Simple (not for me!) package problem.

Question

I was hoping someone could help me with this one! I guess its pretty simple, but this is the first time Ive tried to make a package.
I have an app like so:
theApp\testPiece.jsp
theApp\WEB-INF\classes\sql\
     piece1.java
     piece2.java
Both piece1 and piece2 have "package sql;" at the top.
piece2.java references piece1.java. I can compile piece1.java no worries. However, If I have piece2 in theApp\WEB-INF\classes\ directory it compiles, if I have it in the sql directory it says "cannot resolve symbol".
piece2.java has "package sql" at the top, so shouldnt it be able to see piece1? How come it only sees it if its in the parent directory?!
Also if I have it in the parent directory, I can not reference it as sql.piece2... Is it a class path thing? if so, what should the javac statement look like? Ive been searching this forum for hours, and I keep finding variations on my question, but I am really stuck! Please Help!!!
Thanks,
nmoog

Answer 1

Hello nmoog,
I've only been using JavaBeans and packages for about a year, but saying that 2 years ago before I started university programming was a foreign concept altogether.
I do not mean to be condescending, but I doubt you'll find much with respect to packaging and compiling on the Sun site. Perhaps if you look at the Java tools documentation in your SDK distribution. Thats what I use to read to figure out compiling and package instructions:
C:\j2sdk1.4.1_02\docs\tooldocs\tools.html
or
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.1/docs/tooldocs/tools.html
if you don't have the documentation on your hard drive.
In particular read the parts about javac.
Reading it myself, I realise you have to specify packages like a normal path name when compiling - you will understand when you read it.
It is trivial, but at the same time it is a major hinderence to your progress. Once you get past it, I reckon you'll pick up the pace of programming quite quickly. Don't overlook the tutorials, they are the best source of information for learning - while these forums along with Ask.com and Google are the best means of problem solving.
What web-container are you using? I am currently using Resin, but I may switch to Tomcat at some point in the future. Read the documentation for the web-container you are using. They have their diffences, but they use WAR web-archives and these all have the same structure:
Lets say your web application is called project. Arrange it like so:
project - contains html and jsp files
project/WEB-INF - contains java (source) files, i think
project/WEB-INF/classes - will contain class files
project/META-INF - contains the archive manifest
Treat JavaBeans like you would any other java or class file - they are nothing special. Run the following instructions on the command-line:
C:\project\WEB-INF>javac -d classes <list of all your java files>
C:\>jar cvf project.war -C project .
Now simply place project.war in the webapps folder of your web-container, and start your web-server.
Assuming you haven't changed anything in you resin.conf or web.xml file browse to
http://localhost:8080/project
and your index page should be retrieved automatically as if you browsed to
http://localhost:8080/project/index.jsp
I don't know if this is more or less than you wanted to know, but I hope it has been of some use.
I'm watching so hola if you wanna ask anything else
Darren B
e-mail: [email protected]