Multiple Dependency Scopes in POM

Question

I have a dependency in my POM that needs to be set to "provided" so it is not included at compilation, but it can still be referenced within my project. I would like the same dependency to have a scope of "test" when I go to run tests so I do not have to manually add the jar to my classpath. Is there a way to do this or achieve similar results?

Reasoning behind this is that I have some common jars that are provided in my JBOSS lib directory, so I want to use these and keep the "provided" scope of them for the war that is built. However, when I run JUnits from the command line, I want to use the jar from the repository without manually adding it to my classpath.

Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

From maven documentation:

provided This is much like compile, but indicates you expect the JDK or a container to provide the dependency at runtime. For example, when building a web application for the Java Enterprise Edition, you would set the dependency on the Servlet API and related Java EE APIs to scope provided because the web container provides those classes. This scope is only available on the compilation and test classpath, and is not transitive.

I checked this works for me in maven 3.0.3. Had the same issue that i needed to have a servlet dependency while compilation and test but not compiled in because it ships with the application server distribution.

Answer 2

You could use a profile that either declares those dependencies as test or as provided - depending on what is more convenient for you:

<profiles>
    <profile>
        <id>whatever</id>
        <activation>
            <property>
                <name>env</name>
                <value>whatever</value> 
            </property>
        </activation>
        <dependencies>
            <dependency>
              <groupId>yours</groupId>
              <artifactId>yours</artifactId>
                <scope>provided</scope>
            </dependency>
        </dependencies>
    </profile>
    <profile>
        <id>test</id>
        <activation>
            <property>
                <name>env</name>
                <value>test</value> 
            </property>
        </activation>
        <dependencies>
            <dependency>
              <groupId>yours</groupId>
              <artifactId>yours</artifactId>
                <scope>test</scope>
            </dependency>
        </dependencies>
    </profile>
</profiles>

Those profiles get activated by setting the property env but there are other ways, f.e. default activation - have a look here for that.

Answer 3

Try declaring the dependency twice, once with each scope. Works in Maven 2.2.1.

Confusing things happen with dependency resolution, when the same artifact is in the dependency tree twice with different scopes, but I don't think it should be a problem in your case.

Answer 4

Have the same issue, reason why i need two scopes for the same dependency is on phase integrating test i use jetty-plugin for run rest service, and make some JUnit testing while jetty is running, but i compile my package for jboss as, where i already have "resteasy-cdi", than absent for jetty servlet container...I have no found solution yet.

Answer 5

Use the maven-surefire-plugin to run your junit tests. The scope of provided will also make it available on the test classpath.

Answer 6

Please find the exact meaning of scopes in Maven

I refered to Maven http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-dependency-mechanism.html

Dependency scope is used to limit the transitivity of a dependency, and also to affect the classpath used for various build tasks.

There are 6 scopes available:

compile:-

This is the default scope, used if none is specified. Compile dependencies are available in all classpaths of a project. Furthermore, those dependencies are propagated to dependent projects.

provided:-

This is much like compile, but indicates you expect the JDK or a container to provide the dependency at runtime. For example, when building a web application for the Java Enterprise Edition, you would set the dependency on the Servlet API and related Java EE APIs to scope provided because the web container provides those classes. This scope is only available on the compilation and test classpath, and is not transitive.

runtime:-

This scope indicates that the dependency is not required for compilation, but is for execution. It is in the runtime and test classpaths, but not the compile classpath.

test:-

This scope indicates that the dependency is not required for normal use of the application, and is only available for the test compilation and execution phases.

system:-

This scope is similar to provided except that you have to provide the JAR which contains it explicitly. The artifact is always available and is not looked up in a repository. import (only available in Maven 2.0.9 or later):- This scope is only used on a dependency of type pom in the section. It indicates that the specified POM should be replaced with the dependencies in that POM's section. Since they are replaced, dependencies with a scope of import do not actually participate in limiting the transitivity of a dependency.