diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 1f402c97..75dc846f 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -266,4 +266,18 @@
      </zip>
   </target>
 
+  <!-- creates a zipfile with our source distribution -->
+  <target name="snapshot">
+     <echo message="You may want to stop and run 'ant savedoc' first."/>
+     <delete file="${app.name}-snapshot.zip"/>
+     <zip destfile="${app.name}-snapshot.zip">
+       <fileset dir="..">
+         <include name="${app.name}/**"/>
+         <exclude name="${app.name}/dist/**"/>
+         <exclude name="${app.name}/tests/dist/**"/>
+         <exclude name="${app.name}/${app.name}-*.zip"/>
+       </fileset>
+     </zip>
+  </target>
+
 </project>