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# Apache™ FOP: Ant task

- Description
- Parameters for FOP Ant task
- Examples

Apache™ FOP provides an Ant task for automating the document build process.

## Description

The FOP Ant task will convert XSL-FO documents to PDF, PS, PCL etc. output (see Output formats for available formats).

To call FOP tasks within Ant, first add a FOP task definition to your Ant build file. One method of defining the task is as follows:

    <property name="fop.home" value="....path to your FOP HOME directory..."/>

    <taskdef name="fop"
             classname="org.apache.fop.tools.anttasks.Fop">
      <classpath>
        <fileset dir="${fop.home}/lib">
          <include name="*.jar"/>
        </fileset>
        <fileset dir="${fop.home}/build">
          <include name="fop.jar"/>
          <include name="fop-hyph.jar" />
        </fileset>
      </classpath>
    </taskdef>

Then create FOP tasks within your Ant build file, using the FOP task parameters listed below.

## Parameters for FOP Ant task

Parameters specified as attributes
Attribute | Description | Required
--- | --- | ---
fofile | XSL-FO file to be rendered | Yes, if no fileset nested element is used
xmlfile | XML input file | Yes, if no fofile is specified
xsltfile | XSLT input file | Yes, if no fofile is specified
outfile | Output filename | Yes, when fofile is used. (This attribute is not valid for filesets.)
format | Possible output formats: application/X-fop-awt-preview application/X-fop-print application/X-fop-areatree application/pdf application/postscript application/mif application/rtf, text/richtext, text/rtf application/x-pcl, application/vnd.hp-PCL application/x-afp, application/vnd.ibm.modcap text/plain image/svg+xml image/gif image/png image/tiff | No, defaults to application/pdf
outdir | Output directory | Required if a fileset is used to specify the files to render; optional for fofile. (Can alternatively specify the full path in the fofile value.)
force | Recreate target files, even if they are newer than their corresponding source files. Note: This attribute is available in post-0.20.5 versions (0.20.x nightly build and 1.0dev) only; target files are always generated (i.e., force=true) in 0.20.5 release. | No, default is false
basedir | Base directory to resolve relative references (e.g., graphics files) within the FO document. | No, for single FO File entry, default is to use the location of that FO file.
relativebase | For fileset usage only. A value of true specifies using the location of each .fo file as the base directory for resolving relative file references located within that .fo file. A value of false specifies using the value of basedir for all files within the fileset, or just the current working directory if basedir is not specified. | No, default is false.
userconfig | User configuration file (same as the FOP "-c" command line option). | No
messagelevel | Logging level Possible values: error, warn, info, verbose, debug. Currently doesn't work in FOP Trunk!!! | No, defaults to verbose
logFiles | Controls whether the names of the files that are processed are logged (true) or not (false). Currently doesn't work in FOP Trunk!!! | No, default is true
throwexceptions | Controls whether or not an exception is thrown if an error occurs during rendering. | Default is true

Parameters specified as nested elements
Attribute | Description | Required
--- | --- | ---
fileset | FileSets are used to specify multiple XSL-FO files to be rendered. | Yes, if no fofile attribute is supplied

## Examples

The following example converts a single XSL-FO file to a PDF document:

    <target name="generate-pdf" description="Generates a single PDF file">
       <fop format="application/pdf"
            fofile="c:\working\foDirectory\foDocument.fo"
            outfile="c:\working\pdfDirectory\pdfDocument.pdf" />
    </target>

This example converts all XSL-FO files within an entire directory to PostScript:

    <target name="generate-multiple-ps"
            description="Generates multiple PostScript files">
       <fop format="application/postscript"
            outdir="${build.dir}" messagelevel="debug">
            <fileset dir="${fo.examples.dir}">
               <include name="*.fo"/>
            </fileset>
       </fop>
    </target>

The following example transforms and converts a single XML and XSLT file to an AFP document:

    <target name="generate-afp-from-transform" description="Generates a single AFP file from an XSLT stylesheet">
       <fop format="application/x-afp"
            xmlfile="c:\working\foDirectory\Document.xml"
            xsltfile="c:\working\foDirectory\Document.xslt"
            outfile="c:\working\afpDirectory\Document.afp" />
    </target>

This example transforms and converts all XML files within an entire directory to PostScript:

    <target name="generate-multiple-ps-from-transform" description="Generates multiple PostScript files using an XSLT stylesheet">
       <fop format="application/postscript"
            xsltfile="c:\working\foDirectory\Document.xslt"
            outdir="${build.dir}" messagelevel="debug">
            <fileset dir="${test.dir}">
               <include name="*.xml"/>
            </fileset>
       </fop>
    </target>

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