Consider a Java program, launched from a main method, that needs something from tools.jar. In this case, some utility code for connecting to JMX services. Do we have any choice but to wrap it in a shell script that uses -cp to manage the class path? We'd much rather use a MANIFEST.MF classpath.
from http://java.sun.com/developer/Books/javaprogramming/JAR/basics/manifest.html
the URLs in the Class-Path header are given relative to the URL of the JAR file of the applet or application.
I do not believe you have a choice about using a shell wrapper to get the tools.jar on your classpath. unless you write some custom classloader internally to allow you to find external jars.
If incorporating classes from the dependency jar is an option, I'd go with creation of a "Runnable JAR file". Basically you extract the classes from it and put them with your own classes in the JAR. That eliminates the need for a wrapping script.
To do that in Eclipse, select your project, File -> Export -> Java -> Runnable JAR file; that option will require that you have executed the main class at least once to know what profile to run when you actually run produced JAR.
Related
I would like to make a Java package in a JAR file with precompiled classes such that other Java projects can consume these. How do I do that? It seems to me that most guides I have found expects a Main class/method to be available, but I do not want this to be an application that runs by itself. Furthermore, the resources (various files) inside of my project should be put into the JAR, since my app depends on these. Is this possible? I am (by the way) using Gradle.
A claim has been made that this question is a duplicate of this: Java creating .jar file. However, this question assumes the existence of main methods, and it does not concern how to include resources.
You can create the jar from the command prompt.
Copy all the classes that you want to include into a folder.
Then open that folder in command prompt and issue this command.
jar cfv YourProjectName.jar *
And a JAR will be created in the same folder containing all the classes.
Another solution:
If you are using eclipse try:
Right Click on the Package -> Export -> java -> jar file
You could also select the Classes and right click on them instead of the Package.
Edit:
Refer to https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/build.html for more details on this command.
you can put all your methods/functions in class file then export it to .jar
then add the jar to your project's build path. Now you should be able to call those functions from your current main java class.
I am trying to execute a compiled version of my program attachmentUploader.jar from the command line. This has a number of dependencies on various Java libraries, which I am planning to bundle up with the program and specify as part of the classpath. This package will be moved between environments, and will be executed using the Java runtime for that environment. Using absolute paths for my environment, the command looks like this:
"C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_37bin\java" -cp "C:/Users/My Documents/jars/attachmentLoader.jar";"C:\Dev Tools\jxl.jar";"C:\Dev Tools\org.apache.commons.codec";"C:\More Dev Tools\java-json.jar" com.custom.test.postClient
I would like to amend all the classpath jar paths to be relative to where my main class is saved, but I read that relative paths in this situation would be relative to where the Java is executed from. In my case this could be anywhere, as it will depend on where this has been installed. Is there a straightforward way of getting round this?
Thanks all.
There are actually several ways:
Make your jar file an executable jar file. That is done by adding a manifest file to the jar specifying what the main class is, and where the jar dependencies are located, relative to the location of the main jar file. The command to execute the program would then be java -jar path\to\jarfile.jar
Use a wrapper executable or shell script, that uses the location of the script itself to compose the classpath. Such a script would depend on the system (Unix/Windows), but both platforms allow script files to know their own location, and thus to use that location as a basis for the location of jar files. An advantage of that technique is that it also allows passing system properties, memory options, etc. to the JVM.
I recommend you use a standard build tool such as gradle, which has an application plugin generating all those script files for you, for all platforms, and bundles the whole application into a zip or tar.gz file.
Uploaded a jar file from my computer to a server and tried to run it. When I run it I get java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError and it seems to be related to the twitter4j jar that my main method depends on.
However, I have this jar file in my libraries so shouldn't this be included when I build my code in to a jar? Here's a pic in case it helps.
is the error that I'm getting. (can't upload a pic just yet.
Not sure what this has to do with twitter, but anyway, the issue is that you do not have the correct class files. In other words, when you are running your fat JAR in the command prompt, you do not have any libraries exported with it (Or if you do, you don't have that specific one).
Sometimes such an error can be because there is an incorrect version of java, however that is not the case here since java has got no "twitter" packages or classes in it.
