diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 0f3d53c..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,26 +0,0 @@
-name: Standard CI
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
-      - release
-  pull_request:
-    branches:
-      - main
-      - release
-
-jobs:
-  build:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-      - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
-        with:
-          java-version: 11
-
-      - name: Build with Gradle
-        run: ./gradlew build
-        env:
-          USERNAME: ${{ github.actor }}
-          PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gradle_build.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle_build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32e0b78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle_build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# This workflow ensures the building step works
+#
+# @author Armin Schnabel
+# @version 1.0.0
+# @since 1.0.0
+name: Gradle Build
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 11
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        with:
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          java-version: '11'
+
+      - name: Build with Gradle
+        run: ./gradlew build
+        env:
+          USERNAME: ${{ github.actor }}
+          PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-jar.yml b/.github/workflows/gradle_publish.yml
similarity index 53%
rename from .github/workflows/publish-jar.yml
rename to .github/workflows/gradle_publish.yml
index 1f530a5..39953c3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-jar.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gradle_publish.yml
@@ -1,18 +1,33 @@
-name: Publish to GitHub Packages
+# This workflow publishes a new version to the Github Registry.
+#
+# @author Armin Schnabel
+# @version 1.0.0
+# @since 1.0.0
+name: Gradle Publish
 
-on: 
+on:
   push:
     tags:
-      - '*'
+      - '[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+*'
 
 jobs:
-  build:
+  publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-      - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
+      - name: Checkout Repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 11
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
-          java-version: 11
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          java-version: '11'
+
+      # version is required to publish artifacts to Github Registry
+      - name: Set version
+        run: |
+          sed -i "s/version = \"0.0.0\"/version = \"${{ github.ref_name }}\"/g" build.gradle
 
       # Publish slim JARS to Github Package Registry
       - name: Publish package
@@ -22,7 +37,8 @@ jobs:
           PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       # Automatically mark this tag as release on Github
-      - uses: actions/create-release@v1
+      - name: Mark tag as release on Github
+        uses: actions/create-release@v1
         id: create_release
         with:
           tag_name: ${{ github.ref }}
diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 40afcb9..6674b01 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 = API Library
 
-image:https://img.shields.io/badge/vert.x-4.3.2-purple.svg[link="https://vertx.io"]
-image:https://github.com/cyface-de/api/workflows/Cyface%20API/badge.svg[link="https://github.com/cyface-de/api/actions"]
+image:https://img.shields.io/badge/vert.x-4.4.0-purple.svg[link="https://vertx.io"]
+image:https://github.com/cyface-de/api/actions/workflows/gradle_build.yml/badge.svg[link="https://github.com/cyface-de/api/actions"]
 
 This library is used by the Cyface Vert.X APIs like the https:///github.com/cyface-de/data-collector[Cyface Data Collector] software.
 
@@ -47,8 +47,12 @@ Vert.X test classes shared between multiple Cyface Vert.X API projects.
 
 See https://github.com/cyface-de/data-collector#release-a-new-version[Cyface Collector Readme]
 
-* Increment the `version` in the `build.gradle`
-* After pushing the release tag to Github the CI automatically builds the artifacts and marks the release on Github
+* `version` in root `build.gradle` is automatically set by the CI
+* Just tag the release and push the tag to Github
+* The Github package is automatically published when a new version is tagged and pushed by our
+https://github.com/cyface-de/api/actions[Github Actions] to
+the https://github.com/cyface-de/api/packages[Github Registry]
+* The tag is automatically marked as a 'new Release' on https://github.com/cyface-de/api/releases[Github]
 
 
 [#_publishing_artifacts_to_github_packages_manually]
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ This project uses link:https://semver.org/[semantic versioning].
 
 [#_licensing]
 == Licensing
-Copyright 2018-2022 Cyface GmbH
+Copyright 2018-2023 Cyface GmbH
 
 This file is part of the Cyface API Library.
 
