7.0.0-RC2 - PROJECT_TARGET_DIR is never used or set. #15127

codeconsole · 2025-10-09T23:22:39Z

build is hardcoded in the plugin and results in an exception if you specify any other directory

./gradlew bootRun --project-prop buildDir=build-7.0.0-SNAPSHOT

results in

java.io.FileNotFoundException: /grails-demo/build/.grailspid (No such file or directory)
        at java.base/java.io.FileOutputStream.open0(Native Method)
        at java.base/java.io.FileOutputStream.open(FileOutputStream.java:255)
        at java.base/java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:210)
        at java.base/java.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(FileOutputStream.java:171)
        at java.base/java.io.FileWriter.<init>(FileWriter.java:98)
        at grails.util.Environment.writeDevToolsPidFile(Environment.groovy:383)
        at grails.util.Environment.isDevtoolsRestart(Environment.groovy:370)

Motivation - Run 2 Different Versions of Grails on Different Ports with the Same Source

./gradlew bootRun --project-prop buildDir=build-7.0.0-RC2 -PgrailsVersion=7.0.0-RC2 --args="--server.port=8081"
./gradlew bootRun --project-prop buildDir=build-7.0.0-SNAPSHOT -PgrailsVersion=7.0.0-SNAPSHOT --args="--server.port=8082"

jdaugherty · 2025-10-13T17:11:18Z

grails-gradle/plugins/src/main/groovy/org/grails/gradle/plugin/core/GrailsGradlePlugin.groovy

    @CompileStatic
    protected String configureGrailsBuildSettings(Project project) {
        System.setProperty(BuildSettings.APP_BASE_DIR, project.projectDir.absolutePath)
+        System.setProperty(BuildSettings.PROJECT_TARGET_DIR, project.layout.buildDirectory.get().asFile.name)


Going back to April 2024, this never appears to have been set previously. Why set it now?

I don't believe this is needed because configureForkSettings copies any grails property and sets it on javaexec / test.

@jdaugherty the build dir should be customizable and not hard coded.

We haven't allowed that to be set since the retirement of the original grails build configuration. What's the use case for this? I'm not saying we shouldn't allow this, but for 7.0.0 it's a feature, not a bug. My concern is scope for 7.0.0 release.

@jdaugherty the reason I am calling it a bug is because it results in an exception java.io.FileNotFoundException: /grails-demo/build/.grailspid (No such file or directory)
If it works, let's put it in 7.0.1

jdaugherty · 2025-10-13T17:12:07Z

grails-gradle/model/src/main/groovy/grails/util/BuildSettings.groovy

        BASE_DIR = System.getProperty(APP_BASE_DIR) ? new File(System.getProperty(APP_BASE_DIR)) : (IOUtils.findApplicationDirectoryFile() ?: new File('.'))
        GRAILS_APP_DIR_PRESENT = new File(BASE_DIR, 'grails-app').exists() || new File(BASE_DIR, 'Application.groovy').exists()
-        TARGET_DIR = new File(BASE_DIR, 'build')
+        TARGET_DIR = System.getProperty(PROJECT_TARGET_DIR) ? new File(BASE_DIR, System.getProperty(PROJECT_TARGET_DIR)) : new File(BASE_DIR, 'build')


What's the use case for having this set? The reason we removed PROJECT_TARGET_DIR is because it wasn't used. You can easily inject this via gradle, and BuildSettings is really a left over artifact from the original grails build system. We are trying to remove this functionality over time since it's specific to dev mode and gradle is the better place for that logic.

I think this is a breaking change too. Going back to 3/29/24 in the logs, this never overrode TARGET_DIR.

If you set a buildDir via gradle in anything other than build, bootRun fails.

./gradlew bootRun --project-prop buildDir=build-7.0.0-RC2

@jdaugherty how is it breaking? if it is not set, it reverts to the way it was previously.

It's a breaking change b/c it didn't previously behave like this. We're introducing a function here and I still am not clear why we need to support this. Why do we need to support a custom build directory? We're trying to remove BuildSettings.groovy completely in the longer run.

@jdaugherty because you shouldn't hard code build. It is not a guaranteed directory name and customizable by gradle. This doesn't have to go in 7.0.0. This is just trying to fix java.io.FileNotFoundException: /grails-demo/build/.grailspid (No such file or directory) which is caused because build directory is not automatically created.

jdaugherty · 2025-10-13T17:13:21Z

grails-gradle/plugins/src/main/groovy/org/grails/gradle/plugin/core/GrailsGradlePlugin.groovy

    @CompileStatic
    protected String configureGrailsBuildSettings(Project project) {
        System.setProperty(BuildSettings.APP_BASE_DIR, project.projectDir.absolutePath)
+        System.setProperty(BuildSettings.PROJECT_TARGET_DIR, project.layout.buildDirectory.get().asFile.name)


I don't believe this is needed because configureForkSettings copies any grails property and sets it on javaexec / test.

matrei · 2025-10-14T06:46:39Z

I think this is a possible candidate for 7.0.1.
We need to ship 7.0.0 to lay some stable ground so we can continue moving from there.

PROJECT_TARGET_DIR is never used.

47c7d0a

codeconsole requested review from jdaugherty and matrei October 9, 2025 23:22

jdaugherty reviewed Oct 13, 2025

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7.0.0-RC2 - PROJECT_TARGET_DIR is never used or set. #15127

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7.0.0-RC2 - PROJECT_TARGET_DIR is never used or set. #15127

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codeconsole commented Oct 9, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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build is hardcoded in the plugin and results in an exception if you specify any other directory

Motivation - Run 2 Different Versions of Grails on Different Ports with the Same Source

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codeconsole Oct 14, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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matrei commented Oct 14, 2025

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codeconsole commented Oct 9, 2025 •

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codeconsole Oct 14, 2025 •

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