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Need a Java system-only class loader

I would like to find or create a Java class loader that loads only system classes, excluding any classes on the application defined class path. My goal is to use that class loader to build a class loader that loads from a specific JAR file, resolving system classes using the system-only class loader, but not contaminating the classes from the JAR file with any classes defined by my application.
So far I have not found any way to create a system-only class loader that does not either use private APIs or make assumptions about the Java implementation. See code below that works in my current environment but makes undesirable assumptions.
If there is no way to create an implementation independent system-only class loader, is there a reason why not? Is what I am trying to do a bad idea?
private ClassLoader createJarClassLoader(File f)
{
ClassLoader systemClassLoader = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader();
if (systemClassLoader instanceof URLClassLoader) {
URLClassLoader cl = (URLClassLoader) systemClassLoader;
URL[] urls = cl.getURLs();
List<URL> wantedURLs = new ArrayList<>();
for (URL u : urls) {
if (isSystemURL(u)) {
wantedURLs.add(u);
}
}
try {
wantedURLs.add(f.toURI().toURL());
} catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
return null;
}
return new URLClassLoader(wantedURLs.toArray(new URL[0]), null);
}
return null;
}
private boolean isSystemURL(URL u)
{
return u.getPath().contains("/jre/");
}

You need to set the parent ClassLoader to be the bootstrap ClassLoader. Call getClassLoader() on a java.lang.String object to get the bootstrap ClassLoader and use that in your ClassLoader constructor.
public class MyClassLoader extends URLClassLoader {
protected MyClassLoader(URL[] urls, ClassLoader parent) {
super(urls, parent);
}
static MyClassLoader getInstance(URL[] urls) {
ClassLoader parent = "".getClass().getClassLoader();
return (new MyClassLoader(urls, parent));
}
}
The representation of the bootstrap classloader is documented as implementation dependent
Some implementations may use null to represent the bootstrap class loader. This method [getClassLoader] will return null in such implementations if this class was loaded by the bootstrap class loader.
but the same wording applies to parent ClassLoader in the ClassLoader constructor, which means that this solution is portable.

How to load .class and call one of its methods

I've compiled at runtime a java file on file system which is a very simple class:
public class Test {
public static int res(int a, int b) {
return a*b;
}
}
now I just want to call res method from my project (that will be a jar), but my code produce java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: Test
and this is how I've loaded the class:
URL[] urls = new URL[] {new URL("file:///"+UtilOverriding.getFile1().replace("java", "class"))};
URLClassLoader loader = new URLClassLoader(urls);
Class clazz = loader.loadClass("Test");

When you specify a class path you have to provide the directory which is the parent to all your packages. Try instead.
new URL("file:///"+UtilOverriding.getFile1().getParent()}

How to reload a loaded class with different ClassLoader in Java?

public class ClassScanner
{
// scan extraClasspath for specific classes
public List<Class<?>> scanClasspathForClass(String scanCriteria)
{
...
}
public static Class<?> reloadClass(Class<?> clazz, ClassLoader clazzLoader)
{
// Question: how to reload a loaded class (ClassScanner in this example) with a different arbitrary ClassLoader?
}
// an example of how reloadClass() would be used
// in real case, this function would be in different class
public List<Class<?>> scan(URL[] extraClasspath)
{
URLClassLoader urlClazzLoader = new URLClassLoader(extraClasspath, null);
Class<?> newClass = reloadClass(ClassScanner.class, urlClazzLoader);
return ((ClassScanner) newClass.newInstance()).scanClasspathForClass();
}
}
Above code demonstrates the question and why it is a question. I need to implement reloadClass(). I wonder if there is a reliable solution in Java 1.6. One useful reference would be Find where java class is loaded from.
Thanks for help!

