Java Class.forName() from distant directory

Question

I am currently loading Java classes using Class.forName() to load it.

clazz = Class.forName(\"interfaces.MyClass\");

But now I

Answer 1

Use an URLClassLoader for this. The code might be something along the lines of:

File f = new File("C:/dir");
URL[] cp = {f.toURI().toURL()};
URLClassLoader urlcl = new URLClassLoader(cp);
Class clazz = urlcl.loadClass("distantinterfaces.DistantClass");

Answer 2

You have to create an instance of ClassLoader which is aware of the directory with classes. See stackoverflow questions tagged urlclassloader.

Answer 3

Either the directory is in the classpath, and you can use Class.forName() (which only accepts fuly qualified name classes, and not -cp command line options), or it's not in the classpath and you should then use a custom class loader.

You're not saying what you really want to do (why are you loading classes dynamically), but your best bet is to have the directory in the classpath.