In bsbuild/nbbuild_build.xml (which is copied into nbbuild/build.xml during netbeans libs creation, if I'm not mistaken), there are a few targets attempting to test whether variables JAVAHOME and JDKHOME are set correctly. It tries to verify that $JDKHOME/lib/tools.jar exists but under Mac OS X Java, there is no tools.jar in a valid Java configuration.
The testing of the condition "jdkhome-valid" needs to be adjusted similar to "javahome-valid" (which I did a long time ago), but I don't feel comfortable enough in the current build process to make the adjustment myself.
Someone dealing with the Macintosh version should look into this (Clint?)
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In bsbuild/ call ant with:
1. clean-netbeans-libs
2. netbeans_core (download fresh version)
3. clean
on a Mac OS X platform.