Gif files placed in a jar file. Help to get these files.

Question

I have placed all the gif files in a jar file.
added the gif.jar to the project in the required libraries of project properties.
In the toolbar class I gave this.
JButton btnNew = new JButton(new ImageIcon("new.gif"));
and was expecting it to shpw the icon but I didn't get it?
Can I place the gifs in a jar file.
What else can I change/check to see the icons?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Ok, lets try it this way:
I have small samples on my server, which solve your
problem. If you look at them, you can see
how it works from a working example as starting point.
CAUTION: This one ONLY works, if you have
selected a JVM 1.3x.
[ It doesnt work for jvm 1.4, because it references
the main class in unnamed space. Thanks SUN ! -
why was this needed ??? (security I guess) ]
Steps:
1) goto http://www.snowraver.org/java/index.htm
2) download the "jarcreator.jar" example
[ There is a small link "Download JarCreator.jar -
although you also can start it as WebStart application
if you click on the big button on that homepage ]
3)
The jar file contains the classes as well as the
java source files and 2 gif pictures, which are
loaded using the above explained method
"LoadImageIcon"
You can see how it works from that example.
For extracting the source files, you can rename it
and give it the ending .zip on windows, then
you can extract all files using WinZip )
The main class (called Idefix above) must be outside
any package, that is, there must not be
a package statement at the beginning.
Some notes:
If you are working without jar file, the method
can return an ImageIcon object, although it
couldnt find it. In this case, the width and length
of that ImageIcon are zero.
Usually no problem. But imagine you use the
image icon for a tiled background. You loop
would be endless then.
It's a good idea to inspect the width of an imageicon
for checking its greater zero.