Javac.exe is not using classpath, while java.exe is.

Question

I'll state the problem, then give my configuration. This does NOT seem to be a duplicate of other problems. I am running Windows NT sp 6a.
INTRO:
javac.exe, java.exe in directory E:\v\bin.
file HelloWorld.java is in directory E:\v\lib\x\y (dir names shortened)
PROBLEM:
Once HelloWorld is compiled (and HelloWorld.class is in E:\v\lib\x\y ), I can run the exact command "java HelloWorld" from ANY directory anywhere and it runs and prints Hello World!.(So java.exe seems to be using classpath.)
However, to compile, the command "javac HelloWorld.java" does not work (say in E:\v). The error message is "cannot read: "HelloWorld.java". I have to provide the full path name for HelloWorld.java, thus: "javac E:\v\lib\x\y\HelloWorld.java". This works, from any directory anywhere. In other words, javac.exe does NOT seem to be using classpath.
CONFIGURATION:
CLASSPATH is set to E:\v\lib\x\y in both system and user environment and ALSO through both javac -classpath and java -classpath. (When I run javac -classpath E:\v\lib\x\y, the list of options is not printed out, and I think this means the classpath is supposed to be set. ) I also tried setting sourcepath for javac, but that did not help.
PATH is set since and the system recognizes the commands "java" and "javac" from any directory anywhere (each brings up the list of options.)
Any thoughts.

Answer 1

let's read the documentation first shall we ...
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/docs/tooldocs/windows/javac.html
According to it the command line arguments must be file names. The compiler "cannot read HelloWorld.java" because it simply is not in the current working directory. You need to specify a path to the file. It is only after that, "when compiling a source file", that the classpath or sourcepath setting has any effect.