Found myself the answer from http://www2.sys-con.com/itsg/virtualcd/java/archives/0808/chaudhri/index.html.
Basically what I need is to make one ClassLoader A to share its namespace with another ClassLoader B. The way I found to achieve this is to use the ClassLoader parent-delegation model. Here, ClassLoader A is the parent ClassLoader.
public List<Class<?>> scan(URL[] extraClasspath) throws Exception
{
URLClassLoader urlClazzLoader = new URLClassLoader(extraClasspath, ClassScanner.class.getClassLoader());
return urlClazzLoader.loadClass(ClassScanner.getName()).newInstance();
}

Java ClassLoader change

I have some class A:
public class A {
public A(String str) {
System.out.println("Create A instance: " + str);
}
public void methodA() {
System.out.println("#methodA1()");
}
}
And my class loader implementation:
public class MyClassLoader extends ClassLoader {
public MyClassLoader() {
super();
}
#Override
public synchronized Class<?> loadClass(String name)
throws ClassNotFoundException {
System.out.println("Load: " + name);
return super.loadClass(name);
}
}
And now I try to change default class loader in current thread:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
public class ChangeLoaderTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Save class loader so that we can restore later.
ClassLoader oldLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
MyClassLoader newLoader = new MyClassLoader();
try {
// Set new classloader.
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(newLoader);
// My class.
A a = new A("1");
a.methodA();
// Standard Java class.
List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(2);
list.add(3);
} finally {
// Restore.
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(oldLoader);
}
}
}
And ChangeLoaderTest output:
Create A instance: 1
#methodA1()
No one
Load: ...
Why? How I can change ClassLoader into some thread?

As Marko Topolnik points out the context classloader is for use by frameworks. To use the classloader yourself you have to call loadClass("somepackage.A") and then use the reflection API to create a new instance of A (Class.newInstance()).
You wont be able to use A or its methods in your source directly since the calling code does not know A - it uses a different classloader. An interface or baseclass of A that can be loaded by the normal classloader can be used to avoid reflection.
interface AIF{
void someMethod();
}
class A implements AIF{
public void someMethod(){}
}
public void test(){
MyLoader loader = new MyLoader();
Class cla = loader.loadClass("A");
AIF a = (AIF) cla.newInstance();
a.someMethod();
}

The contextClassLoader mechanisms is not used by the basic Java operations like new. It's only there so various frameworks can access the context class loader in charge and load resources, classes, etc. Java will always use the classloader that loaded the code that is executing. It's the one that you access via ChangeLoaderTest.class.getClassLoader() -- and there is nothing you can do about this one.

I think that what happens is that your application's class loader which is also your classloader's "parent" can locate A and load it. As a result your classloader will not be searched or used for loading A.
To be honest, I haven't much experience with classloaders but if you subclassed one that uses a URL for the path of the class (so that it can locate the class file) and the parent classloader can not load it (not part of classpath), your custom one will be used.

override java class loader

I am having the following example
public class Tester
{
/**
* #param args
* #throws ClassNotFoundException
*/
public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException
{
new Tester().execute();
}
private void execute() throws ClassNotFoundException
{
//Java Class Loader
ClassLoader baseClassLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
//Java custom Class Loader
ClassLoader customClassLoader = new CustomClassLoader();
Class<?> customClass = Class.forName("a.b.c.d.class", true, customClassLoader);
//Java custom Class Loader
ClassLoader customClassLoader = customClass.getClassLoader();
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(customClassLoader);
//Java custom Class Loader
ClassLoader contextClassLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
//Java Class Loader?????
ClassLoader classLoader = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
}
}
Why after invoke
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(customClassLoader);
once I execute
this.getClass().getClassLoader();
I still get the java class loader and not my custom class loader.
How I can do this?
Thanks

Thread.setContextClassLoader just sets a variable in Thread. Linking classes is still done from each class' class loader. It certainly doesn't change the class loader of any already loaded classes. All that it changes is the class loader returned by Thread.getContextClassLoader.
I'd suggest staying away from thread context class loader, and other thread-globals.