Including .jar files in a classpath (Eclipse)

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

Hey guys, a very noob question.

I usually cheat and put .jar files in my Java Extensions folder, which works fine aside from version issues and exporting a product to other people. I never bothered to learn the correct way to do this. In Eclipse, if I drag the .jar into the Package Explorer, it works fine while using the Run… menu, but if I export a .jar I have problems with the inclusion. The classpath when in the package explorer should be the same directory, but even when I export a .jar and include the used .jar library in the same folder, it does not work correctly.

How exactly can I bundle .jar libraries into an exported .jar application.

#2

Demonpants, it’s still early for me ;), but I think I understand your problem.
You should make a manifest file by yourself and tell eclipse that you have one when building .jar (export). Manifest should look something like this:

Manifest-Version: 1.0
Class-Path: lwjgl.jar lwjgl_devil.jar lwjgl_util.jar anyexternalJar.jar ... (this should be in the same dir)
Main-Class: (your main class   package.MainClass)

hope it helps …

#3

Ah, good idea. I’ll try that. Thanks hvor.

#4

I think it may also be possible to tell the jar packager to actually include the neede classes from your library jar oin the single application jar…

#5

Yeah, that’s what I’ve wanted to do.

Mac OS X has a .app bundler which let’s you do that, but I don’t have the option for PC. I’ll look around.

#6

Genjar allows you to do this.

… actually, I’m not sure if you can include only some files from a library jar in the output jar, but it certainly allows you to incorporate everything into one jar.

#7

Ooh, Genjar looks great. Thanks a lot.