Question

Including jars when exporting using Eclipse

Asked by: grexx

I've created a small java application in Eclipse. Now I want to export it as a jar. The application uses several other jars (like mail.jar from javamail and jtds). Whenever I export the app, these jars are not included, resulting in errors when I run the program. I've included both jars in the project. The project tree is as follows:

TestApplication
-- src
-- JRE system library
-- jtds-1.2.jar
-- mail.jar

In the Build Path Order & Export tab, both jars are checked.

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Asked On
2007-01-15 at 08:59:53ID22123101
Tags

eclipse

,

jar

,

including

,

export

Topics

Eclipse

,

Java Programming Language

,

New to Java Programming

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
9

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Answers

 

by: gripePosted on 2007-01-15 at 09:23:14ID: 18317583

You can't actually include jars as class resources in another jar (at least in the sense that you mean). You could do one of several things to work around it:

1. Don't try to include other jars in your jar and just add them to a 'lib' directory and update the jar's classpath to point there. (IE: ./lib)

2. Store the included jars in their extracted form

3. Write your own ClassLoader (Or use someone else's) that can understand how to do what you want to do. (Example: http://classworlds.codehaus.org/uberjar.html)

 

by: anokun7Posted on 2007-01-15 at 09:28:00ID: 18317613

Well - actually you can - and that is the preferred way of creating jar executables.

What you can do is extract the jar using winzip or 7zip - then merge them with your own jar / classfiles and create a new jar file. You also will have to create a manifest file that tells which is the main class - the class to execute (the main method) when the jar is executed.

Then anybody can just execute the jar file using
java -jar yourfile.jar

If you use Ant to build your projects all these steps can be automated...

Anoop

 

by: gripePosted on 2007-01-15 at 09:40:15ID: 18317697

I thought i covered that one off with #2 - Store the included jars in their extracted form. :)

 

by: anokun7Posted on 2007-01-15 at 09:52:21ID: 18317784

No - you said store it in the extracted form - I am saying include them inside the all-containing jar and create a manifest. This will create a distributable with all dependencies which can be transferred. Also you did not mention Ant which is used to do such things in a reliable fashion.

 

by: grexxPosted on 2007-01-15 at 12:56:15ID: 18319173

Reading your comments, is it fair to say that it's not common usage to do this? This is all a bit new to me, and I thought this was the way to go. But other methods are welcome as well. All I want to do is being able to run the jar from the commandline, so I can turn it into a service. I know I could run it from a JSP page, and create a service using wget or something that calls the page, but I don't know what's best to do here.

 

by: olgavillamizarPosted on 2007-01-15 at 14:25:01ID: 18319896

Hi!
Yu can create a lib folder into your project and include this jars in the library path from the folder.
when you export the project the lib folder is included

 

by: keyurkarnikPosted on 2007-01-15 at 22:25:35ID: 18321977

Yeah, creating the lib folder is a better solution.

If you extract all the external jars and re-jar them in your own, you make the future tough for yourself.
If anyone of the external jars changes over time, (or comes up with bug fixes) you will have to do the same process everytime.

So you always keep your own jar as it is, and keep all other external jars in a lib folder. That way you can easily replace any one you need.
You can then tar the complete deployment as you require.

You can use ANT to do all this : Take a look at this post and the solution given by me there :
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Programming/Programming_Languages/Java/Q_22119556.html

The last post by me gives the details and a sample deploymetn too

 

by: grexxPosted on 2007-01-16 at 02:30:07ID: 18322630

Thanks for your input. I've created a lib folder in the Eclipse project and copied the jars into the folder. Then I added those jars to the build path. I checked the lib folder and both jars in the Order And Export tab of the Build Path properties. Still the jars are not included when I export.

I'm still not sure what the end result should be. Does this mean that the mail.jar and jtds-1.2.jar are included in the test.jar, or should they be in the same folder as separate files, or in a lib-folder inside that folder?

If all jars are included in the resulting test.jar, does this mean that they are inside a lib folder under the root or directly under the root? And can I include those jars by hand? (I've tried both, but that didn't work.)

 

by: keyurkarnikPosted on 2007-01-16 at 02:32:37ID: 18322645

All jars dont need to be in the same jar.
You would have a test.jar and a lib folder containing all the jars!!

Have you used the ant build file that was shown in the example?
If so, you will find that the build directory will contain the complete deployment ready tar files!!

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