JDepend Task

## JDepend

### Description

Invokes the JDepend parser.

This parser "traverses a set of Java source file directories and generates design quality metrics for each Java package". It allows to "automatically measure the quality of a design in terms of its extensibility, reusability, and maintainability to effectively manage and control package dependencies."

Source file directories are defined by nested `<sourcespath>`. Class file directories are defined by nested `<classespath>`. See nested elements.

Optionally, you can also set the outputfile name where the output is stored. By default the task writes its report to the standard output.

The task requires at least the JDepend 1.2 version.

### Parameters

Attribute | Description | Required
--- | --- | ---
outputfile | The output file name. If not set, the output is printed on the standard output. | No
format | The format to write the output in, either text (default) or xml | No; the default is text
fork | Run the tests in a separate JVM. | No; default is off
haltonerror | Stop the build process if an error occurs during the `jdepend` analysis. | No; default is off
timeout | Cancel the operation if it doesn't finish in the given time (measured in milliseconds). | No, ignored if fork is false
jvm | The command used to invoke JVM. The command is resolved by `java.lang.Runtime.exec()`. | No; default `java`, ignored if fork is false
dir | The directory to invoke JVM in. | No, ignored if fork is false
includeruntime | Implicitly add the classes required to run `jdepend` in forked mode. Since Apache Ant 1.6. | No; default is no, ignored if fork is false
classpathref | the classpath to use, given as reference to a path defined elsewhere. | No

### Parameters specified as nested elements

`jdepend` supports four nested elements: `<classpath>`, `<classespath>` and `<sourcespath>`, that represent path-like structures, and `<exclude>`.

`<sourcespath>` is used to define the paths of the source code to analyze, but it is deprecated. With version 2.5 of JDepend, only class files are analyzed. The nested element `<classespath>` replaces `<sourcespath>` and is used to define the paths of compiled class code to analyze; the `<sourcespath>` variable is still available in case you are using an earlier version of JDepend. The `<exclude>` element can be used to set packages to ignore (requires JDepend 2.5 or above).

### Examples

    <jdepend classpathref="base.path">
        <classespath>
            <pathelement location="build"/>
        </classespath>
    </jdepend>

This invokes JDepend on the `build` directory, writing the output on the standard output. The classpath is defined using a classpath reference.

    <jdepend outputfile="docs/jdepend.xml" fork="yes" format="xml">
        <sourcespath>
            <pathelement location="src"/>
        </sourcespath>
        <classpath>
            <pathelement location="classes"/>
            <pathelement location="lib/jdepend.jar"/>
        </classpath>
    </jdepend>

This invokes JDepend in a separate JVM on the `src` and `testsrc` directories, writing the output to the `docs/jdepend.xml` file in xml format. The classpath is defined using nested elements.

    <jdepend classpathref="base.path">
        <exclude name="java.*>
        <exclude name="javax.*>
        <classespath>
            <pathelement location="build"/>
        </classespath>
    </jdepend>

This invokes JDepend with the build directory as the base for class files to analyze, and will ignore all classes in the `java.*` and `javax.*` packages.