What exactly is "task type" in gradle?

Question

I can declare a type for a gradle task and doing so seems to inherit some methods. For example:

task myCopyTask(type: Copy){
  from "foo"
  into "bar"
}

So, I think myCopyTask is an instance of org.gradle.api.tasks.Copy class, yes? And if I declare a task without any type, it is an instance of org.gradle.api.DefaultTask? Sorry for the basic question. I have been reading the gradle guide like this page but it isn't clear to me what type: exactly is.

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 20 '18 at 11:52

5

It's already answered but this might help to understand as well.

They're the subclasses of the type Task. Once you define a type for your task, you get to access/set/configure that particular task's properties. In your case, this is a subclass called "Copy" (as you've already kinda figure out).

Note: Tasks are shipped with various plugins or written by you.

answered Jul 20 '18 at 11:52

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There's a list of the default available types here: https://docs.gradle.org/current/dsl/index.html#N104C2 – tzrlk Nov 21 '21 at 20:19

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 01 '18 at 16:27

To get the type of an existing task, you can make use of Gradle's built-in help task using the --task command line option. The --task option takes in a task path for any task in the project. Here is an example using the help task on itself:

# ./gradlew help --task help                               

> Task :help                                        
Detailed task information for help                  

Path                                                
     :help                                          

Type                                                
     Help (org.gradle.configuration.Help)           

Options                                             
     --task     The task to show help for.          

Description                                         
     Displays a help message.                       

Group                                               
     help

Excellent explanation, I was scanning the docs all day and did not find anything. — Imran, Sep 09 '21 at 14:43

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 01 '18 at 16:15

2

Why not just add a println and find out yourself?

task myCopyTask(type: Copy) {
    ... 
}
println "Type is $myCopyTask.class.name"

edited Dec 01 '18 at 16:15

mkobit

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answered Dec 29 '16 at 01:33

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That's true. Sorry, I didn't think of using println like that. Thanks. And the actual classes are what I thought (or close to) org.gradle.api.tasks.Copy_Decorated org.gradle.api.DefaultTask_Decorated – hummingV Dec 30 '16 at 07:20
2

But what it is needed for? – Tomasz Gawel Jul 18 '18 at 13:26

What exactly is "task type" in gradle?

3 Answers3