Auto generate Package.xml using Ant – complete source code and Video

If we want to use Ant Migration tool to fetch Salesforce Organization metadata info or to deploy some changes to Salesforce, we need to create “package.xml” manually or take help of eclipse. wildcard character (*) doesnt work with some components like report, emailtemplate, dashboard and document. Package.xml must needs to have folder name and files inside folder name.  After getting package.xml from eclipse, what if some folder is added into Organization ? We need to update “package.xml” again with help of eclipse or do it manually. Therefore I wanted to automate generation of package.xml completely and came up with this article and below workaround.

I would be using Ant to generate “package.xml” with below steps

1. get Ant Migration tool jar from here
2. get AntContrib from here
3. create basic template of “package.xml” with placeholders in place of Report, Dashboard, EmailTemplate and Document, sample here
4. create Ant Macro to replace placeholders
5. create second Ant Macro to fetch all folders available using Metadata API (using sf:listMetadata)
6. create third Ant Macro to fetch files inside each folder using Metadata API (using sf:listMetadata)

We need to perform heavy file manipulation operations and iterate through each line, which is not possible by standard Ant  feature and therefore we need AntContrib library.

file – GeneratePackage_xml.properties
This file will have all configuration like username, Password

#   By      :   Jitendra Zaa
#   Date    :   12/31/2014
#   Address :   https://jitendrazaa.com
sfSandbox.serverurl = https://test.salesforce.com
sfPRO.serverurl = https://login.salesforce.com
 
sf.username = YOURUSERNAME
sf.password = YOURPASSWORD 
sf.xmlPath = tmp
sf.Name = TrainingOrg

package.xml.template = config/template-Package-Folders.xml

file – GeneratePackage_xml.xml
this file will have complete logic with definitions of custom Macro to retrieve folder names and files inside those folder. It is not necessary to create separate file, we can use build.xml itself however good to separate logic from main file.

<!--
    Author  :   Jitendra Zaa
    Date    :   12/31/2014
    Address :   https://jitendrazaa.com
-->
<project name="Generate Package.xml" default="testPackageXML" basedir="." xmlns:sf="antlib:com.salesforce">
    
    <!-- 
        Import AntContrib 
        Download it from - http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/ant-contrib/ant-contrib/1.0b3 
    --> 
      <taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antlib.xml">
        <classpath>
          <pathelement location="${basedir}/lib/ant-contrib-1.0b3.jar"/>
        </classpath>
      </taskdef>
       
    <property file="GeneratePackage_xml.properties"/>
    <property environment="env"/> 
  
