[Building Sakai] Maven Version Numbers

[Mark Norton]

I have a Sakai tool that I maintain for SoftChalk called lbgateway.  It 
has two POMs that follow the general Sakai conventions.  My problem is 
with the parent references.  The version number is hard coded to the 
current version of Sakai, currently 2.7.1.  Since this version number is 
hard coded in the POMs, it means that I have to maintain separate tagged 
builds for 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3, 2.7.0, and 2.7.1 (not to mention 
the upcoming 2.8.0 release).  Every time I make a minor bug fix to the 
code, I have to update six (!) tagged releases just because the version 
number is hard coded.

Since the parent element in the POM refers to the Sakai master POM, I 
don't really understand why the current Sakai version can't be defined 
there.  Instead, it is hard-wired into ALL Sakai tools.

I have tried setting a property in settings.xml along the lines of 
"<softchalk.sakai.version>2.7.1</softchalk.sakai.version> and 
referencing it in the POMs as ${softchalk.sakai.version}.  In spite of 
substantial Maven documentation to the contrary, the property reference 
isn't resolved.

So I ask you, fellow Sakaigers, is this fixable?  Is there a way to 
centrally declare the current Sakai version so that I don't have to 
maintain a half dozen tagged versions of a tool?  Am I crazy to want this?

- Mark Norton