Setting Java Classpath to Load a Class File

Question

I\'m new to Java, and I\'m unsure how to access a class file located in a specific directory from a separate program jar.

For example, I have an third party jar file loc

Answer 1

When you use "-jar" then only the Class-Path attribute defined in the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file inside the jar file will influence the classpath.

It will also ignore the MyClass argument (or more specifically: interpret it as an argument to the main-class defined in the MANIFEST.MF).

If you simply want to call a class from that jar call it like this:

java -cp mainprog.jar:/mylib MyClass
// or using this one on windows:
java -cp mainprog.jar;/mylib MyClass