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index bfe4a08..87a714e 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import com.github.spotbugs.snom.SpotBugsTask
 
 /*
- * Copyright 2020-2022 Cyface GmbH
+ * Copyright 2020-2023 Cyface GmbH
  *
  * This file is part of the Cyface API Library.
  *
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ plugins {
   id 'eclipse'
   id 'idea'
   //noinspection SpellCheckingInspection
-  id 'com.github.johnrengelman.shadow' version '6.1.0' apply false
-  id "com.github.spotbugs" version "4.7.1" apply false
+  id 'com.github.johnrengelman.shadow' version '7.1.2' apply false
+  id "com.github.spotbugs" version "4.7.5" apply false
   // Plugin to display the Gradle task graph
   //noinspection SpellCheckingInspection
-  id 'org.barfuin.gradle.taskinfo' version '1.0.5'
+  id 'org.barfuin.gradle.taskinfo' version '2.1.0'
 }
 
 allprojects {
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ subprojects {
   apply plugin: 'java-library'
 
   group = 'de.cyface'
-  version = '2.1.0'
+  version = "0.0.0" // Automatically overwritten by CI
 
   tasks.withType(JavaCompile) {
     options.encoding = 'UTF-8'
@@ -78,20 +78,22 @@ subprojects {
   }
 
   ext {
-    vertxVersion = '4.3.2'
-    slf4jVersion = '1.7.29'
+    vertxVersion = '4.4.0'
+    slf4jVersion = '2.0.7'
     commonsLangVersion = '3.12.0'
-    cyfaceSerializationVersion = '2.2.1'
-    gradleWrapperVersion = '6.8.3'
+    cyfaceSerializationVersion = '2.3.5'
+    gradleWrapperVersion = '7.6.1'
 
     // Versions of testing dependencies
-    junitVersion = '5.7.2'
-    mockitoVersion = '3.3.3'
+    junitVersion = '5.9.2'
+    mockitoVersion = '5.2.0'
     hamcrestVersion = '2.2'
-    flapdoodleVersion = '3.4.5'
+    flapdoodleVersion = '3.5.3' // major upgrade available
 
-    jacocoVersion = '0.8.5'
-    spotBugsPluginVersion = '1.11.0'
+    jacocoVersion = '0.8.9'
+    spotBugsPluginVersion = '1.12.0'
+    spotbugsToolsVersion = '4.7.3'
+    pmdToolsVersion = '6.55.0'
   }
 
   wrapper {
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@ subprojects {
   }
 
   spotbugs {
-    toolVersion = '4.2.3'
+    toolVersion = "$spotbugsToolsVersion"
     ignoreFailures = true
     excludeFilter = file("$rootProject.projectDir/config/spotbugs/excludeFilter.xml")
   }
@@ -155,10 +157,10 @@ subprojects {
   }
 
   pmd {
-    toolVersion = '6.22.0'
+    toolVersion = "$pmdToolsVersion"
     incrementalAnalysis = true
     ruleSetFiles = project(':').files('config/pmd.xml')
-    rulePriority = 4
+    rulesMinimumPriority = 4
     ruleSets = []
     // There are so many violations and currently it is not really important in this application.
     ignoreFailures = true
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
index e708b1c..943f0cb 100644
Binary files a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar and b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 442d913..5083229 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-6.8.3-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.6.1-bin.zip
+networkTimeout=10000
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/gradlew b/gradlew
index 4f906e0..65dcd68 100755
--- a/gradlew
+++ b/gradlew
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env sh
+#!/bin/sh
 
 #
-# Copyright 2015 the original author or authors.
+# Copyright © 2015-2021 the original authors.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,67 +17,101 @@
 #
 
