JBoss-retro is a tool for transforming compiled byte code from one format to another. For example, classes can be renamed, method calls can be redirected and data types can be changed. One usage of this is to allow translation of jdk1.5 byte code to an equivalent that can be used in a jdk1.4 jvm. Potentially it could be used to make other byte code transformations as well.

Goals Overview

The JBoss-Retro Plugin allows a maven based build to use the JBoss Retro software. The available goals currently include goals for transforming main or test classes, and for verifying jdk1.5 to 1.4 translated byte code.

weave binds the jboss-retro:weave goal which uses a weaver class to weave the byte code in the main classes directory (target/classes). By default it runs during the process-classes phase of the build, but can be configured to run at a different phase, and/or weave classes in another directory.
weave-tests binds the jboss-retro:weave-tests goal. This is a subclass of the weave mojo, and provides the same functionality but it defaults to binding to the process-test-classes phase and weaving the test classes in target/test-classes.
retro-check binds the jboss-retro:retro-check goal. This goal is only meant to be used when using the jdk1.5 to jdk1.4 byte code weaver. It provides an additional check to make sure that the weave was successful.

Usage

Detailed usage instructions for the JBoss-Retro Plugin can be found here .