Using something like JarSplice would fix this.
Assuming you did not package the twitter4j classes inside your application jar, you need to tell Java where it can look for classes that are not inside your application jar. You typically use the classpath flag for that. In your case, it should look something like
java -cp /tmp/twitter4j.jar -jar /tmp/myapp.jar
An alternative would be to package all twitter4j's classes inside your application jar. This is called a 'fat' jar. How to make one depends on how you build your application jar.
The JAR file that you are trying to use needs to be in the classpath. This can be done by using the -cp attribute from the command line. However, when using java -jar, you cannot use the -cp attribute.
To get around this, you can do the following:
java -cp /tmp/myapp.jar;\path\to\external.jar com.example.package.MyClass
where MyClass has the main() method defined.
Alternately, you can specify jar files on the classpath using the manifest.mf file. See http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/manifestindex.html for details.
I have a simple Java program (lets call it MyProgram.java) that does some I/O, re-names some images, deletes a directory, etc. I've been browsing around S/O looking for a simple way to run a Java program's main method from command prompt. I've compiled the source code into a jar, and tried using Jar2EXE Wizard, however I kept getting an unexpected compilation error that I wasn't getting while running my code from the IDE.
Does any one have either a Jar -> EXE converter solution they've had success with or can walk me through how to run my program from a batch file?
[..]or can walk me through how to run my program from a batch file?
The simplest way is to execute:
java -jar YOUR_JAR_FILE.jar
in your batch file. However this requires a manifest file to be present in your jar file which specifies the Main class to use and jar files it depends on. If you do not want to work with a manifest file you can specify these things manually. If you do not depend on external jar files you can execute:
java -cp YOUR_JAR_FILE.jar some.package.Main
This will execute the public static main(String[] args) method in class some.package.Main contained in YOUR_JAR_FILE.jar.
If there are other jar files you depend on (in your case that would be IOUtils/FileUtils), specify those jar files as well:
java -cp YOUR_JAR_FILE.jar:library1.jar:library2.jar some.package.Main
(in your case library1 and library2 are IOUtils and FileUtils respectively).
You can specify any number of jar files and you can also use the wildcard *.jar to include all files in the current (or another) directory. Note however that you cannot write * or x*.jar or the like. Only *.jar (or some/directory/*.jar) is accepted.
In 90% of the times, the order of the jar files does not make any difference. However sometimes it does make a difference: If a resource is loaded from the classpath (could be a class or something as simple as a configuration file), the jar files are searched in the order you specified. If a resource exists in multiple jar files, only the first one found will be used.
You can consider using install4j.
If you want use batch file you can write this:
java -jar sources.jar
If your code have more than 2 static void main(String[] args) you need explicitly hit the method:
java -jar sources.jar classes.package.Main
Directory structure:
-\project\
-\project\run.bat
-\project\sources.jar
Take a look at JSmooth. It wraps your JARs as executables and provides options for detecting, and handling lack of, the JVM. I've used it on a simple app and it was painless.
Bonus: it is available as a portable app with no installation needed.
I am trying to use ant to build an application, run the application's main() method, run junit tests, and package everything in a jar file (source+build+libraries+build.xml). The classes include a runner class with a main() method entry point.
The objective however is to inlcude all libraries used, like junit.jar, and the ant build.xml itself.
I was wondering if there is a way for the executable jar file, to run selected targets of the ant build file itslef, instead of just the main() method. Obviously I wouldn't need to run the compile targets again, but only the main() method (the java element in my run target) and the junit target. Is that possible?
Many thanks in advance for the insight!
"Executable jar" is not what you think it is. It allows you pack all your classes together (you can add source to it as well though I see little point in that) and declare a main class using Main-Class attribute in the jar manifest. Details are here.
You can then launch that jar using "java -jar my.jar" command line which would invoke main() method of the class you've specified. You can also specify classpath via Class-Path attribute in the manifest file that can point to other jars needed by your application. That DOES NOT MEAN those jars are archived within your jar; in fact if you were to do that, JVM won't be able to load classes from those jars unless you were to take special precautions and write a custom classloader.