 ##############################################################################
-##
-##  Gradle start up script for UN*X
-##
+#
+#   Gradle start up script for POSIX generated by Gradle.
+#
+#   Important for running:
+#
+#   (1) You need a POSIX-compliant shell to run this script. If your /bin/sh is
+#       noncompliant, but you have some other compliant shell such as ksh or
+#       bash, then to run this script, type that shell name before the whole
+#       command line, like:
+#
+#           ksh Gradle
+#
+#       Busybox and similar reduced shells will NOT work, because this script
+#       requires all of these POSIX shell features:
+#         * functions;
+#         * expansions «$var», «${var}», «${var:-default}», «${var+SET}»,
+#           «${var#prefix}», «${var%suffix}», and «$( cmd )»;
+#         * compound commands having a testable exit status, especially «case»;
+#         * various built-in commands including «command», «set», and «ulimit».
+#
+#   Important for patching:
+#
+#   (2) This script targets any POSIX shell, so it avoids extensions provided
+#       by Bash, Ksh, etc; in particular arrays are avoided.
+#
+#       The "traditional" practice of packing multiple parameters into a
+#       space-separated string is a well documented source of bugs and security
+#       problems, so this is (mostly) avoided, by progressively accumulating
+#       options in "$@", and eventually passing that to Java.
+#
+#       Where the inherited environment variables (DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS,
+#       and GRADLE_OPTS) rely on word-splitting, this is performed explicitly;
+#       see the in-line comments for details.
+#
+#       There are tweaks for specific operating systems such as AIX, CygWin,
+#       Darwin, MinGW, and NonStop.
+#
+#   (3) This script is generated from the Groovy template
+#       https://github.com/gradle/gradle/blob/HEAD/subprojects/plugins/src/main/resources/org/gradle/api/internal/plugins/unixStartScript.txt
+#       within the Gradle project.
+#
+#       You can find Gradle at https://github.com/gradle/gradle/.
+#
 ##############################################################################
 
 # Attempt to set APP_HOME
+
 # Resolve links: $0 may be a link
-PRG="$0"
-# Need this for relative symlinks.
-while [ -h "$PRG" ] ; do
-    ls=`ls -ld "$PRG"`
-    link=`expr "$ls" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`
-    if expr "$link" : '/.*' > /dev/null; then
-        PRG="$link"
-    else
-        PRG=`dirname "$PRG"`"/$link"
-    fi
+app_path=$0
+
+# Need this for daisy-chained symlinks.
+while
+    APP_HOME=${app_path%"${app_path##*/}"}  # leaves a trailing /; empty if no leading path
+    [ -h "$app_path" ]
+do
+    ls=$( ls -ld "$app_path" )
+    link=${ls#*' -> '}
+    case $link in             #(
+      /*)   app_path=$link ;; #(
+      *)    app_path=$APP_HOME$link ;;
+    esac
 done
-SAVED="`pwd`"
-cd "`dirname \"$PRG\"`/" >/dev/null
-APP_HOME="`pwd -P`"
-cd "$SAVED" >/dev/null
 
-APP_NAME="Gradle"
-APP_BASE_NAME=`basename "$0"`
+# This is normally unused
+# shellcheck disable=SC2034
+APP_BASE_NAME=${0##*/}
+APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" && pwd -P ) || exit
 
 # Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
 DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS='"-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"'
 
 # Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
-MAX_FD="maximum"
+MAX_FD=maximum
 
 warn () {
     echo "$*"
-}
+} >&2
 
 die () {
     echo
     echo "$*"
     echo
     exit 1
-}
+} >&2
 
 # OS specific support (must be 'true' or 'false').
 cygwin=false
 msys=false
 darwin=false
 nonstop=false
-case "`uname`" in
-  CYGWIN* )
-    cygwin=true
-    ;;
-  Darwin* )
-    darwin=true
-    ;;
-  MINGW* )
-    msys=true
-    ;;
-  NONSTOP* )
-    nonstop=true
-    ;;
+case "$( uname )" in                #(
+  CYGWIN* )         cygwin=true  ;; #(
+  Darwin* )         darwin=true  ;; #(
+  MSYS* | MINGW* )  msys=true    ;; #(
+  NONSTOP* )        nonstop=true ;;
 esac
 
 CLASSPATH=$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
@@ -87,9 +121,9 @@ CLASSPATH=$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
 if [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
     if [ -x "$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java" ] ; then
         # IBM's JDK on AIX uses strange locations for the executables
-        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java"
+        JAVACMD=$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java
     else
-        JAVACMD="$JAVA_HOME/bin/java"
+        JAVACMD=$JAVA_HOME/bin/java
     fi
     if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
         die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: $JAVA_HOME
@@ -98,7 +132,7 @@ Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
 location of your Java installation."
     fi
 else
-    JAVACMD="java"
+    JAVACMD=java
     which java >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
 
 Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
@@ -106,80 +140,105 @@ location of your Java installation."
 fi
 
