I have a build.xml file but not a pom file for a pre-existing project, are they interchangeable?

Question

I'm having an issue where i've seen other people deal with it by adding a dependency to their pom file. I do not have such a file but I do have a file called build.xml that looks like this...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<project default="create_run_jar" name="Create Runnable Jar for Project PM_DEV with libraries in sub-folder">
    <!--this file was created by Eclipse Runnable JAR Export Wizard-->
    <!--ANT 1.7 is required                                        -->
    <!--define folder properties-->
    <property name="dir.buildfile" value="."/>
    <property name="dir.workspace" value="C:/Users/SENIOR/eclipse-workspace"/>
    <property name="dir.jarfile" value="C:/Users/SENIOR/Desktop/9.9"/>
    <target name="create_run_jar">
        <jar destfile="${dir.jarfile}/9.9.jar">
            <manifest>
                <attribute name="Main-Class" value="ui.MainMenuFrame"/>
                <attribute name="Class-Path" value=". 9.9_lib/activation.jar 9.9_lib/apache-mime4j-core-0.8.5.jar 9.9_lib/arial.jar 9.9_lib/commons-beanutils-1.8.2.jar 9.9_lib/commons-digester-2.1.jar 9.9_lib/commons-logging-1.2.jar 9.9_lib/dom4j-1.6.1.jar 9.9_lib/GoodDatePicker-10.3.1.jar 9.9_lib/hamcrest-core-1.3.jar 9.9_lib/itextpdf-5.3.4.jar 9.9_lib/javax.mail-1.6.2.jar 9.9_lib/jcalendar-1.3.3.jar 9.9_lib/jcommon-1.0.23.jar 9.9_lib/jfreechart-1.0.19-experimental.jar 9.9_lib/jfreechart-1.0.19-swt.jar _9.9_lib/jfreechart-1.0.19.jar 9.9_lib/jfreesvg-2.0.jar 9.9_lib/joda-time-2.4-javadoc.jar 9.9_lib/joda-time-2.4-sources.jar 9.9_lib/joda-time-2.4.jar 9.9_lib/junit-4.11.jar 9.9_lib/orsoncharts-1.4-eval-nofx.jar 9.9_lib/orsoncharts-1.5.jar 9.9_lib/orsonpdf-1.6-eval.jar 9.9_lib/orsonpdf-1.7.jar 9.9_lib/poi-3.14.jar 9.9_lib/poi-ooxml-3.14.jar 9.9_lib/poi-ooxml-schemas-3.14.jar 9.9_lib/rs2xml.jar 9.9_lib/servlet.jar 9.9_lib/sqljdbc4.jar 9.9_lib/swingx-1.6.1.jar 9.9_lib/swtgraphics2d.jar 9.9_lib/xmlbeans-2.6.0.jar 9.9_lib/mssql-jdbc-10.2.1.jre8.jar 9.9_lib/sqljdbc42.jar 9.9_lib/AbsoluteLayout.jar 9.9_lib/eclipselink.jar 9.9_lib/javax.persistence_2.1.0.v201304241213.jar 9.9_lib/org.eclipse.persistence.jpa.jpql_2.5.2.v20140319-9ad6abd.jar 9.9_lib/swing-layout-1.0.4.jar 9.9_lib/commons-collections4-4.4.jar 9.9_lib/itext-2.1.7.js8.jar 9.9_lib/jasperreports-6.20.0.jar"/>
            </manifest>
            <fileset dir="${dir.buildfile}/build/classes"/>
        </jar>
        <delete dir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <mkdir dir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/activation.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/apache-mime4j-core-0.8.5.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/arial.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/commons-beanutils-1.8.2.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/commons-digester-2.1.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/commons-logging-1.2.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/dom4j-1.6.1.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/GoodDatePicker-10.3.1.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/hamcrest-core-1.3.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/itextpdf-5.3.4.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/javax.mail-1.6.2.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jcalendar-1.3.3.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jcommon-1.0.23.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jfreechart-1.0.19-experimental.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jfreechart-1.0.19-swt.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jfreechart-1.0.19.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jfreesvg-2.0.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/joda-time-2.4-javadoc.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/joda-time-2.4-sources.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/joda-time-2.4.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/junit-4.11.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/orsoncharts-1.4-eval-nofx.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/orsoncharts-1.5.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/orsonpdf-1.6-eval.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/orsonpdf-1.7.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/poi-3.14.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/poi-ooxml-3.14.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/poi-ooxml-schemas-3.14.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/rs2xml.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/servlet.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/sqljdbc4.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/swingx-1.6.1.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/swtgraphics2d.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/xmlbeans-2.6.0.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/mssql-jdbc-10.2.1.jre8.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/sqljdbc42.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/AbsoluteLayout.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/eclipselink.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/javax.persistence_2.1.0.v201304241213.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/org.eclipse.persistence.jpa.jpql_2.5.2.v20140319-9ad6abd.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/swing-layout-1.0.4.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/commons-collections4-4.4.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/itext-2.1.7.js8.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
        <copy file="${dir.buildfile}/libs/jasperreports-6.20.0.jar" todir="${dir.jarfile}/9.9_lib"/>
    </target>
</project>

Can I use this file the same way pom files are used and add dependencies here? Or is this something completely different and I can't add my dependencies here.

Answer 1

Basically build.xml is a script for another building system called Apache Ant . It was really popular before maven and later gradle were released.

At that time dependency management as it appears in maven / gradle didn't exist, so Ant didn't offer anything like that.

However there exists another project called Apache Ivy that adds dependency management for Ant scripts, so I believe this is your best bet if you don't want to start using (and migrate to pom.xml) and keep using Ant.

Both Ant and Ivy are still active projects, however maven and gradle over the years have become more popular in the industry.