How to run Rake tasks from within Rake tasks?

Question

I have a Rakefile that compiles the project in two ways, according to the global variable $build_type, which can be :debug or :release (the results go in separate directories):

task :build => [:some_other_tasks] do
end

I wish to create a task that compiles the project with both configurations in turn, something like this:

task :build_all do
  [ :debug, :release ].each do |t|
    $build_type = t
    # call task :build with all the tasks it depends on (?)
  end
end

Is there a way to call a task as if it were a method? Or how can I achieve anything similar?

Answer 1

If you need the task to behave as a method, how about using an actual method?

task :build => [:some_other_tasks] do
  build
end

task :build_all do
  [:debug, :release].each { |t| build t }
end

def build(type = :debug)
  # ...
end

If you'd rather stick to rake's idioms, here are your possibilities, compiled from past answers:

• This always executes the task, but it doesn't execute its dependencies:

  Rake::Task["build"].execute
  

• This one executes the dependencies, but it only executes the task if it has not already been invoked:

  Rake::Task["build"].invoke
  

• This first resets the task's already_invoked state, allowing the task to then be executed again, dependencies and all:

  Rake::Task["build"].reenable
  Rake::Task["build"].invoke
  

• Note that dependencies already invoked are not automatically re-executed unless they are re-enabled. In Rake >= 10.3.2, you can use the following to re-enable those as well:

  Rake::Task["build"].all_prerequisite_tasks.each(&:reenable)