Why can't I access variables from the plugins definition block? ``` val foo = "foo" plugins { v...

# gradle

[Luke]

Why can't I access variables from the plugins definition block?

val foo = "foo"

plugins {
    val bar = foo // 'val foo: String' can't be called in this context by implicit receiver. Use explicit one if necessary.
}

If I add this@Build_gradle., the error disappears from the code, but I still get an error when I try to build...

[Dominaezzz]

https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/plugins.html#sec:constrained_syntax

[Dominaezzz]

It's special.

[Nikky]

you can use buildSrc to declare varibales that can be used within plugins block

[Nikky]

i think you can also access varables from gradle.properties files there

[Luke]

oh... ok. That's funny. I can access constants from buildSrc if they are in the root package since I don't have to import them.

[Nikky]

i usualöly put them in something like Constants.kt and if i need to structure many constants i group whtm in objects

[efemoney]

@Luke You can also access them if they are in the org.gradle.kotlin.dsl package. JVM takes care of importing the so-called default (ie empty) package implicitly, while the gradle kotlin DSL implicitly imports all declarations in org.gradle.kotlin.dsl. Thats why the extensions defined in that package work outta the box.