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unable to find a lib folder in my project

I've been working on some project that involves Jar files to be added to build path. but one of my colleagues said that adding the jars to lib folder is advantageous compared to adding it normally.
Now my problem is, in eclipse, I right click and add a java project, but to my surprise I don't find a lib, earlier when I used to do J2EE apps, I used to find that. please let me know how can I fix this.
Thanks

In eclipse when you create a Java project, it doesn't create the lib folder along with it. This is something you want to do manually. At project level you can right click and add the folder. Then you can paste the jars into the folder, select the jars, right click, build path, Add to Build path.
Alternatively you can directly drag and drop to your Referenced Library. Both the ways are similar in effect, no difference.

Including external jars permanently in NetBeans

I'm building a Java Swing Application. This project requires a jar file called JCalender. I've added this to Libraries folder and everything works fine on my computer in NetBeans. But when i open the same project in my friends NetBeans, it doesn't recognizes this library. I've to manually select the file placed inside the projects dist/lib folder. How to avoid this? please help!

But when i open the same project in my friends NetBeans, it doesn't
recognizes this library. I've to manually select the file placed
inside the projects dist/lib folder. How to avoid this?
You can't avoid this because it's not a problem actually. To compile and run a project you need to have access to the external libraries involved in the development, so if you open your NetBeans project in a different computer than yours you will definitely need to resolve the reference to the external libraries. There's no way for the IDE to do it automatically as far as I know.
Can't i give the relative path to the lib folder for that specific
library somewhere in project properties?
You could just give it a try. IMHO if the real goal is to share a project with other developers then I'd change the strategy. I'd create a Library (Tools -> Libraries) and tell my mates to create the very same library including the JCalendar JAR files in the library's classpath. I'd include this library in the project properties and finally I'd use a versioning tool like Git or SVN to share the project.
By doing this your mates still need a copy of the JAR file wrapped in a NetBeans Library, but the project properties won't point to a fixed/relative path looking for a JAR file but wil include a reference to a given Library. The Library itself will resolve the dependency to the JAR file. If you take a look to the project.properties file you'll see something like this:
javac.classpath=\
${file.reference.jcalendar-1.4.jar}
But if you as I've suggested then you'll see something like this:
javac.classpath=\
${libs.JCalendar.classpath}
Here libs.JCalendar.classpath will resolve the dependency so your mates can have the actual JAR file located in whatever folder they like and the project should compile just fine.
Another option is using Maven to manage the projects dependencies but honestly I'm not a Maven expert so I can't help you in this path.

You need to do a "clean and build" and your jar will be in the dist folder. It will include the external jars
You can read more about it here

I think your problem is due to you are providing absolute path of jar file.
while choosing jar on write side of filechooser there is option of
Relative path and Absolute path there you should click on Absolute path.

i am new to java , but anyway , i have faced the same problem and found a solution for my project
If you are in Netbeans , its would be very easy for you
Let you project name is ABC and all your dependent jar file is under the
the folder MyResourceCollection
now we need to permanently import all jars under this folder ,
So from Netbeans ,
right click on your project name
go to properties
go to library
in the library page , check the "libraries folder" label
you can find a browse button at the right side of the label
click browse and select the MyResourceCollection folder
a new window will come , just press Next-->Next--->Finish
all is done , now check yourself by moving the folder into different location

Where to put Java libraries?

I'd like to know how I can add Java libraries to an Eclipse project on a development machine so that they can be added to an Eclipse project without causing errors when someone who has the library in a different location. For example, one developer might add an external JAR in C:\Java, but another might have the same JAR somewhere else. (Where's C:\Java on Mac OS?) I thought I might set the CLASSPATH environment variable, but I can't figure how to add an external JAR from the CLASSPATH environment variable. I'd like to do this so that it works with any workspace. Is this possible?
This is specifically for use with Anypoint Studio, but I think the same problem would exist with any Eclipse-based IDE.

In general, it's recommended to either embed JARs directly into the project, usually in a /lib folder of the project, as described here; or to use a tool like Gradle or Maven to manage dependencies, both of which have nice plugins to support their use in Eclipse.
Another alternative would be to use a Classpath Variable to refer to the JAR(s), which abstracts the physical location so that it can be set on a per-workspace basis.

I think the best way to add library to eclipse project is creating a directory - lib in your project directory. Then add the whole lib to you eclipse class path. You can follow these step to add a lib to class path -
Right click on project and select properties
Select Java Build Path
click Add Library and create User Library
Now add External Jars to this library create at step 3.
By this a .classpath file is crated in you project directory and the CLASSPATH problem will be resolved

I guess the best way to do that would be using Maven, or a similar build system that can construct your Classpath base on dependencies.
You can add the dependencies to your pom and having the jars in your local maven repository in the machine.
http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-dependency-mechanism.html
Because in any other approach you will need to maintain everything manually, and when having different OS the path will change.

