#! code

Phing allows you to set up certain parameters that can be used throughout the rest of the script. These might be used to define a non standard build directory, or to store database connection details that can be written to the connection file during the build.

Properties are defined using the property element, which you should place at the top of your build.xml file in order to make it easy for other developers to see what is going on. The following example defines a property and the uses the main target to print the property out.

By default, Phing will look for a file in the current working directory called build.xml when you run it. This document tells Phing what it will be doing during the build. You can change this by using the -f or the -buildfile property of phing and giving the build file as the parameter. The following code makes phing look for a build file called wibble.xml.

phing -f wibble.xml

Assuming that the project is called myProject, then a minimal buildfile would be look like the following: