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Create a jar artifact with minimal pom / parent pom.xml / flattened / regenerated pom [maven]

I have a multimodule maven project and distribute the resulting jar file to different parties. Part of the jar file is the pom.xml file (in META-INF/maven/.../pom.xml).
The problem with that is, that the parent pom.xml is missing which contains a complete list of the dependencies and the necessary dependency-versions etc.
So I tried several things:
Solution 1
I added the effective pom to the jar file
Problem
the pom file is way too big, with too much information (partly internal, local etc)
Solution 2
I combined two plugins and managed to additionally add the parent pom.xml file to the jar.
Problem
This is way better than S1 however the parent pom again contains a (grand)parent and also tags like <scm> which are internal and could & should not be handed to the outside world
Now I wanted to start to manipulate the parent pom and remove some parts etc. However there must be a better solution and others who have the same problem?
What I need is (e.g) a plugin which creates a clean "releasable" pom.xml file with only the dependencies (and of course artifact, groupid, version) and can then be imported by external parties into their repo without any conflicts. Is that possible?
The only thing remotely related is the eclipse tycho pom generator plugin. It is however eclipse specific...

The flatten-maven-plugin is exactly what I needed! Thanks to khmarbaise
I use the following configuration and the pom is looking beautiful :-)
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>flatten-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.2.2</version>
<configuration>
<pomElements>
<repositories>flatten</repositories>
</pomElements>
</configuration>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>flatten</id>
<phase>process-resources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>flatten</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
<execution>
<id>flatten.clean</id>
<phase>clean</phase>
<goals>
<goal>clean</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>

Unzip and re zip a file using Maven?

Question: is there any way in Maven (without resorting to an ant plugin) to unzip a file, cd into the directory, remove the file, and the rezip it, all as part of the build?
This is necessary as it is a complex build and also do not want to have to use gradle to accomplish this task.

The requirement of unzipping, removing file and zipping again can also be met in one single step by the truezip-maven-plugin and its remove goal which:
Remove a set of files from an existing archive.
The official examples also cover this scenario.
Given the following snippet:
<properties>
<archive>${project.basedir}/sample.zip</archive>
</properties>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>truezip-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.2</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>remove-a-file</id>
<goals>
<goal>remove</goal>
</goals>
<phase>package</phase>
<configuration>
<fileset>
<!-- note how the archive is treated as a normal file directory -->
<directory>${archive}</directory>
<includes>
<include>hello.txt</include>
</includes>
</fileset>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
And executing:
mvn clean package
The build will process the ${archive} file (in this case a sample.zip at the same level of the pom.xml file, that is, in the project.basedir directory) and remove from it the hello.txt file. Then rezip everything.
I just tested it successfully, you can even skip the properties section if not required. However, you should also carefully know that:
The zip file should not be under version control, otherwise it would create conflicts at each build
The behavior most probably should not be part of the default Maven build, hence good candidate for a Maven profile
the plugin replaces the original file, so if that was an issue you could firstly copy it to another location and then process it as above. To copy it, you could use the maven-resources-plugin and its copy-resources goal.

Adding source Folders to my Eclipse Project at generate-sources

Before redirecting me to one of the numerous other posts concerning this (like this or this), know that I have already tried that.
What I want to do is simple: I have a folder called generated-sources on the same level as src and I want maven to automatically add it to the source directories.
Here is the snippet as it can also be seen in the questions I linked above:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>build-helper-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.8</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>add-source</id>
<phase>generate-sources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>add-source</goal>
</goals>
<configuration>
<sources>
<source>generated-sources/enums/</source>
</sources>
</configuration>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
When I run it, it actually displays the lines
[INFO] --- build-helper-maven-plugin:1.8:add-source (add-source) # gui ---
[INFO] Source directory: C:\development\gdg\gui\generated-sources\enums added.
Thing is, even if I do this, the source directories don't appear in the Project Explorer and I can't use them as dependencies either.
Note: I am currently using a m2e Connector Plugin and already tried using the <pluginManagement> tag. I also already reloaded the Project, yet to no avail.
I am probably just being incredibly stupid again, so thanks for any help.
~Crowley

Try a Maven > Update Project ..., besides reloading the project.
If that doesn't help, you can always manually add sources to a project: under a project's Properties, in Java Build Path, Sources tab, use the Add Folder button to select your folder.

How to generate separate jar files for application, source, and documentation (for central.sonatype.org)

Sonatype has a repository that I want to deploy a jar file to, and they ask for separate files for application, sources, and javadocs:
Example:
example-application-1.4.7.pom
example-application-1.4.7.jar
example-application-1.4.7-sources.jar
example-application-1.4.7-javadoc.jar
In Scala SBT, I have a command called "package" that generates the jar file for the project, but that only generates "example-application-1.4.7.jar".
Question: What should I do to generate the other two jar files?