 # Increase the maximum file descriptors if we can.
-if [ "$cygwin" = "false" -a "$darwin" = "false" -a "$nonstop" = "false" ] ; then
-    MAX_FD_LIMIT=`ulimit -H -n`
-    if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then
-        if [ "$MAX_FD" = "maximum" -o "$MAX_FD" = "max" ] ; then
-            MAX_FD="$MAX_FD_LIMIT"
-        fi
-        ulimit -n $MAX_FD
-        if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
-            warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD"
-        fi
-    else
-        warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit: $MAX_FD_LIMIT"
-    fi
+if ! "$cygwin" && ! "$darwin" && ! "$nonstop" ; then
+    case $MAX_FD in #(
+      max*)
+        # In POSIX sh, ulimit -H is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
+        # shellcheck disable=SC3045 
+        MAX_FD=$( ulimit -H -n ) ||
+            warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit"
+    esac
+    case $MAX_FD in  #(
+      '' | soft) :;; #(
+      *)
+        # In POSIX sh, ulimit -n is undefined. That's why the result is checked to see if it worked.
+        # shellcheck disable=SC3045 
+        ulimit -n "$MAX_FD" ||
+            warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit to $MAX_FD"
+    esac
 fi
 
-# For Darwin, add options to specify how the application appears in the dock
-if $darwin; then
-    GRADLE_OPTS="$GRADLE_OPTS \"-Xdock:name=$APP_NAME\" \"-Xdock:icon=$APP_HOME/media/gradle.icns\""
-fi
+# Collect all arguments for the java command, stacking in reverse order:
+#   * args from the command line
+#   * the main class name
+#   * -classpath
+#   * -D...appname settings
+#   * --module-path (only if needed)
+#   * DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS, and GRADLE_OPTS environment variables.
 
 # For Cygwin or MSYS, switch paths to Windows format before running java
-if [ "$cygwin" = "true" -o "$msys" = "true" ] ; then
-    APP_HOME=`cygpath --path --mixed "$APP_HOME"`
-    CLASSPATH=`cygpath --path --mixed "$CLASSPATH"`
-
-    JAVACMD=`cygpath --unix "$JAVACMD"`
-
-    # We build the pattern for arguments to be converted via cygpath
-    ROOTDIRSRAW=`find -L / -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -type d 2>/dev/null`
-    SEP=""
-    for dir in $ROOTDIRSRAW ; do
-        ROOTDIRS="$ROOTDIRS$SEP$dir"
-        SEP="|"
-    done
-    OURCYGPATTERN="(^($ROOTDIRS))"
-    # Add a user-defined pattern to the cygpath arguments
-    if [ "$GRADLE_CYGPATTERN" != "" ] ; then
-        OURCYGPATTERN="$OURCYGPATTERN|($GRADLE_CYGPATTERN)"
-    fi
+if "$cygwin" || "$msys" ; then
+    APP_HOME=$( cygpath --path --mixed "$APP_HOME" )
+    CLASSPATH=$( cygpath --path --mixed "$CLASSPATH" )
+
+    JAVACMD=$( cygpath --unix "$JAVACMD" )
+
     # Now convert the arguments - kludge to limit ourselves to /bin/sh
-    i=0
-    for arg in "$@" ; do
-        CHECK=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "$OURCYGPATTERN" -`
-        CHECK2=`echo "$arg"|egrep -c "^-"`                                 ### Determine if an option
-
-        if [ $CHECK -ne 0 ] && [ $CHECK2 -eq 0 ] ; then                    ### Added a condition
-            eval `echo args$i`=`cygpath --path --ignore --mixed "$arg"`
-        else
-            eval `echo args$i`="\"$arg\""
+    for arg do
+        if
+            case $arg in                                #(
+              -*)   false ;;                            # don't mess with options #(
+              /?*)  t=${arg#/} t=/${t%%/*}              # looks like a POSIX filepath
+                    [ -e "$t" ] ;;                      #(
+              *)    false ;;
+            esac
+        then
+            arg=$( cygpath --path --ignore --mixed "$arg" )
         fi
-        i=`expr $i + 1`
+        # Roll the args list around exactly as many times as the number of
+        # args, so each arg winds up back in the position where it started, but
+        # possibly modified.
+        #
+        # NB: a `for` loop captures its iteration list before it begins, so
+        # changing the positional parameters here affects neither the number of
+        # iterations, nor the values presented in `arg`.
+        shift                   # remove old arg
+        set -- "$@" "$arg"      # push replacement arg
     done
-    case $i in
-        0) set -- ;;
-        1) set -- "$args0" ;;
-        2) set -- "$args0" "$args1" ;;
-        3) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" ;;
-        4) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" ;;
-        5) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" ;;
-        6) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" ;;
-        7) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" ;;
-        8) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" ;;
-        9) set -- "$args0" "$args1" "$args2" "$args3" "$args4" "$args5" "$args6" "$args7" "$args8" ;;
-    esac
 fi
 
