Getting NetBeans 6.9 RC1 to insert the correct copyright text in maven projects

Netbeans has supported for quite some time the ability to set the license for a project so that when a new file is created, the template automatically inserts the correct one. The problem is that in the past this has not been that well supported when it comes to maven based projects.

Now in some of the recent releases this now works, with a little bit of configuration – I’ve tested this only with 6.9 RC1, but this should (in theory) work with 6.8 and possibly 6.5.

First you need to choose your license. Open the Tools menu and select Templates. This should then open the Template Manager. Once open, expand the Licenses entry to show the available licenses.

Now the ones that can be used in maven are the ones named: license-*.txt. If the one you want is there, then make a note if it’s name.

Creating a new License Template

If the license you want is not there then you’ll need to create a template for it. For example the above screenshot shows bsd and gpl3cp which are the two I use for my Open Source projects but they are not provided by Netbeans so I had to create them.

For the BSD template, create the following file in the root directory of your project (so others can reuse the same license), in this case license-bsd.txt:

<#if licenseFirst??>
${licenseFirst}
</#if>
${licensePrefix} Copyright (c) 1998-${date?date?string("yyyy")}, Peter T Mount
${licensePrefix} All rights reserved.
${licensePrefix}
${licensePrefix} Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
${licensePrefix} modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
${licensePrefix} are met:
${licensePrefix}
${licensePrefix} * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
${licensePrefix}   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
${licensePrefix}
${licensePrefix} * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
${licensePrefix}   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
${licensePrefix}   documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
${licensePrefix}
${licensePrefix} * Neither the name of the retep.org.uk nor the names of its contributors
${licensePrefix}   may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
${licensePrefix}   without specific prior written permission.
${licensePrefix}
${licensePrefix} THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
${licensePrefix} "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
${licensePrefix} LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
${licensePrefix} A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER
${licensePrefix} OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
${licensePrefix} EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
${licensePrefix} PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
${licensePrefix} PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
${licensePrefix} LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
${licensePrefix} NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
${licensePrefix} SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
<#if licenseLast??>
${licenseLast}
</#if>

Next select the Licenses heading and press Add. Select your new file then add. The template’s now been added. Later if you need to tweek it you can now select it and press Open in editor.

Enabling the template for your Maven project

The next step is to tell Netbeans to use this template. To do this we need to add another file, profiles.xml, which goes into the same directory as your project’s root pom.

<profilesXml>
    <profiles>
        <profile>
            <id>netbeans-private</id>
            <activation>
                <property>
                    <name>netbeans.execution</name>
                    <value>true</value>
                </property>
            </activation>
            <properties>
                <netbeans.hint.license>bsd</netbeans.hint.license>
            </properties>
        </profile>
    </profiles>
</profilesXml>

You’ll notice the netbeans.hint.license property. It’s value is the middle part of your template’s name.

Once set, reload the project within netbeans and every time you create a new file who’s template includes the license it will include the correct one for the project.

Netbeans Template Tips

When creating your own templates, you can include the license at any time using the following snippet:

<#assign licenseFirst = "/*">
<#assign licensePrefix = " * ">
<#assign licenseLast = " */">
<#include "../Licenses/license-${project.license}.txt">

Here you’ll notice we have to assign three values then include the license – the above example is for .java files but you can change it to any values for any type of file.

The other useful tip is the following line from the license template above:

${licensePrefix} Copyright (c) 1998-${date?date?string("yyyy")}, Peter T Mount

Here the template will always insert the current year into the file, rather than having to remember to change the templates every year – although you’ll still have to amend existing files.