diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/HttpRepository.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/HttpRepository.java
index 983faa819..83fbe5f52 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/HttpRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/HttpRepository.java
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ import java.net.URL;
  * can share this datatype, it is *not* thread safe; you can only use it in one
  * thread at at time
  *
+ * Although it is biased towards HTTP, because the underlying <get> task
+ * supports different protocols, one is actually able to use other protocols
+ * such as ftp: or file: to retrieve content. 
+ *
  * @since Ant1.7
  */
 public abstract class HttpRepository extends Repository {
@@ -87,6 +91,21 @@ public abstract class HttpRepository extends Repository {
         this.url = url;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * set the base directory of the repository
+     * This creates a URL of the <tt>file://</tt> type
+     * and binds the URL of the repository to it.
+     * @param basedir
+     */
+    public void setBaseDir(File basedir) {
+        try {
+            URL url=basedir.toURL();
+            setUrl(url.toExternalForm());
+        } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
+            throw new BuildException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
     public String getUsername() {
         return username;
     }
@@ -112,26 +131,7 @@ public abstract class HttpRepository extends Repository {
     public void setPassword(String password) {
         this.password = password;
     }
-/*
-
-    public String getRealm() {
-        return realm;
-    }
-*/
 
-    /**
-     * set the realm for authentication; empty string is equivalent to "any
-     * realm" (the default)
-     *
-     * @param realm
-     */
-/*    public void setRealm(String realm) {
-        if (realm != null) {
-            this.realm = realm;
-        } else {
-            this.realm = null;
-        }
-    }*/
 
     public Libraries getOwner() {
         return owner;
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Libraries.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Libraries.java
index 56570a5bf..7454e5398 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Libraries.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Libraries.java
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
      */
     private boolean useTimestamp = false;
 
+    /**
+     * flag to indicate if the libraries should be stored
+     * flat or in maven-style ($(project)/jars/) subdirectories.
+     */
+    private boolean flatten = false;
+
     public static final String ERROR_ONE_REPOSITORY_ONLY = "Only one repository is allowed";
     public static final String ERROR_NO_DEST_DIR = "No destination directory";
     public static final String ERROR_NO_REPOSITORY = "No repository defined";
@@ -290,6 +296,21 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
         this.useTimestamp = useTimestamp;
     }
 
+    public boolean isFlatten() {
+        return flatten;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Flatten flag.
+     * Store downloaded libraries into a single directory if true,
+     * store in project/jar subdirectores if false.
+     * default: false
+     * @param flatten
+     */
+    public void setFlatten(boolean flatten) {
+        this.flatten = flatten;
+    }
+
     /**
      * get the current policy list
      * @return
@@ -326,11 +347,8 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
      */
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
         validate();
-        if (isOffline()) {
-            log("No retrieval, task is \"offline\"");
-        } else {
-            doExecute();
-        }
+        //execute
+        doExecute();
         //validate the state
         verifyAllLibrariesPresent();
 
@@ -378,6 +396,11 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
             }
         }
 
+        if (isOffline()) {
+            log("No retrieval, task is \"offline\"");
+            retrieve=false;
+        }
+
         //see if we need to do a download
         if (!retrieve) {
             //if not, log it
@@ -393,7 +416,7 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
             }
         }
 
-        //now reverse iterate through all processed properties.
+        //now reverse iterate through all processed policies.
         for (int i = processedPolicies.size() - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
             LibraryPolicy libraryPolicy = (LibraryPolicy) processedPolicies.get(i);
             //and call their post-processor
@@ -408,7 +431,7 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
      * @return number of failed retrievals.
      */
     private int connectAndRetrieve(Repository repo, boolean useTimestamp) {
-        //connect the repository
+        //connect to the repository
         int failures = 0;
         repo.connect(this);
         try {
@@ -470,7 +493,7 @@ public final class Libraries extends Task {
         Iterator it = libraries.iterator();
         while (it.hasNext()) {
             Library library = (Library) it.next();
-            library.bind(destDir);
+            library.bind(destDir, flatten);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Library.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Library.java
index 62366e797..e125f082f 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Library.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/Library.java
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ public class Library implements EnabledLibraryElement {
      */
     private boolean enabled = true;
 
+    private static FileUtils FILE_UTILS = FileUtils.newFileUtils();
+
     /**
      * turn policy on/off
      *
@@ -241,18 +243,21 @@ public class Library implements EnabledLibraryElement {
      * calculate the destination file of a library; set {@link #libraryFile}
      * to the File thereof.
      *
-     * @param baseDir dir that
+     * @param baseDir dir that is used as the base for the operations
      *
+     * @param flatten flag to indicate whether the directory path is 'flat' or not.
      * @throws BuildException if invalid
      */
-    public void bind(File baseDir) {
+    public void bind(File baseDir, boolean flatten) {
         validate();
-        FileUtils fileUtils = FileUtils.newFileUtils();
-
         if (destinationName == null) {
-            destinationName = getMavenPath('/');
+            if(flatten) {
+                destinationName = getNormalFilename();
+            } else {
+                destinationName = getMavenPath('/');
+            }
         }
-        libraryFile = fileUtils.resolveFile(baseDir, destinationName);
+        libraryFile = FILE_UTILS.resolveFile(baseDir, destinationName);
         if (libraryFile.isDirectory()) {
             throw new BuildException(ERROR_FILE_IS_A_DIR
                 + libraryFile);
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/MavenRepository.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/MavenRepository.java
index 17a234e08..643c56335 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/MavenRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/repository/MavenRepository.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public class MavenRepository extends HttpRepository {
         setUrl(MAVEN_URL);
     }
 
+    
     /**
      * set this to check the MD5 signatures. SECURITY IS NOT YET FUNCTIONAL
      * @param checkMD5
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/LibrariesTest.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/LibrariesTest.java
index 046c6d25c..3bc9b71da 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/LibrariesTest.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/LibrariesTest.java
@@ -204,4 +204,7 @@ public class LibrariesTest extends BuildFileTest {
         execIfOnline("testNoSuffix");
     }
 
+    public void testFlatten() {
+        execIfOnline("testFlatten");
+    }
 }