Sharing src/test classes with Maven without version specification for test-jar

Question

I'm sharing src/test classes between number of modules, in a similar way described in attaching tests guide and the following question.

So, I have the following pom.xml dependencies:

       <dependency>
            <groupId>com.myco.app</groupId>
            <artifactId>foo</artifactId>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.myco.app</groupId>
            <artifactId>foo</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
            <type>test-jar</type>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

BUT, in opposite to the question above, when attaching the test-jar, i don't want to specify the specific test-jar version. As in the compile level dependency:

   <dependency>
      <groupId>com.myco.app</groupId>
      <artifactId>foo</artifactId>
      <type>test-jar</type>
      <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>

In this case, my pom.xml become erroneous with message about the missing version. Why is this happen? Why i can specify dependency without versions but not the test-jar one? Is there a way to overcome this and make the test-jar to use the latest jar it can find?

Take a look at this answer to see if fits your needs: stackoverflow.com/questions/30571/… — Paulo Santos
– Paulo Santos, Commented Aug 20, 2015 at 13:36
@PauloSantos thanks, it's a good source. But my question is beyond that - I want to understand why in the first place, defining dependency without version don't work in my case (even if it's not a recommended practice). — Johnny
– Johnny, Commented Aug 20, 2015 at 13:46
Specifying dependencies without version won't work because maven was designed that way. But it works only for plugins, maven will use the latest version when you don't specify the plugin <version>. The only case that I'm aware that allow you use a dependency without version, is when you have the dependency already defined (with version) in a <dependecyManagement> tag — Paulo Santos
– Paulo Santos, Commented Aug 20, 2015 at 13:56

Johnny · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-24 09:53:51Z

5

The reason the main code dependency could be used without the version, is the existence of a "main pom" in our project that automatically generates appropriate version for each dependency in section. Therefore, each dependency can be specified without specific version number.

Test-jar dependency on the other hand, don't have it's version defined anywhere else in the transitive dependency so, the specific version must be specified.

answered Aug 24, 2015 at 9:53

Johnny

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