-# Escape application args
-save () {
-    for i do printf %s\\n "$i" | sed "s/'/'\\\\''/g;1s/^/'/;\$s/\$/' \\\\/" ; done
-    echo " "
-}
-APP_ARGS=`save "$@"`
+# Collect all arguments for the java command;
+#   * $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, $JAVA_OPTS, and $GRADLE_OPTS can contain fragments of
+#     shell script including quotes and variable substitutions, so put them in
+#     double quotes to make sure that they get re-expanded; and
+#   * put everything else in single quotes, so that it's not re-expanded.
+
+set -- \
+        "-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME" \
+        -classpath "$CLASSPATH" \
+        org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain \
+        "$@"
+
+# Stop when "xargs" is not available.
+if ! command -v xargs >/dev/null 2>&1
+then
+    die "xargs is not available"
+fi
+
+# Use "xargs" to parse quoted args.
+#
+# With -n1 it outputs one arg per line, with the quotes and backslashes removed.
+#
+# In Bash we could simply go:
+#
+#   readarray ARGS < <( xargs -n1 <<<"$var" ) &&
+#   set -- "${ARGS[@]}" "$@"
+#
+# but POSIX shell has neither arrays nor command substitution, so instead we
+# post-process each arg (as a line of input to sed) to backslash-escape any
+# character that might be a shell metacharacter, then use eval to reverse
+# that process (while maintaining the separation between arguments), and wrap
+# the whole thing up as a single "set" statement.
+#
+# This will of course break if any of these variables contains a newline or
+# an unmatched quote.
+#
 
-# Collect all arguments for the java command, following the shell quoting and substitution rules
-eval set -- $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS $JAVA_OPTS $GRADLE_OPTS "\"-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME\"" -classpath "\"$CLASSPATH\"" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain "$APP_ARGS"
+eval "set -- $(
+        printf '%s\n' "$DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS $JAVA_OPTS $GRADLE_OPTS" |
+        xargs -n1 |
+        sed ' s~[^-[:alnum:]+,./:=@_]~\\&~g; ' |
+        tr '\n' ' '
+    )" '"$@"'
 
 exec "$JAVACMD" "$@"
diff --git a/gradlew.bat b/gradlew.bat
index ac1b06f..6689b85 100644
--- a/gradlew.bat
+++ b/gradlew.bat
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 @rem limitations under the License.
 @rem
 
-@if "%DEBUG%" == "" @echo off
+@if "%DEBUG%"=="" @echo off
 @rem ##########################################################################
 @rem
 @rem  Gradle startup script for Windows
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" setlocal
 
 set DIRNAME=%~dp0
-if "%DIRNAME%" == "" set DIRNAME=.
+if "%DIRNAME%"=="" set DIRNAME=.
+@rem This is normally unused
 set APP_BASE_NAME=%~n0
 set APP_HOME=%DIRNAME%
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ if defined JAVA_HOME goto findJavaFromJavaHome
 
 set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
 %JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
-if "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" goto execute
+if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 goto execute
 
 echo.
 echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
@@ -75,13 +76,15 @@ set CLASSPATH=%APP_HOME%\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.jar
 
 :end
 @rem End local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
-if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto mainEnd
+if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 goto mainEnd
 
 :fail
 rem Set variable GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE if you need the _script_ return code instead of
 rem the _cmd.exe /c_ return code!
-if  not "" == "%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit 1
-exit /b 1
+set EXIT_CODE=%ERRORLEVEL%
+if %EXIT_CODE% equ 0 set EXIT_CODE=1
+if not ""=="%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit %EXIT_CODE%
+exit /b %EXIT_CODE%
 
 :mainEnd
 if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" endlocal