Custom assembly descriptor to create a jar with dependencies - maven-2

Question

I would like to generate a .jar application from a project made in Maven.
I am working in Eclipse, and I made: run as/Maven assembly:assembly
This is the error message:
[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-assembly-plugin:2.2-beta-4:assembly (default-cli) on project FeelIndexer: Error reading assemblies: No assembly descriptors found.
This is my assamble.xml
<assembly>
<id>exe</id>
<formats>
<format>jar</format>
</formats>
<includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
<dependencySets>
<dependencySet>
<outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
<outputFileNameMapping></outputFileNameMapping>
<unpack>true</unpack>
<scope>runtime</scope>
<includes>
<include>commons-lang:commons-lang</include>
<include>commons-cli:commons-cli</include>
</includes>
</dependencySet>
</dependencySets>
<fileSets>
<fileSet>
<directory>target/classes</directory>
<outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
</fileSet>
</fileSets>
</assembly>
I think i have to include something else for adding the dependencies of muy project, but i don't know how to do it!!
suggestions??
Update: Below my assembly.xml
<assembly>
<id>exe</id>
<formats>
<format>jar</format>
</formats>
<includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
<dependencySets>
<dependencySet>
<outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
<outputFileNameMapping></outputFileNameMapping>
<unpack>true</unpack>
<scope>runtime</scope>
<includes>
<include>commons-lang:commons-lang</include>
<include>commons-cli:commons-cli</include>
</includes>
</dependencySet>
</dependencySets>
<fileSets>
<fileSet>
<directory>target/classes</directory>
<outputDirectory></outputDirectory>
</fileSet>
</fileSets>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
<configuration>
<descriptors>
<descriptor>src/main/assembly/src.xml</descriptor>
</descriptors>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</assembly>
Where could i find my maven-assembly-plugin configuration??
I tried two options you told me:
Using predefined assembly.xml
Inserting plugin
I had the same result :s

Answer 1

To use a custom assembly descriptor, you have to declare it in the plugin configuration:
<project>
[...]
<build>
[...]
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
<configuration>
<descriptors>
<descriptor>src/main/assembly/src.xml</descriptor>
</descriptors>
</configuration>
[...]
</plugin>
</plugins>
</project>
By the way, wouldn't the predefined assembly jar-with-dependencies suit your needs? I don't see much differences with your custom assembly and my suggestion would be to use the predefined one:
<project>
[...]
<build>
[...]
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
<configuration>
<descriptorRefs>
<descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
</descriptorRefs>
</configuration>
[...]
</plugin>
</plugins>
</project>
Update: I don't understand what you're doing and I'm not sure you understood how the assembly plugin works.
The Maven Assembly Plugin configuration (the above samples, enclosed by <plugin>) goes in the pom.xml, not in the assembly descriptor.
If you configure the Maven Assembly Plugin to use src/main/assembly/src.xml as assembly descriptor, the file must exist (so either rename your assembly descriptor or change the configuration, the above sample was just... an example).
From what I see, you don't need a custom assembly descriptor. You could simply use the second snippet I gave in my initial answer (put it in your pom.xml).