Ability to rename a dependency's jar when putting it on the lib folder

More than likely, you refer to some Maven plugin and not the Maven core. What exactly is "putting it on the lib folder"? Do you have a POM or debug log to look at?

Sorry, I think I wasn't clear...
Let's try again..
I'm going to attach a project on this issue where you can see what I'm saying.
First, do a "mvn package" on the project.
Then, go to TestMaven/target/TestMaven/WEB-INF/lib
Among other files, there's a "mentawai-1.14.1.jar" there. What I want is force Maven to rename this jar.
To understand why do I whant this, look at the "TestMaven/src/main/webapp/index.jsp" file.
The first line on thie file is:
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/lib/mentawai-1.14.1.jar" prefix="mtw" %>
Now imagine I have this line on a lot of source files, and I decide to use a new version of the library. I would have to go on any source file and correct the references.

Now, imagine Maven had renamed this jar to, say, "mentawai.jar". What I'd have on my index.jsp would be:
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/lib/mentawai.jar" prefix="mtw" %>

And if I decide to move to a different version, I don't have to correct any references.

I think we could have an addicional tag on the dependency declaration, something like this:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.mentaframework</groupId>
<artifactId>mentawai</artifactId>
<version>1.14.1</version>
<scope>compile</scope>
<finalName>mentarai.jar<finalName> <- This is a new tag
</dependency>
And, in the case where this new tag isn't used, Maven would use the current pattern, so it would be 100% backward compatible.

Test project

I was told the example File Name Mapping from the Maven WAR Plugin could be what you want.

If "File Name Mapping" renames TLDs etc. as well, perhaps a tag like <archiveName>myname.jar</archiveName> would be great to complement <archiveClasses>true</archiveClasses>; to be able to replace the default <artefactId>-<version>.jar with myname.jar.

Using <outputFileNameMapping> to control the name of the jar-file produced by the <archiveClasses> tag has SERIOUS side effects. Sure, the jar-file produced from our sources are given the name, but so are also every other external dependency (declared by maven <dependency>...</dependency> tags).

So again, I really propose a tag similar to <archiveName>myname.jar</archiveName>, to be able to control the name of the jar produced from the project sources.

pom.xml excerpt using outputFileNameMapping:

<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.1-beta-1</version>
<configuration>
<archiveClasses>true</archiveClasses>
<outputFileNameMapping>prefix-${project.artifactId}-${project.version}.jar</outputFileNameMapping>
</configuration>
</plugin>

Johan,

Your comments are about other issues than this one.

I haven't seen another issue about renaming TLDs, please file a new issue for that with a description of what it is you want to do.

There are other issues about the name of the project's own JAR file, like MWAR-176. Please add your suggestions there. Or if you feel the need for it - create a new issue.