Pass arguments to gradle task from command line - gradle

Question

How do I access the value of an argument from the command line in a gradle task? I know that this can be done by -P but I have the same property in my properties file and gradle picks the argument from the properties file rather than the command line. How do I prioritize accepting arguments from the command line over the properties file?
build.gradle
Properties props = new Properties()
props.load(new FileInputStream("./local.properties"))
props.each { prop ->
project.ext.set(prop.key, prop.value)
}
task print {
println("Gets = ${remote}");
}
local.properties
remote=from_properties
Command from cmd
gradle print -Premote=from_commandline
Output
Gets = from_properties

Answer 1

You shouldn't use your own local.properties file if you intend to use a properties file for Gradle properties.
Just use gradle.properties instead.
Also notice that you shouldn't declare task code inside its configuration block, you need to use doFirst or doLast:
gradle.properties
remote = properties
build.gradle
task print {
doLast { println "Gets = ${remote}" }
}
If you run ./gradlew print you will see Gets = properties.
If you run ./gradlew print -Premote=foo you should see Gets = foo.
That said.... if you really want your own properties file, you need to implement the order of priority yourself, Gradle cannot guess what you prefer.
For example, you could check if a property is already set before setting it:
def props = new Properties()
props.load(new FileInputStream("./local.properties"))
props.each { key, value ->
if (!project.hasProperty(key)) {
project.ext.set(key, value)
}
}