--- src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/fragmentdef-test.xml	(revision 0)
+++ src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/fragmentdef-test.xml	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ 
+<project default="antunit" xmlns:au="antlib:org.apache.ant.antunit">
+  <import file="../antunit-base.xml" />
+
+  <target name="test-simple">
+    <fragmentdef name="attrlist">
+      <sequential>
+        <attribute name="a"/>
+        <attribute name="b"/>
+      </sequential>
+    </fragmentdef>
+    <macrodef name="use-attrlist">
+      <attrlist/>
+      <sequential>
+        <property name="simple-prop" value="@{a}:@{b}"/>
+      </sequential>
+    </macrodef>
+    <use-attrlist a="a" b="B"/>
+    <au:assertTrue>
+      <equals arg1="a:B" arg2="${simple-prop}"/>
+    </au:assertTrue>
+  </target>
+
+  <target name="test-path">
+    <fragmentdef name="fs-list">
+      <sequential>
+        <fileset dir="truncate" includes="*.xml"/>
+        <fileset dir="exec" includes="*.xml"/>
+      </sequential>
+    </fragmentdef>
+    <path id="d-path">
+      <fs-list/>
+    </path>
+    <path id="e-path">
+      <fileset dir="truncate" includes="*.xml"/>
+      <fileset dir="exec" includes="*.xml"/>
+    </path>
+    <au:assertTrue>
+      <equals arg1="${toString:d-path}" arg2="${toString:e-path}"/>
+    </au:assertTrue>
+  </target>
+</project>
   + native
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/IntrospectionHelper.java	(revision 572578)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/IntrospectionHelper.java	(working copy)
@@ -647,6 +647,19 @@ 
         if (isDynamic() || addTypeMethods.size() > 0) {
             return true;
         }
+        return supportsReflectElement(parentUri, elementName);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check if this element supports a nested element from refection.
+     *
+     * @param parentUri   the uri of the parent
+     * @param elementName the name of the nested element being checked
+     *
+     * @return true if the given nested element is supported
+     */
+    public boolean supportsReflectElement(
+        String parentUri, String elementName) {
         String name = ProjectHelper.extractNameFromComponentName(elementName);
         if (!nestedCreators.containsKey(name.toLowerCase(Locale.US))) {
             return false;
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/UnknownElement.java	(revision 572578)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/UnknownElement.java	(working copy)
@@ -182,20 +182,15 @@ 
             if (getWrapper().getId() != null) {
                 this.getOwningTarget().replaceChild(this, (Task) realThing);
             }
-       }
+        }
 
-
-        // configure attributes of the object and it's children. If it is
-        // a task container, defer the configuration till the task container
-        // attempts to use the task
-
         if (task != null) {
             task.maybeConfigure();
         } else {
             getWrapper().maybeConfigure(getProject());
         }
 
-        handleChildren(realThing, getWrapper());
+        handleChildren(realThing, null);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -308,6 +303,51 @@ 
         children.add(child);
     }
 
+    private void recurHandleChild(
+        ComponentHelper helper, Object parent, UnknownElement child) {
+        IntrospectionHelper ih = IntrospectionHelper.getHelper(
+            getProject(), parent.getClass());
+
+        if (!ih.supportsReflectElement(getNamespace(), child.getComponentName())
+            && helper.getDefinition(child.getComponentName()) != null) {
+            Class componentClass = helper.getComponentClass(
+                child.getComponentName());
+            if ((componentClass != null)
+                && (MacroFragment.class.isAssignableFrom(componentClass))) {
+                child.maybeConfigure();
+
+                MacroFragment macroFragment = (MacroFragment) child.realThing;
+
+                List replaced = macroFragment.getUnknownElements(child);
+                for (Iterator i = replaced.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
+                    recurHandleChild(
+                        helper, parent, (UnknownElement) i.next());
+                }
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+        // not a macro fragment - a "Normal" element
+        try {
+            if (!handleChild(
+                    getNamespace(), ih, parent, child)) {
+                if (!(parent instanceof TaskContainer)) {
+                    ih.throwNotSupported(getProject(), parent,
+                                         child.getTag());
+                } else {
+                    // a task container - anything could happen
+                    // - just add the child to the container
+                    TaskContainer container = (TaskContainer) parent;
+                    container.addTask(child);
+                }
+            }
+        } catch (UnsupportedElementException ex) {
+            throw new BuildException(
+                getWrapper().getElementTag()
+                + " doesn't support the nested \"" + ex.getElement()
+                + "\" element.", ex);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates child elements, creates children of the children
      * (recursively), and sets attributes of the child elements.
@@ -315,50 +355,27 @@ 
      * @param parent The configured object for the parent.
      *               Must not be <code>null</code>.
      *
-     * @param parentWrapper The wrapper containing child wrappers
-     *                      to be configured. Must not be <code>null</code>
-     *                      if there are any children.
+     * @param notUsed Not used.(kept for BC reasons)
      *
      * @exception BuildException if the children cannot be configured.
      */
     protected void handleChildren(
         Object parent,
-        RuntimeConfigurable parentWrapper)
+        RuntimeConfigurable notUsed)
         throws BuildException {
+        if (children == null) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        ComponentHelper helper = ComponentHelper.getComponentHelper(
+            getProject());
+
         if (parent instanceof TypeAdapter) {
             parent = ((TypeAdapter) parent).getProxy();
         }
 
