VAR}.
  • at 
    Prefix: @
    Example: @MY_VAR.
  • ant - use in Ant files, where the plain style for IzPack conflicts with the syntax of Ant property substitutions.
    Prefix: @, Suffix: @
    Example: @MY_VAR@

no

"plain" | "javaprop" (Properties) | "xml" | "java" | "shell" | "at" |"ant" (Ant buildfile) 
("plain")

encoding

The file encoding

no

A valid Java encoding string 
("ISO-8859-1" for type="javaprop", 
"UTF-8" for type="xml", otherwise the Java default charset is assumed as encoding)

os

Limits this action on a particular OS family, works like for <file>

no

No recommended to use any longer, use the nested <os> tag, instead.

condition

id of the condition that controls the application of this action. 

no

 No default

Nested Elements
  • <os> - restrict parsing depending on the target operating system, see the OS Restriction element
  • <fileset> -  tags can be used to mark multiple files parsable at once. 


    • The <fileset> which can be used here only supports the attributes targetdir, includes and excludes (not like the similiar Pack FileSet). If targetdir is not defined it will default to "${INSTALL_PATH}".

    • Filtering can be done with the includes or excludes attribute or nested <includes><include name="..."></includes> Elements

Important: <parsable> marks files parsable, which have been added using the <singlefile>, <file> or <fileset> tags before nested against the <pack> definition. There is no access to the filesystem for a <parsable> fileset, but just to files that are packed into the installer before.

Example:

 This specifies that projectExtractor.bat and projectInstaller.bat will be parsed after they are installed only if the conditions defined in the "projectIncluded" condition are met and the operating system is a version of Windows.

<pack name="core" required="yes">
...
    <file targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH" src="projectExtractor.bat" >
    <file targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH" src="projectInstaller.bat" >
    <parsable type="shell" condition="projectIncluded">
        <os family="windows" />
        <fileset targetdir="$INSTALL_PATH" includes="projectExtractor.bat,projectInstaller.bat
    </parsable>
 
...
<pack>