Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/AbstractExporter.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/AbstractExporter.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/AbstractExporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 	private TemplateHelper vh;
 	private Properties properties = new Properties();
 	private ArtifactCollector collector = new ArtifactCollector();
+	private String mergeMethod = OVERWRITE;
 
 	private Iterator iterator;
 
@@ -254,4 +255,12 @@
 	public Cfg2JavaTool getCfg2JavaTool() {
 		return c2j;
 	}
+	
+	public void setMergeMethod(String mergeMethod){
+		this.mergeMethod = mergeMethod;
+	}
+	
+	public String getMergeMethod(){
+		return this.mergeMethod;
+	}
 }
Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/DocExporter.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/DocExporter.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/DocExporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -610,7 +610,7 @@
     protected void processTemplate(Map parameters, String templateName,
             File outputFile) {
     	
-    	TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(), getArtifactCollector() );
+    	TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(), getArtifactCollector(), getMergeMethod() );
     	producer.produce(parameters, templateName, outputFile, templateName);
      }
 
Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/Exporter.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/Exporter.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/Exporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
  *
  */
 public interface Exporter {
+	
+	public static final String OVERWRITE = "overwrite";
+	public static final String SKIP = "skip";
 		
 	/** 
 	 * @param cfg An Hibernate {@link org.hibernate.Configuration} or subclass instance that defines the hibernate meta model to be exported.
@@ -60,4 +63,8 @@
 	 */
 	public void start();
 	
+	public void setMergeMethod(String mergeMethod);
+	
+	public String getMergeMethod();
+	
 }
Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/GenericExporter.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/GenericExporter.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/GenericExporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 		modelIterators.put( "configuration", new ModelIterator() {
 
 			void process(GenericExporter ge) {
-				TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(ge.getTemplateHelper(),ge.getArtifactCollector());
+				TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(ge.getTemplateHelper(),ge.getArtifactCollector(), ge.getMergeMethod());
 				producer.produce(new HashMap(), ge.getTemplateName(), new File(ge.getOutputDirectory(),ge.filePattern), ge.templateName, "Configuration");
 				
 			}
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@
 	}
 
 	protected void exportPOJO(Map additionalContext, POJOClass element) {
-		TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(),getArtifactCollector());					
+		TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(),getArtifactCollector(), getMergeMethod());					
 		additionalContext.put("pojo", element);
 		additionalContext.put("clazz", element.getDecoratedObject());
 		String filename = resolveFilename( element );
Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/HibernateMappingExporter.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/HibernateMappingExporter.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/HibernateMappingExporter.java	(working copy)
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 		Cfg2HbmTool c2h = getCfg2HbmTool();
 		Configuration cfg = getConfiguration();
 		if(c2h.isImportData(cfg) && (c2h.isNamedQueries(cfg)) && (c2h.isNamedSQLQueries(cfg)) && (c2h.isFilterDefinitions(cfg))) {
-			TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(),getArtifactCollector());
+			TemplateProducer producer = new TemplateProducer(getTemplateHelper(),getArtifactCollector(), getMergeMethod());
 			producer.produce(new HashMap(), "hbm/generalhbm.hbm.ftl", new File(getOutputDirectory(),"GeneralHbmSettings.hbm.xml"), getTemplateName(), "General Settings");
 		}
 	}
Index: org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/TemplateProducer.java
===================================================================
--- org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/TemplateProducer.java	(revision 16604)
+++ org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/TemplateProducer.java	(working copy)
@@ -17,13 +17,22 @@
 	private static final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(TemplateProducer.class);
 	private final TemplateHelper th;
 	private ArtifactCollector ac;
+	private String mergeMethod;
 	
-	public TemplateProducer(TemplateHelper th, ArtifactCollector ac) {
+	/*public TemplateProducer(TemplateHelper th, ArtifactCollector ac) {
+		this(th, ac, Exporter.OVERWRITE);
+	}*/
+	
+	public TemplateProducer(TemplateHelper th, ArtifactCollector ac, String mergeMethod) {
 		this.th = th;
 		this.ac = ac;
+		this.mergeMethod = mergeMethod;
 	}
 	
 	public void produce(Map additionalContext, String templateName, File destination, String identifier, String fileType, String rootContext) {
+		if (Exporter.SKIP.equalsIgnoreCase(mergeMethod) && destination.exists()){
+			log.warn("Skipped creation for file " + destination + " as the file already exists.");
+		}
 		
 		String tempResult = produceToString( additionalContext, templateName, rootContext );