-        String parentUri = getNamespace();
-        Class parentClass = parent.getClass();
-        IntrospectionHelper ih = IntrospectionHelper.getHelper(getProject(), parentClass);
-
-
-        if (children != null) {
-            Iterator it = children.iterator();
-            for (int i = 0; it.hasNext(); i++) {
-                RuntimeConfigurable childWrapper = parentWrapper.getChild(i);
-                UnknownElement child = (UnknownElement) it.next();
-                try {
-                    if (!handleChild(
-                            parentUri, ih, parent, child, childWrapper)) {
-                        if (!(parent instanceof TaskContainer)) {
-                            ih.throwNotSupported(getProject(), parent,
-                                                 child.getTag());
-                        } else {
-                            // a task container - anything could happen - just add the
-                            // child to the container
-                            TaskContainer container = (TaskContainer) parent;
-                            container.addTask(child);
-                        }
-                    }
-                } catch (UnsupportedElementException ex) {
-                    throw new BuildException(
-                        parentWrapper.getElementTag()
-                        + " doesn't support the nested \"" + ex.getElement()
-                        + "\" element.", ex);
-                }
-            }
+        for (Iterator i = children.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
+            recurHandleChild(helper, parent, (UnknownElement) i.next());
         }
     }
 
@@ -535,10 +552,12 @@ 
     private boolean handleChild(
         String parentUri,
         IntrospectionHelper ih,
-        Object parent, UnknownElement child,
-        RuntimeConfigurable childWrapper) {
+        Object parent, UnknownElement child) {
+        RuntimeConfigurable childWrapper = child.getWrapper();
+
         String childName = ProjectHelper.genComponentName(
             child.getNamespace(), child.getTag());
+
         if (ih.supportsNestedElement(parentUri, childName)) {
             IntrospectionHelper.Creator creator =
                 ih.getElementCreator(
@@ -563,7 +582,7 @@ 
                 ((ProjectComponent) realChild).setLocation(child.getLocation());
             }
             childWrapper.maybeConfigure(getProject());
-            child.handleChildren(realChild, childWrapper);
+            child.handleChildren(realChild, null);
             creator.store();
             return true;
         }
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/MacroFragment.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/MacroFragment.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ 
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+package org.apache.tools.ant;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * An interface for a task/type that can be used to
+ * inject a list of unknown elements into a build file.
+ */
+public interface MacroFragment {
+    /**
+     * Convert the unknown element into a list of ues.
+     * @param el the unknown element to convert.
+     * @return the list of unknown elements.
+     */
+    List getUnknownElements(UnknownElement el);
+}
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java	(revision 572578)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java	(working copy)
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ 
  *
  * @since Ant 1.6
  */
-public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition  {
+public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition {
 
     private NestedSequential nestedSequential;
     private String     name;
@@ -50,8 +50,17 @@ 
     private String     textName   = null;
     private Text       text       = null;
     private boolean    hasImplicitElement = false;
+    private boolean    fragment   = false;
 
     /**
+     * Called by the fragmentdef subclass.
+     * @param fragment the value to use (true).
+     */
+    protected void setFragment(boolean fragment) {
+        this.fragment = true;
+    }
+
+    /**
      * Name of the definition
      * @param name the name of the definition
      */
@@ -122,8 +131,9 @@ 
      * @return a sequential element to be configured.
      */
     public NestedSequential createSequential() {
-        if (this.nestedSequential != null) {
-            throw new BuildException("Only one sequential allowed");
+        if (nestedSequential != null) {
+            throw new BuildException(
+                "Only one sequential allowed");
         }
         this.nestedSequential = new NestedSequential();
         return this.nestedSequential;
@@ -300,17 +310,20 @@ 
      */
     public void execute() {
         if (nestedSequential == null) {
-            throw new BuildException("Missing sequential element");
+            throw new BuildException("Missing sequential or fragment element");
         }
         if (name == null) {
             throw new BuildException("Name not specified");
         }
-
         name = ProjectHelper.genComponentName(getURI(), name);
 
         MyAntTypeDefinition def = new MyAntTypeDefinition(this);
         def.setName(name);
-        def.setClass(MacroInstance.class);
+        if (fragment) {
+            def.setClass(MacroFragmentTask.class);
+        } else {
+            def.setClass(MacroInstance.class);
+        }
 
         ComponentHelper helper = ComponentHelper.getComponentHelper(
             getProject());
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroInstance.java	(revision 572578)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroInstance.java	(working copy)
@@ -242,7 +242,12 @@ 
         this.text = text;
     }
 
