Access class files outside of a .jar

Greetings,

I have been doing research over the past few days and have so far been unable to find the answer to this question. I am trying to create a modular program where the main UI (core) of the system is included in an executable jar (no problems here).

The issue is that it needs to dynamically load modules that are added to a lib folder residing in the same directory as the jar when the program is executed (eventually going to turn the jar into a .exe w/ Launch4j). I have so far not been able to do this. It finds the classes just fine (determined by using print statements) but it will not load them into the UI. The file structure of the AP directory is as follows:

AP.jar (including the package 'core' with all UI components)
/lib (directory containing the *module.class files representing the modules)

It works as normal if I include the /lib package/directory in the .jar file, but that defeats the purpose of it being modular so that I can just add new modules to the /lib folder as necessary.

Has anyone ever done anything like this before? Ideas?

Thx in advance.

Sounds like a problem with your classpath.

Adding Classes to the JAR File's Classpath (The Java™ Tutorials > Deployment > Packaging Programs in JAR Files)

I originally had classpath issues (which I posted here and received help to solve). My classpath is currently set to H:/AP. The jar and the /lib directory are both located directly inside of the /AP directory, as noted above.

Edit:

I believe the issue is in the fact that the core package expects to find the lib package in the jar, because pre-jaring them they are both in the same directory (H:/AP). This is evidenced because if I include the lib package in the jar file, it works fine. My question is how do I set this up so that it looks for the lib package in the directory where the jar is located instead of inside the jar itself?

Edit again:

Further evidence of my idea above is the fact that if I run the class that executes the program via command prompt (not the jar), which is also located in H:/AP, it finds the lib package and loads the modules in the UI as it should.

You need to tell the AP.jar (via the MANIFEST) where dependent jars/classes are to be found.
Executing a jar file strips out the classpath...it only uses the classpath as defined in the jar.

With a line such as 'Class-Path: H:/AP'?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tolls

You need to tell the AP.jar (via the MANIFEST) where dependent jars/classes are to be found.
Executing a jar file strips out the classpath...it only uses the classpath as defined in the jar.

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I've been searching extensively for the last couple of hours and have found no reference that says it's possible to add external classes to the Class-Path header that are not in a jar. I need clarification that it is possible. Anyone? And even so, I don't want to have to define in the header each specific class (module) that will be used. This defeats the purpose of the modularity of the program.

Would the solution to this problem be a custom class loader?

Have you tried a . for the current folder

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Norm

Have you tried a . for the current folder

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Could it really be that simple? Yes, it could. And it works.

You, sir, are a brilliant man and I am an idiot. Thank you.

The . works in other contexts, I figured it might there also.

Glad to know it. I was too lazy to make up a test case, so I let you have the joy of finding out.