    <macrodef name="Package_fetchFolderContents"> 
        <attribute name="folderName"/>
        <attribute name="componentType"/>
        <attribute name="orgName"/> 
        <attribute name="sfUserName"/>
        <attribute name="sfPassword"/>
        <attribute name="sfServerURL"/>        
        <sequential>             
            <sf:listMetadata
                    username="@{sfUserName}"
                    password="@{sfPassword}" 
                    serverurl="@{sfServerURL}"
                    metadataType="@{componentType}" 
                    folder="@{folderName}"
                    resultFilePath="tmp/@{orgName}-@{componentType}-@{folderName}.log"/> 
            <if>
                <!-- Execute only if file created -->
                <available file="tmp/@{orgName}-@{componentType}-@{folderName}.log"/>
                <then>
                    <loadfile srcfile="tmp/@{orgName}-@{componentType}-@{folderName}.log" property="@{orgName}.@{componentType}.@{folderName}" >
                        <filterchain> 
                            <ignoreblank/>
                            <linecontains negate="false">
                                <contains value="FileName:"/>
                            </linecontains>                             
                            <prefixlines prefix="&lt;members&gt;"/>
                            <suffixlines suffix="&lt;/members&gt;"/>
                            <tokenfilter> 
                                <replacestring from="FileName: reports/" to=""/>
                                <replacestring from="FileName: documents/" to=""/>
                                <replacestring from="FileName: email/" to=""/> 
                                <replacestring from="FileName: dashboards/" to=""/>  
                                <replacestring from=".report" to=""/> 
                                <replacestring from=".email" to=""/> 
                                <replacestring from=".dashboard" to=""/> 
                            </tokenfilter>
                        </filterchain> 
                    </loadfile>                     
                    <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.@{componentType}" append="true"> 
                        ${@{orgName}.@{componentType}.@{folderName}}
                     </concat>
                    <!-- <echo> Extracted Report Names - ${@{orgName}.@{componentType}.@{folderName}} </echo> -->
               </then>
           </if>
        </sequential>    
    </macrodef>	
    <macrodef name="Package_computeFolderName">
        <attribute name="sfUserName"/>
        <attribute name="sfPassword"/>
        <attribute name="sfServerURL"/>   
        <attribute name="metadataType"/> 
        <attribute name="tmpFolderPath"/>   
        <attribute name="componentType"/>  
        <attribute name="orgName"/>           
        <sequential>                
            <sf:listMetadata
                    username="@{sfUserName}"
                    password="@{sfPassword}" 
                    serverurl="@{sfServerURL}"
                    metadataType="@{metadataType}" 
                    resultFilePath="@{tmpFolderPath}"/>
            <echo> Output file for sf:listMetadata - @{tmpFolderPath} </echo>          
            <loadfile srcfile="@{tmpFolderPath}" property="@{orgName}.@{metadataType}.onlyFolderName" >
                <filterchain> 
                    <ignoreblank/>
                    <linecontains negate="false">
                        <contains value="FileName"/>
                    </linecontains>  
                    <tokenfilter>
                        <replacestring from="FileName: reports/" to=""/>
                        <replacestring from="FileName: documents/" to=""/>
                        <replacestring from="FileName: email/" to=""/> 
                        <replacestring from="FileName: dashboards/" to=""/>  
                        <replacestring from=" " to=""/>
                    </tokenfilter>
                </filterchain> 
            </loadfile>                      
            <for param="line" list="${@{orgName}.@{metadataType}.onlyFolderName}" delimiter="${line.separator}">
              <sequential> 
                <echo> Folder - @{line} </echo>  
                <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.@{componentType}" append="true">
                    &lt;members&gt; @{line} &lt;/members&gt; 
                </concat>                
                <Package_fetchFolderContents 
                    folderName="@{line}" 
                    componentType="@{componentType}" 
                    orgName="@{orgName}" 
                    sfusername="@{sfUserName}"
                    sfPassword="@{sfPassword}" 
                    sfServerURL="@{sfServerURL}" />                    
              </sequential>
            </for> 
        </sequential>
     </macrodef>     
    <macrodef name="GeneratePackage_xml">
        <attribute name="sfUserName"/>
        <attribute name="sfPassword"/>
        <attribute name="sfServerURL"/> 
        <!-- This attribute decides where to copy Package.xml -->
        <attribute name="packageXMLPath"/>  
        <attribute name="orgName"/>         
        <sequential>
             <!-- Delete All files first else it will append to existing old file -->
            <delete file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Dashboard"/>
            <delete file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Report"/>
            <delete file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.EmailTemplate"/>
            <delete file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Document"/>
            
            <!-- Create Fresh Files -->
            <touch file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Dashboard"/>
            <touch file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Report"/>
            <touch file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.EmailTemplate"/>
            <touch file="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Document"/>
            
            <!-- Empty Content in each file -->
            <property name="blankVal" value=""/> 
            <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Dashboard" append="true"> ${blankVal} </concat>
            <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Report" append="true"> ${blankVal} </concat>
            <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.EmailTemplate" append="true"> ${blankVal} </concat>
            <concat destfile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Document" append="true"> ${blankVal} </concat>            
             
            <!-- 
                Imp Step :
                1. We must assign Password to property and then pass to other Macro else it will ignore
                   all occurrences of '$' in password
                2. Property Name must be unique so safer to add Org Name also
            -->
            <property name="sfPassword.prop.@{orgName}" value="@{sfPassword}"/>        
            <Package_computeFolderName 
                sfUserName="@{sfUserName}"
                sfPassword="$${sfPassword.prop.@{orgName}}" 
                sfServerURL="@{sfServerURL}"
                metadataType="DashboardFolder"
                componentType = "Dashboard"                
                tmpFolderPath = "tmp/@{orgName}.DashboardFolders.log" 
                orgName="@{orgName}" 
            />    
             
