targets and data types

I have some targets that define data type instances, such as file lists.

Nothing surprising about that, except that when I look at the Ant User Manual, I find nothing that says that a target can contain a data type. I didn’t see any examples of targets containing data types, either.

Looking at the code for Target, it is clear that a Target contains tasks and data types.

So, I’m wondering why I can’t find any mention of targets containing data types in the user manual. Did I miss it, or is it really not there?

The background for this question is that I am thinking of replacing a macro with a custom task, where the macro expands to a sequential execution of some datatypes. That sounds impossible, but yet it works. Should I not be doing this? I feel like I am missing something important.

Here’s the example:

    <macrodef name="classpath">
        <element name="classpath-elements" optional="true"/>
        <element name="jars-elements" optional="true"/>
        <element name="include-elements" optional="true"/>
        <sequential>
            <path id="lib.jars.elements">
                <jars-elements/>
            </path>
            <path id="lib.include.elements">
                <include-elements/>
            </path>
            <path id="lib.path.elements">
                <classpath-elements/>
            </path>
        </sequential>
    </macrodef>