# IllegalAccessError with Gradle AntBuilder and latest Groovy version

**URL:** <https://discuss.gradle.org/t/illegalaccesserror-with-gradle-antbuilder-and-latest-groovy-version/10744>\
**Category:** Help/Discuss\
**Created:** [July 22, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://discuss.gradle.org/t/illegalaccesserror-with-gradle-antbuilder-and-latest-groovy-version/10744 "2015-07-22T18:32:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jpearlin1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/gradle/user_avatar/discuss.gradle.org/jpearlin1/32/335_2.png) [@jpearlin1](https://discuss.gradle.org/u/jpearlin1)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://discuss.gradle.org/t/illegalaccesserror-with-gradle-antbuilder-and-latest-groovy-version/10744/1 "2015-07-22T18:32:17Z")

</div>

I ran into an issue when attempting to use version 2.4.3 of Groovy as a `testCompile` dependency in a project that has unit tests and code coverage using Clover and the `gradle-clover-plugin` (version 2.0.1). I worked around the first issue by manually adding the `testCompile` dependencies to the Ant class loader:

```
project.afterEvaluate {
    test.doFirst {
        ClassLoader antClassLoader = org.apache.tools.ant.Project.class.classLoader
        configurations.testCompile.each { file ->
            antClassLoader.addURL(file.toURI().toURL())
        }
    }
}

```

This exposed another issue:

```
11:07:54.644 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] Execution failed for task ':core:test'.
11:07:54.645 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] > tried to access class groovy.util.AntBuilderLocator from class groovy.util.AntBuilder

```

The stack trace reveals what might be an access issue between the Gradle `AntBuilder` and its parent, the Groovy `AntBuilder`:

```
11:07:54.663 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] Caused by: java.lang.IllegalAccessError: tried to access class groovy.util.AntBuilderLocator from class groovy.util.AntBuilder
11:07:54.663 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] at org.gradle.api.AntBuilder.<init>(AntBuilder.java:23)
11:07:54.664 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] at org.gradle.api.internal.project.ant.BasicAntBuilder.<init>(BasicAntBuilder.java:34)
11:07:54.664 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] at org.gradle.api.internal.project.DefaultAntBuilder.<init>(DefaultAntBuilder.java:44)
11:07:54.664 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] at org.gradle.api.internal.project.DefaultAntBuilderFactory.create(DefaultAntBuilderFactory.java:37)
11:07:54.664 [ERROR] [org.gradle.BuildExceptionReporter] at org.gradle.api.internal.project.DefaultAntBuilderFactory.create(DefaultAntBuilderFactory.java:26)

```

The best that I can tell is that Gradle is currently built on 2.3.10 of Groovy. From looking at the Groovy source, the class in question (`AntBuilderLocator`) was present as a default/package-scoped class in 2.3.10, as well as in 2.4.3. I guess I have a few questions:

1. Is there a better way to get Gradle to find the Groovy JAR from the testCompile classpath?
2. Am I missing something with regards to the IllegalAccessError? Seems to me that should happen in any version of Gradle using the Groovy AntBuilder because of the packaged-scoped inner class.
3. Has anyone else successfully been able to use Clover with a newer Groovy version in Gradle?

I should add that if the Groovy dependency is made a `compile` dependency, everything works without the `afterEvaluate` hack. However, that exposes Groovy as a transitive dependency to other projects that consume this project, even though Groovy is only being used for test purposes (not ideal).