Java running under linux with crontab

Question

I'm having a problem:
i want to run a java program under linux with crontab.
my classes are in a directory and aren't in a package. i run em by invoking ./start which is a small script that i wrote. The script is in the same dir as the classes and invokes java by "java Main >>logjava.txt " but this doesn't seem to work all i get is an empty logfile
i need to run the program every day at 0800 so i inserted the following in crontab:
0 8 * 1-5 /var/"path"/start > logjava (where path is the path to the classes dir)
if i run the cmdline from anywhere on the prompt i get the result i want. I think it's because the cron runs it from the root dir thus making java unable to find the classes
Any suggestions would be welcome. or can some1 tell me how to make linux executables from the java (i usually use jsmooth for the windows exe)

Answer 1

You can execute several commands in the process started by cron. You separate them using semicolons.
Have you tried a cron entry like this:
0 8 * 1-5 cd /var/"path";pwd;echo $PATH; ./start > logjavaOr, you may need to make sure the process started by cron gets the same environment as your interactive shells do, by explicitly loading your setup or .login scripts:
0 8 * 1-5 . $HOME/.setup;cd /var/"path";pwd;echo $PATH; ./start > logjava