Wierd Compilation error!!

Question

Hi all,
I have a class EntUtils in a directory structure
..\APPS\fc\EntUtils.java
and another class BaseServlet in this directory
..\APPS\Guardian\BaseServlet.java
And now the following the piece of code in my class compiles fine
* Override GenericServlet log() methods to provide for different logging levels
EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();
public void log(String message) {
//log(EntUtils.LOG_INFORMATION, message);
//EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();
Where as the following piece of code gives errors....
* Override GenericServlet log() methods to provide for different logging levels
//EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();
public void log(String message) {
//log(EntUtils.LOG_INFORMATION, message);
EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();
The error I get is:
D:\Netscape\Server4\nas\APPS\Guardian\BaseServlet.java(278) : Class Guardian.EntUtils not found.
EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();
My question is:
How does having the declaration "EntUtils entUtils = new EntUtils();" outside the method make it different from having the declaration inside the method. Also if you see the error messagem why does it try to prefix Guardian.EntUtils when I have the declaration inside.
All my classpaths are set right....
Any help is appreciated...
Rajesh.

Answer 1

Rajesh,
First off, no it should not make a difference if the declaration is inside or outside of the method. The problem may be that the compiler was able to determine that it can't find the class while compiling the method and may have looked over it before. If you are compiling the program in the given structure ~\fc\EntUtils.java and ~\Guardian\BaseServlet.java, you may need to compile from the path ~ (..\APPS\ in your example).
javac Guardian\BaseServlet.java
The problem is ppbly that the compiler is looking in ~\Guardian\fc for the package fc. Give that a try. Hope it helps!
rb