-    private UnknownElement copy(UnknownElement ue) {
+    /**
+     * Copy an unknown element, substituting in macro attributes.
+     * @param ue the unknown element to replace.
+     * @return the copied unknown element.
+     */
+    protected UnknownElement copy(UnknownElement ue) {
         UnknownElement ret = new UnknownElement(ue.getTag());
         ret.setNamespace(ue.getNamespace());
         ret.setProject(getProject());
@@ -327,13 +332,8 @@ 
         return ret;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Execute the templates instance.
-     * Copies the unknown element, substitutes the attributes,
-     * and calls perform on the unknown element.
-     *
-     */
-    public void execute() {
+    /** setup parameters */
+    protected void doParams() {
         presentElements = new HashMap();
         getNsElements();
         processTasks();
@@ -384,7 +384,22 @@ 
                 "Unknown attribute" + (copyKeys.size() > 1 ? "s " : " ")
                 + copyKeys);
         }
+    }
 
+    /** Clear the parameters */
+    protected void clearParams() {
+        presentElements = null;
+        localAttributes = null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Execute the templates instance.
+     * Copies the unknown element, substitutes the attributes,
+     * and calls perform on the unknown element.
+     *
+     */
+    public void execute() {
+        doParams();
         // need to set the project on unknown element
         UnknownElement c = copy(macroDef.getNestedTask());
         c.init();
@@ -399,8 +414,7 @@ 
                 throw ex;
             }
         } finally {
-            presentElements = null;
-            localAttributes = null;
+            clearParams();
         }
     }
 }
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/FragmentDef.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/FragmentDef.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ 
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs;
+
+/**
+ * The fragmentdef task.
+ * This is the same as macrodef, exception that the
+ * protected attribute fragment is set to true.
+ */
+public class FragmentDef extends MacroDef {
+    {
+        setFragment(true);
+    }
+}
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroFragmentTask.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroFragmentTask.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ 
+/*
+ *  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ *  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ *  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ *  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ *  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ *  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ *
+ */
+
+package org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.MacroFragment;
+import org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement;
+
+/**
+ * A sub-class of a macroinstance that can be used (nearly) anywhere
+ * in a build file.
+ */
+public class MacroFragmentTask extends MacroInstance implements MacroFragment {
+    /**
+     * Get the unknown elements to inject into the build document.
+     * @param el the unknown element this is this fragment.
+     * @return the replacement list of unknown elements.
+     */
+    public List getUnknownElements(UnknownElement el) {
+        try {
+            doParams();
+            return copy(getMacroDef().getNestedTask()).getChildren();
+        } finally {
+            clearParams();
+        }
+    }
+}
--- src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/defaults.properties	(revision 572578)
+++ src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/defaults.properties	(working copy)
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ 
 fail=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Exit
 filter=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Filter
 fixcrlf=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.FixCRLF
+fragmentdef=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.FragmentDef
 genkey=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.GenerateKey
 get=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Get
 gunzip=org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.GUnzip
--- docs/manual/CoreTasks/fragmentdef.html	(revision 0)
+++ docs/manual/CoreTasks/fragmentdef.html	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ 
+<!--
+   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+-->
+<html>
+
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"></meta>
+    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../stylesheets/style.css">
+    <title>FragmentDef Task</title>
+  </head>
+
+  <body>
+
+    <h2><a name="fragmentdef">FragmentDef</a></h2>
+    <h3>Description</h3>
+    <p>
+      This defines a new task using a <code>&lt;sequential&gt;</code>
+      nested list of elements. This task is similar to
+      <a href="macrodef.html">&lt;macrodef&gt;</a> except that
+      arbitary element sequences may be placed within tasks or types.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The parameters and nested elements are same as 
+      <a href="macrodef.html">&lt;macrodef&gt;</a> - see that task for
+      them. This description will just contain examples.
+    <h3>Examples</h3>
+    <p>
+      The following defines two filesets and then places them in
+      two different copy tasks.
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+<pre class=code>
+&lt;fragmentdef name="sourcefiles"&gt;
+   &lt;sequential&gt;
+     &lt;fileset dir="src/main/java" includes="**/*.java"&gt;
+     &lt;fileset dir="src/main/resources"/&gt;
+   &lt;/sequential&gt;
+&lt;/fragmentdef&gt;
+
+&lt;copy todir="allsource"&gt;
+   &lt;sourcefiles/&gt;
+&lt;/copy&gt;
+
+&lt;m:remote-copy remotedir="wr0t@billy:backups"&gt;
+   &lt;sourcefiles/&gt;
+&lt;/m:remote-copy&gt;
+</pre>
+    </blockquote>
+</body>
+</html>
--- docs/manual/coretasklist.html	(revision 572578)
+++ docs/manual/coretasklist.html	(working copy)
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ 
 <a href="CoreTasks/fail.html">Fail</a><br/>
 <a href="CoreTasks/filter.html">Filter</a><br/>
 <a href="CoreTasks/fixcrlf.html">FixCRLF</a><br/>
+<a href="CoreTasks/fragmentdef.html">FragmentDef</a><br/>
 <a href="CoreTasks/genkey.html">GenKey</a><br/>
 <a href="CoreTasks/get.html">Get</a><br/>
 <a href="CoreTasks/unpack.html">GUnzip</a><br/>