Running Ant

Command Line

If you have installed Ant as described in the Installing Ant section, running Ant from the command-line is simple: just type ant.
When no arguments are specified, Ant looks for a build.xml file in the current directory and, if found, uses that file as the build file and runs the target specified in the default attribute of the <project> tag. To make Ant use a build file other than build.xml, use the command-line option -buildfile file, where file is the name of the build file you want to use
If you use the -find [file] option, Ant will search for a build file first in the current directory, then in the parent directory, and so on, until either a build file is found or the root of the filesystem has been reached. By default, it will look for a build file called build.xml. To have it search for a build file other than build.xml, specify a file argument.
Note: If you include any other flags or arguments on the command line after the -find flag, you must include the file argument for the -find flag, even if the name of the build file you want to find is build.xml. You can also set properties on the command line. This can be done with the -Dproperty=value option, where property is the name of the property, and value is the value for that property. If you specify a property that is also set in the build file (see the property task), the value specified on the command line will override the value specified in the build file. Defining properties on the command line can also be used to pass in the value of environment variables - just pass

-DMYVAR=%MYVAR% (Windows) or 
-DMYVAR=$MYVAR (Unix)

to Ant. You can then access these variables inside your build file as . You can also access environment variables using the property task's environment attribute.

Ant Options

Options that affect the amount of logging output by Ant are:

-quiet, which instructs Ant to print less information to the console;
-verbose, which causes Ant to print additional information to the console;
-debug, which causes Ant to print considerably more additional information.

It is also possible to specify one or more targets that should be executed. When omitted, the target that is specified in the default attribute of the project tag is used.
The -projecthelp option prints out a list of the build file's targets. Targets that include a description attribute are listed as "Main targets", those without a description are listed as "Subtargets", then the "Default" target is listed.
ANT Build Tool
Command-line Options Summary

ant [options] [target [target2 [target3] ...]]

Options:

-help, -h	print this message
-projecthelp, -p	print project help information
-version	print the version information and exit
-diagnostics	print information that might be helpful to diagnose or report problems.
-quiet, -q	be extra quiet
-verbose, -v	be extra verbose
-debug, -d	print debugging information
-emacs, -e	produce logging information without adornments
-lib <path>	specifies a path to search for jars and classes
-logfile <file>	use given file for log
-l <file>	use given file for log
-logger <classname>	the class which is to perform logging
-listener <classname>	add an instance of class as a project listener
-noinput	do not allow interactive input
-buildfile <file>	use given buildfile
-file <file>	use given buildfile
-f <file>	use given buildfile
-D<property>=<value>	use value for given property
-keep-going, -k	execute all targets that do not depend on failed target(s)
-propertyfile <name>	load all properties from file with -D properties taking precedence
-inputhandler <class>	the class which will handle input requests
-find <file>	(s)earch for buildfile towards the root of
-s <file>	the filesystem and use it