[itistoday]

I know that if a library is in my current CLASSPATH then I can load it with an import statement...

But say I downloaded a library that is a .jar file. I have its documentation so I know what to import, but how can I tell the compiler where the library is? Is there any way I can make it available "system-wide"? What's the best way for dealing with libraries?

Thanks.

[itistoday]

Well, according to this: http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1170.html

all I have to do is put them ~/Library/Java/Extensions

Is this the best way?

[Arkham_c]

Originally posted by itistoday:
Well, according to this: http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1170.html

all I have to do is put them ~/Library/Java/Extensions

Is this the best way?

That's the recommended way for end-user usage (JDBC drivers, for instance). If you plan on redistributing the library, you'd typically unroll it and include it in your jar, or if it's a web app, put it in WEB-INF/lib inside your war file.

[itistoday]

Originally posted by Arkham_c:
That's the recommended way for end-user usage (JDBC drivers, for instance). If you plan on redistributing the library, you'd typically unroll it and include it in your jar, or if it's a web app, put it in WEB-INF/lib inside your war file.

So since I'm relatively new to Java programming, and I do want to redistribute an app I'll be developing, how should I "unroll" it and include it in the jar file?

[Arkham_c]

Originally posted by itistoday:
So since I'm relatively new to Java programming, and I do want to redistribute an app I'll be developing, how should I "unroll" it and include it in the jar file?

You don't need to do so to do your development, but jar files are just zip archives. To unroll it, just do:

Code:
jar -xf somefile.jar

To create a jar file, do:

Code:
jar -cf somefile.jar [source files or folders]