XML, jdom problem

Question

Hello Java-People,
I am having a problem with Java and XML using the jdom package (www.jdom.org).
An exception
(java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/xml/sax/SAXNotRecognizedException
     at YAAFile.openXMLDataFile(YAAFile.java:161))
is thrown.
I use java 1.4.1_01 on MacOS X (10.2.6). My IDE is Project Builder.
The following classes are involved:
YAAObject: stores my data in bean style with setters and getters, only used to hold the data.
YAAFile: holds the YAAObject instances in a vector and saves them in a xml file, opens xml file and returns the objects to other classes.
A third class that holds the YAAFile class.
1st test scenario:
My class YAATest calls:
YAAFile f1 = new YAAFile();
f1.openXMLDataFile();
YAAObject[] array = f1.returnYAAObjectArray();
for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++){
array.outputData();
This works fine. The outputData() method puts the content via System.out.println() on the console.
2nd (application) scenario:
My class YouAreAl calls:
(above) YAAFile currentYAAFile;
currentYAAFile = new YAAFile();
currentYAAFile.openXMLDataFile();
Does not work. I get the output:
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/xml/sax/SAXNotRecognizedException
     at YAAFile.openXMLDataFile(YAAFile.java:161)
     at YouAreAl.<init>(YouAreAl.java:173)
     at YouAreAl.main(YouAreAl.java:260)
     at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
     at apple.launcher.LaunchRunner.run(LaunchRunner.java:88)
     at apple.launcher.LaunchRunner.callMain(LaunchRunner.java:50)
     at apple.launcher.JavaApplicationLauncher.launch(JavaApplicationLauncher.java:52)
-[NSJavaVirtualMachine initWithClassPath:] cannot instantiate a Java virtual machine
YouAreAl has exited with status 0.
Both scenarios execute the following code at the openXMLDataFile() method:
protected void openXMLDataFile(){
builder = new SAXBuilder(); //here the exception is thrown!
Document doc = null;
try{
doc = builder.build(DataFileName);
catch (JDOMException e)
System.err.println("JDOMException openXMLDataFile 1");
System.err.println(e.getMessage());
catch (IOException e)
System.err.println("IOException openXMLDataFile 3");
System.err.println(e.getMessage());
...and so on...
The exception is thrown at line:
builder = new SAXBuilder();
As both scenarios execute the same piece of code I do not understand where the difference is.
I have the jdom.jar in the Library/Java/Extensions directory.
In my opinion builder wants to throw the SAXNotRecognizedException but can not find it. The point is why does it not word in the second scenario when everything is fine in the first one?
If there is anyone out there having a deeper understanding of this matter, please give me a hint.
Thanks in advance
Tobias

Answer 1

Hi people,
I found the problem. I'll post it here in case anyone runs into the same kind of problem.
The reason for the exception was not the source code but the built product.
Scenario one built a .jar file and it worked just fine.
Scenario two built an .app file and it threw an exception.
When compiling scenario two on the console it ran fine as well. So thr problem seems to lie either in the packaging or the IDE. It looks as if you are not allowed to use extensions when packaging your class files as an .app
So I'll stick with jar files for a while...
Regards,
Tobias