Help with creating jar file and running it ?

Question

Hey guys,
I have a program with a package called classes and a sub-package called classes.mainLib.
I am trying to create a JAR file of the class files in mainLib. There is only one class file in classes and that contains the main method. So this is what i am doing:
1. create a manifest file with: Main-Class: classes.Cars
2. from within the mainLib directory (./program_name/classes/mainLib/) i do this:
jar cvf mainLib.jar manifest ./*.class
3. Then i move this jar file to ./program_name/lib and change directory to ./program name/
4. try to do this: java -jar ./lib/mainLib.jar
But it errors with:
gary@linuxbox:~/java/cars$ java -jar ./lib/mainLib.jar
Failed to load Main-Class manifest attribute from
./lib/mainLib.jar
Any ideas why this is happening. the manifest is included in the jar'ing
Thanks.

Answer 1

At a glance, it looks like you are placing only the
class files in the jar and trying to navigate your
classpath to run it. Instead, you have to place ALL
the package folders into the jar from the root of
your package hierarchy and the jar runs anywhere, in
any folder. The packages are INSIDE the jar.
also I see cars/classes in a path you describe ...and
the program seems to wnat classes/Cars ??? Could
this be an additional issue (or am I missing seeing
something about your package structure)?Firstly, i believe all my spelling and cases are correct.
I have the following strcuture:
Cars.class (contains main) : package classes in ./classes directory
All other classes : package classes.mainLib in ./classes/mainLib
I would like to jar ALL files in mainLib but not the class that contains the main method. Is this possible?
I'm not sure how clear i was earlier, hope this is more understandable.