[MNG-5474] combine.children="merge" has reversed ordering of combine.children="append"

**[Tobias Oberlies](https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ViewProfile.jspa?name=tobias.oberlies)** opened **[MNG-5474](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MNG-5474?redirect=false)** and commented

I have a configuration parameter that has a list of child elements (which themselves contain configuration elements). The child elements have distinct names, but their order matters. They each denote a pre-condition, and I want to be able to specify which one wins in case multiple pre-conditions apply.

Obviously, I want more specific configuration (e.g. execution level > plugin level) to win. As a plugin, I only get the merged configuration as list (using the parameter type PlexusConfiguration). So to achieve the desired precedence, I need to rely on the order of the child elements.

I was surprised to see that `combine.children="merge"` and `combine.children="append"` give opposite results. For the former, more specific configuration is a the top whereas for the latter, the more specific configuration is at the end of the list.

Example:

```

...
...
...
...

```

```

...
...
...
...

```

I think that `combine.children="merge"` should also be in parent-first order.

---

**Affects:** 3.0.5

**Issue Links:**
- [MJAR-172](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MJAR-172) Manifest entries are in wrong (visual) order

0 votes, 5 watchers