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I'm studying java web services and trying to follow the oracle tutorial but it tells me to build and deploy the example code using asant. I've looked high and low and I can't find it. It doesn't seem to be included with Glassfish any more. I'm using Glassfish version 3, JDK 1.6.

Can anybody tell me where it is or how to get it?

Thanks in advance.

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Actually, let me ask another question because I can't find the answer on Oracles site... where can I find a tutorial on Java web services that's up to date (ie not from 2006). I think there's my real problem! –  ac7web Feb 23 '11 at 17:09
you may want to add a pointer to the tutorial that you are using, since that will give folks more context to provide a relevant answer. And, yes, using tutorials from 2006 may not be the best way to learn Java web services in 2011. You may want to use google, but include '-site:java.sun.com -site:oracle.com' to remove a number of stale hits from the search... or limit the age of the hits that you want to accept. I usually limit search for stuff like this to content created/updated in the last year. –  vkraemer Feb 23 '11 at 17:40
I know it sounds like I'm a moron but believe it or not that's the link on the oracle website for learning the latest java web services. It was only when I downloaded the PDF version and checked the coversheet that I noticed the date - 2006! :D I guess not many people learn this way then? –  ac7web Feb 24 '11 at 14:46

3 Answers 3

up vote 1 down vote accepted

asant shipped with the GlassFish 2 releases. It was a wrapper that included a number of convenience tasks.

As the team that Sun used to develop GlassFish shrank, some 'features' of the releases were pruned from the GlassFish 3 development work. Asant was one of those features.

Your best bet may be to follow the Web Services section of the Java EE 6 Tutorial. It will be more up-to-date with the current state of the art.

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Thanks I'll give it a try. –  ac7web Feb 24 '11 at 14:44

asant is a command line using apache ant, it helps you to build your project using ant, you have to write a build.xml file, and then run the command asant http://download.java.net/general/open-esb/docs/jbi-ant-targets-reference/target-help/usage.html

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by the way, asant is used for solaris –  Mansuro Feb 23 '11 at 16:48
Yes I know what it is and what it is supposed to do but I can't find it in my distribution of glassfish, where it is supposed to be. –  ac7web Feb 23 '11 at 17:08


if you have it installed it should be in: glassfish-Install-Folder/bin

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