Eclipse is just the IDE that will help to write code and assemble the project (JAR, WAR, ... ). You can add your external jars from wherever you want, and when you want to export your project (with eclipse) you may choose to package the required libraries into the jar.
However, I recommend always to use maven (or something like ) to avoid this kind of problems.

Part1:(import .jar file as library in Eclipse)
You make a new project to Eclipse(name:Project1)
When you open it you see JRE System Library[java version something]
1.right click on JRE System Library
2.Go->Build Path->Configure Build Path
3.You can see (Up right Corner the button[add jars or add external jars]
*Here i advise you to choose the first(add jars) but..
*First copy(or move) the (name).jar inside the project((example):Project 1)
*Now you can add it with the button(add jars).
*In this way when you finish your project the (name).jar will be
imported inside the project(If you export it as a .jar from Eclipse)
..Now you can call any method of (name).jar just(import it into the class
you want to use and call it)

Can I refer to a Java source path using a variable in Eclipse

Background
I'm using an Eclipse 4.2 (Juno) release to build a plugin for a Java application. The source code and classes for my plugin all reside within the project workspace. The application jar and its source code are, for various reasons maintained outside of the eclipse workspace and the application jar is produced by another build mechanism.
This isn't a problem as I have referenced the application jar file in my project using drag and drop and the 'Link to files' option specifying it 'Create link locations relative to: MYDEV', where MYDEV is a Linked Resource Variable I have created for each Eclipse installation. This lets me use the same eclipse project on multiple machines where the path to the application jar varies, but is always the same relative to MYDEV.
However, I cannot find a way to associate the application source code with this jar unless I use an absolute path. I only want access to the application source for debugging purposes.
Question
In Eclipse, how do I attach java source to a referenced jar in a way that allows a project to be used on multiple installations where the referenced source code has been relocated?

If the source is outside the proyect, then there's no way to access it without an absolute path.
The best solution is using a symlink inside the eclipse project directory to the actual source folder; eclipse won't notice the source is outside the project directory and everything will work fine, without having to relocate the source.

This is the only way I was able to do what you are suggesting (do not know if there are better ways).
Package a JAR file that contains the source code of the JAR file. Place it inside your project in a folder (you do not need to add it to your class path)
In the eclipse project right click on the JAR file and go to "properties" and then to "Java Source Attachment" From there select "Workspace" button and pick the jar file with the source code we added from the above step.
So the source attachment path will always be relative to the project. That way if you share the project via SVN, GIT or whatever, the source will always be available and it'll work if the user is running eclipse on Windows or Linux.
I've had a similar problem to you where absolute paths were a problem for people using different OS and not even using mapped drives via Samba helped that much.
Hope this helps.

The way I have solved this problem is to use a use defined library in eclipse. Here the steps that you can use to solver this problem.
Create a simple project in eclipse in the directory that contains the jars and the source code files.
Define a java user library add the jars to the user library and for each jar in the library specify the location of the source. If the source files are in a project that is in the workspace then the path will be relative to the workspace folder.
Export the user library as an .xml file
When another use wants to setup an eclipse workspace with the same setting as yours they will do two things.
Import the project that contains the jars and the sources into their workspace.
Import the user library into their workpsace.

After building the project from pom.xml using Maven, how do I use its resources

It's been tedious. This is the API I am trying to use. Its resources were set up in a pom.xml which I built using Maven. On built up, it gave me the project socrata-publisher that has
src/main/java the source folder with packages com.socrata.api com.socrata.data, com.socrata.util where each contains only .java
files
JRE System Library and Maven Dependency hierarchies where each contains a number of jar files
Problem is com.socrata.api and the 2 other contains classes which I want to deploy in a project outside socrata-publisher. I tried using import com.socrata.api but it didn't work. Moreover, since its a Java project and not android it doesn't have the is Library option in preferences which could rather give me the solution. Both socrata-publisher and tutorial (where i want to use the resources and which is the android application) lie in the same directory eclipseApps in My Documents.
Here's a little visual queue. Help will be greatly appreciated.

You will need to first of all get the output of the socrata project and all its dependencies.
In command line, going to the project folder of the socrata project, where the pom.xml file is, run MVN INSTALL. You shall see a jar file called socrata-api.jar in $HOME/.m2/repository. If you are using windows and installed MAVEN by default, $HOME should be your user profile folder. Once you see the jar file, add it to your tutorial build path.

I think what you actually want to do is just set up the "socrata-publisher" as a project dependency for your "tutorial" project. That will allow you to reference the built Socrata libraries from the code in your project.
Right click on the project and select "Properties". From within that dialog select "Java Build Path" on the left, then the "Projects" section, and click the "Add" button to add the "socrata-publisher" project.
I think that'll work better than creating a separate jar file that you then include, and then you can also keep the socrata-publisher code up to date using Git.