Howto copy README.md into src/main/resources?

Question

I want to show README.md file like help page in my web application. In order not to create duplicate, I need to copy by mvn from project path into resources.

How can I do so?

Any idea?

I have tried:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.3</version>

    <configuration>
        <!-- this is important -->
        <overwrite>true</overwrite>
        <!-- target -->
        <outputDirectory>${basedir}/target/classes</outputDirectory>
        <resources>
            <resource>
                <!-- source -->
                <directory>/</directory>
                <include>
                    <filter>**/README.md</filter>
                </include>
            </resource>
        </resources>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

Just putting them in your resources folder is not an option? — , Feb 17 '15 at 12:38

khmarbaise · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-17T13:12:01.040

The simplest solution would be to move the appropriate file(s) to src/main/resources folder whereas the second solution could be like this:

  <build>
    <resources>
      <resource>
        <directory>${project.basedir}</directory>
        <includes>
          <include>README.md</include>
        </includes>
        <filtering>true</filtering>
      </resource>
    </resources>
  </build>

No need for maven-resources-plugin to be configured this can be handled by the usual life cylcle and resource handling. The only thing you might need to adapt is the folder where the README.md is located. If you like having filtering you need to add the <filtering>true</filtering> part as well.

Copying something via Maven during the build into src/** is in general a bad idea, cause those folders are controled by version control systems which will result in uncommitted changes which you don't like to have.

Note: It would be wise to check for up-to-date versions of plugins (cause 2.3 is of 2008!). The list of the current plugin versions can be found here: http://maven.apache.org/plugins/

current sould be 2.7 i guess ;) – Krummy Feb 17 '15 at 12:55 — Krummy, Feb 17 '15 at 12:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 17 '15 at 12:42

This works for me in one of my projects:

<plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.4.3</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>copy-resources</id>
            <phase>validate</phase>
            <!-- when to execute copy operation -->
            <goals>
                <goal>copy-resources</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <resources>
                    <resource>
                        <directory>${basedir}/pathTo.MD</directory>
                    </resource>
                </resources>
                <overwrite>true</overwrite>
                <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/${project.build.finalName}/classes</outputDirectory>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

I see that i have the phase and the goal extra from your version. I also used variables for the output location.

I used it like this cause i only copy that resources based on some profiles. — Bogdan.Nourescu, Feb 17 '15 at 14:11
I see. In my case, I need to copy it always. Thanks for explanation — Valijon, Feb 17 '15 at 14:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 17 '15 at 12:51

I would recommend you to be more equal to this example: http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-resources-plugin/examples/copy-resources.html With "more equal" I mean like using <executions> tag.

You can of course leave out things like <id> and filtering.

The following worked fine for me:

<project>
  ...
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>2.7</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>myID</id>
            <!-- here the phase you need -->
            <phase>validate</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>copy-resources</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <outputDirectory>${basedir}/target/extra-resources</outputDirectory>
              <overwrite>true</overwrite>
              <resources>          
                <resource>
                  <directory>src</directory>
                  <!-- Details about filtering: http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-resources-plugin/examples/filter.html -->
                  <filtering>true</filtering>
                </resource>
              </resources>              
            </configuration>            
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
    ...
  </build>
  ...
</project>

Howto copy README.md into src/main/resources?

3 Answers3

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