In Maven, in order to get the additional -sources and -javadoc artifacts, add to your POM file the following:
<build>
<plugins>
<!-- additional plugin configurations, if any.. -->
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.0.0</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.10.3</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
Note the snippet above:
We are invoking the Maven Source Plugin to create an additional jar files for sources
We are invoking the Maven Javadoc Plugin to create an additional jar files for javadoc
Executing
mvn clean package
You will find these two additional jars in the target folder.
The .pom file instead is generated during the install phase, but it is not placed under the target folder. Basically, it is a copy of your pom.xml file, with a different extension and used by Maven during the dependency mediation process to check which transitive dependencies are required by the concerned artifact.
Executing
mvn clean install
Maven will install the artifact in your local cache (in your machine), under path_to_cache/.m2/repository/your_groupId/your_artifactId/your_version/. In this folder, you will also find the .pom file, which normally you don't need to distribute (it is created automatically by Maven).
Further note: you probably don't want to generate these additional jar files at each and every build, so to speed up normal builds and have them only on demand, you could wrap the snippet above in a Maven profile.
You can achieve this by removing the snippet above from your build section and add a further section at the end of your pom:
<profiles>
<profile>
<id>prepare-distribution</id>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.0.0</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.10.3</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>jar</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</profile>
</profiles>
So that normal builds would not create these jars anymore, but when executing the following:
mvn clean install -Pprepare-distribution
You would instead get them back. the -P option is actually activating on demand the profile defined with the id prepare-distribution.
With Maven 3 a default profile already comes as part of the super pom which perform exactly the same actions (sources and javadoc artifact), hence no need to add anything to your existing project. Simply run:
mvn clean install -Prelease-profile
Or, to activate it via a property
mvn clean install -DperformRelease=true
However, as also specified in the super pom, this profile may be removed in future releases (although there since first Maven 3 version till version 3.3.9 so far)
NOTE: The release profile will be removed from future versions of the super POM
The main reason behind this warning is most probably to push for the usage of the Maven Release Plugin, which indirectly makes use of this profile via the useReleaseProfile option of the release:perform goal.
As highlighted by comments, if you are not familiar with maven (especially via console) I would definitely recommend to
Go through the official Maven in 5 minutes documentation for a quick but worthy look.
Play with Maven from the command line, is there where Maven gives you its best. IDE integrations are great, but command line is the real turning point.
Then play with the POM customization above, to get familiar with some concepts and behaviors, first directly as part of your default build, then moved to a profile.
Then, and only then, move to the Maven Release Plugin usage. I recommend it as last step because you would already have acquired more confidence and understanding and see it as less magic and more reasonable approach.

Managing JAXB-generated classes in a Maven project

I have a Maven-based project, in which I trying to add some JAXB classes automatically generated by the "jaxb2-maven-plugin" Maven plugin. However, my first cut has me in a circular dependency loop:
Because these JAXB classes aren't generated yet, my other sources which reference them have compilation errors.
Because those other sources have compilation errors, these JAXB classes don't get generated.
It seems like there are two obvious possibilities for solving this:
Comment-out the broken references, so that the project builds and the JAXB classes are automatically generated. Then copy those generated sources from /target into /src/main/java, so that references to them won't cause compilation errors.
Create an entirely separate project, consisting of nothing but the JAXB stuff. Include it as a dependency in my main project.
Am I missing something here? Option #1 seems flat-out ridiculous... that just can't be the manner in which people use JAXB. Option #2 seems more rational, but still rather inefficient and cumbersome. I really have to take on the overhead of an entirely separate project just to use JAXB?
Are there any more elegant approaches that developers use to reference JAXB-generated classes in the same project where the Maven plugin generates them?
UPDATE: By request, here is the relevant portion of my POM:
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<!-- configure the compiler to compile to Java 1.6 -->
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<source>1.6</source>
<target>1.6</target>
</configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>jaxb2-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.4</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>generate-sources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>xjc</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
<!-- The name of your generated source package -->
<packageName>com.mypackage</packageName>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
When I run mvn clean package, I DO see my JAXB sources being generated beneath the /target subdirectory. However, those generated sources are not being automatically added to the classpath for the compile phase.
POST-RESOLUTION UPDATE: It turns out that my compilation issues had more to do with the fact that I was running in Eclipse, and its Maven integration has some issues with "jaxb2-maven-plugin". See this StackOverflow question for more detail on that issue and its resolution.

How did you configure your jaxb maven plugin? Normally it runs in the generate-sources lifecycle, which comes before the compile lifecycle. So your JAXB generated classes should already be there when your own code gets compiled, Maven puts them in target/generated-source and puts that folder on the classpath.
Edit:
This is my code we use at work (and which works as expected):
<plugin>
<groupId>com.sun.tools.xjc.maven2</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-jaxb-plugin</artifactId>
<executions>
<execution>
<phase>generate-sources</phase>
<goals>
<goal>generate</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
<schemaDirectory>src/main/resources/<companyname>/xsd</schemaDirectory>
<includeSchemas>
<includeSchema>retrieval.xsd</includeSchema>
<includeSchema>storage.xsd</includeSchema>
</includeSchemas>
</configuration>
</plugin>
Apparently we use yet another jaxb plugin... (see also this thread: Difference of Maven JAXB plugins).

i would suggest you to split jaxb-generated classes (api) and your BL classes (implementation) to 2 maven projects with separate pom.xml for each, and the main root pom.xml with the compilation order. that way, you will be able to build api.jar, then maven will install it inside the local repo, and after that you can use it as the dependency of your implementation. so it will looks like:
-API\
--pom.xml - for api, jaxb generation
-IMPL\
--pom.xml - for impl, api dependency is here
pom.xml - main pom.xml with references to the projects above

Maybe try using the maven-jaxb2-plugin instead:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.jvnet.jaxb2.maven2</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-jaxb2-plugin</artifactId>
<version>0.8.2</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>generate</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
The answer from dfuse is correct, though. Either plugin should generate sources before compiling, and the result of the source generation will be on the classpath. I tested this with both plugins. Is it possible for you to post your schema, or at least the schema for the type that your code is failing to pick up on the classpath?