Reflection - reading a .class file

Question

I want to read in a .class file, and be able to use reflection to get a list of that class's methods. I'm using a JFileChooser to find the file, I just need to know how to use the output from the JFileChooser (a path to the file) to load the file into the program, and use reflection methods to create an appropriate Class object.

Answer 1

kajbj wrote:
fredley_m wrote:
kajbj wrote:
fredley_m wrote:
I don't think I'm making myself clear. I can read in a file, I don't know how to use reflection on a .class file. I need to know how to complete the following line of code:
Class reflectedClass =reflectedClass should then contain a copy of the class from the .class file.You load a class using Class.forName(..)This does not work.
JFileChooser fc = new JFileChooser();
int returnVal = fc.showOpenDialog(main_panel);
     if(returnVal == 0)
          String fileName = fc.getSelectedFile().getName();
          fileName = fileName.substring(0,fileName.lastIndexOf('.')); //also doesn't work without this line
          Class c = Class.forName(fileName);
...I get a ClassNotFoundException when I try to open MyClass.classYou need to know about how class loaders work, and use one. Read the javadoc:
[http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/ClassLoader.html]
The NetworkClassLoader sample is pretty close to what you want.Thanks, the URLClassLoader is perfect, however my code:
String fileName = fc.getSelectedFile().getName();
fileName = fileName.substring(0,fileName.lastIndexOf('.'));
URL[] urls = {new URL(filePath)};
URLClassLoader cl = new URLClassLoader(urls);
Class c = cl.findClass(fileName);does not compile: "findClass has protected access"