code: private void handleWorkingDirectory()
          throws MojoExecutionException
      {
          if ( workingDirectory == null )
          {
              workingDirectory = basedir;
          }
  
          if ( !workingDirectory.exists() )
          {
              getLog().debug( "Making working directory '" + workingDirectory.getAbsolutePath() + "'." );
              if ( !workingDirectory.mkdirs() )
              {
                  throw new MojoExecutionException( "Could not make working directory: '"
                      + workingDirectory.getAbsolutePath() + "'" );
              }
          }
      }
docs: This is a convenient method to make the execute method a little bit more readable. It will define the
  workingDirectory to be the baseDir in case of workingDirectory is null. If the workingDirectory does not exist it
  will created.
  
  @throws MojoExecutionException