            <Package_computeFolderName 
                sfUserName="@{sfUserName}"
                sfPassword="$${sfPassword.prop.@{orgName}}" 
                sfServerURL="@{sfServerURL}"
                metadataType="ReportFolder"  
                componentType="Report"
                tmpFolderPath = "tmp/@{orgName}.ReportFolders.log" 
                orgName="@{orgName}" 
            />  
            
            <Package_computeFolderName 
                sfUserName="@{sfUserName}"
                sfPassword="$${sfPassword.prop.@{orgName}}" 
                sfServerURL="@{sfServerURL}"
                metadataType="EmailFolder" 
                componentType="EmailTemplate"
                tmpFolderPath = "tmp/@{orgName}.EmailFolders.log" 
                orgName="@{orgName}" 
            />
               
            <Package_computeFolderName 
                sfUserName="@{sfUserName}"
                sfPassword="$${sfPassword.prop.@{orgName}}" 
                sfServerURL="@{sfServerURL}"
                metadataType="DocumentFolder" 
                componentType = "Document" 
                tmpFolderPath = "tmp/@{orgName}.DocumentFolders.log" 
                orgName="@{orgName}" 
            /> 
            
            <!-- Load Generated File content which has Snippet of Package.xml in Property -->
            <loadfile property="@{orgName}.DashboardFolder.log.edit" srcFile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Dashboard" failonerror="false"/>
            <loadfile property="@{orgName}.ReportFolder.log.edit" srcFile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Report" failonerror="false"/> 
            <loadfile property="@{orgName}.EmailFolder.log.edit" srcFile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.EmailTemplate" failonerror="false"/>
            <loadfile property="@{orgName}.DocumentFolder.log.edit" srcFile="tmp/@{orgName}.Package.xml.Snnipet.Document" failonerror="false"/>
            
            <copy file="${package.xml.template}" tofile="@{packageXMLPath}" overwrite="true" failonerror="true"/> 
            <replace file="@{packageXMLPath}">
                <replacefilter token="_replaceReportMembersTag_" value="${@{orgName}.ReportFolder.log.edit}"/> 
                <replacefilter token="_replaceEmailTemplateMembersTag_" value="${@{orgName}.EmailFolder.log.edit}"/> 
                <replacefilter token="_replaceDashboardMembersTag_" value="${@{orgName}.DashboardFolder.log.edit}"/> 
                <replacefilter token="_replaceDocumentMembersTag_" value="${@{orgName}.DocumentFolder.log.edit}"/> 
            </replace>            
        </sequential> 
    </macrodef>
    
    <target name="testPackageXML"> 
        <GeneratePackage_xml
            sfUserName = "${sf.username}" 
            sfPassword = "$${sf.password}"
            sfServerURL = "${sfPRO.serverurl}"
            packageXMLPath = "${basedir}/${sf.xmlPath}/Package.xml" 
            orgName="${sf.Name}"  />            
    </target>
</project>

file – build.xml
this is main file needed by Ant which will be used to bootstrap

<!--
    Author  :   Jitendra Zaa
    Date    :   12/31/2014
    Address :   https://jitendrazaa.com
-->
<project name="Generate Package.xml subfile" default="testPackageXML" basedir="." xmlns:sf="antlib:com.salesforce">
    <import file="GeneratePackage_xml.xml" as="complete"/>
</project>

folder – config
copy “template-Package-Folders.xml” in this folder. we can have multiple formats of package.xml as per need.

folder – lib
store downloaded “ant-contrib-1.0b3.jar” in this folder

How to run this

1. Open Command prompt
2. Navigate to folder where “build.xml” is present
3. execute command : “Ant” or “Ant testPackageXML”

This is just demo that how we can perform file manipulations in Ant and how to fetch folder and file names using Metadata API. Every project has specific needs so you may need to modify this code. Complete source code and jar file is available in my github account,