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Running a java project in terminal with multiple .java files (multiple attempts described inside)

I have been doing a coding exercise inside the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition 14 IDE, using OpenJDK.
The project is split over 4 .java files all in the same package.
My end goal is to run this in the terminal/bash (I use System.console().readLine() which doesnt play nicely in the IDE's console).
I've tried navigating to the directory where these 4 files reside (they all reside in the same dir) and tried:
javac -classpath . BibliotecaApp.java Book.java BookManager.java LibraryDB.java
This creates 4 corresponding .class files fine.
The Main is in bibliotecaApp.java/class, so I try run it by:
java BibliotecaApp
But I get the error
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: BibliotecaApp (wrong name: com/twu/biblioteca/BibliotecaApp)
Plus about 13 lines of specifics.
Now googling this error seems to be a class path problem, and this is where I get stuck.
From places I've read, usingecho $PATH gives me:
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games
This is still from the directory of the .java files above.
That path means nothing to me. I have no idea what it is or what it does, or what even a classpath is! Theres alot of resources out there on setting a classpath, but they aren’t helping me because I don't know what it's meant for.
That was a dead end for me. I tried to create a .jar instead using IDEA's Build Artifacts as seen HERE. It created a .jar file but when I navigate to that directory and try run it via:
java -jar biblioteca_jar
I get
Error: Invalid or corrupt jarfile biblioteca_jar
Another issue is that in the file explorer, the file actually comes out as biblioteca.jar, but ls on that dir shows biblioteca_jar. Is that normal?
The code is on my GitHub if that helps anything
https://github.com/botagar/twu-biblioteca-JohnGeddes

Based on your compiler step, change this
java BibliotecaApp
to
java -cp . BibliotecaApp
Which will add the current directory to the classpath for the java runtime environment. See also the Oracle Technote Setting the Class Path.
A jar file is a kind of zip, and should have a .jar extension. So this
java -jar biblioteca_jar
should probably be
java -jar biblioteca.jar
And you can check if the file is valid with any zip archive reader. Including jar itself,
jar tvvf biblioteca.jar
Edit
Based on your comments below,
cd ~/Documents/ThoughtWorks Uni/TWU_Biblioteca-master/src/
and then
java -cp . com.twu.biblioteca.BibliotecaApp

making executable file from a java project using NetBeans [duplicate]

This question already has an answer here:
creating an executable jar file with ant which includes the build.xml file
(1 answer)
Closed 9 years ago.
i have created a java project in NetBeans. now i want to make an executable file out of it.that can be executed (run) in other computers that have JDK or JRE installed but don't have NetBeans or any other Java IDE installed.how can i do such thing using NetBeans???

Do you mean compile it to JAR? Netbeans does that automatically, just do clean and build (hammer sybol) and look in the dist subdirectory of your project. There will be the JAR with lib folder containing the required libraries. These JAR + lib are enough to run the application.
Maby you unchecked an option:
Project Properties -> Build -> Packaging -> Build JAR after compiling
(but this is enabled by default)

You have to build your project. Just click on the hammer in the toolbar.
After that there should be a folder in your project called "dist".
In it is the *.jar File, which you can deploy to anybody who has Java installed.

you mean executable jar file. which can be executed using $java -jar myJar.jar . So you need to change manifest file inside jar. Second if you want a mouse double click execution then for Linux create .sh and for windows create .bat file containing the above specified $java -jar .
JVM installation is required to do so on whichever machine you want to execute.
Click Me :-)

Compiles with NetBeans but can't compile or run from bash

I have been researching this for weeks and can't seem to get it figured out.
I have a Java program that I have written using NetBeans. It has several imports or .jar files it relies on. It runs fine in NetBeans. But I can't figure out how to call the .jar files and compile from the bash command line. I am using a Mac. I have read several posts on this and none so far have made sense to me. There are 26 imports being used in the program. I don't know if I need to use Ant or specify -CP or Classpath to compile. Surely I don't have to type each one of the .jar files out to compile this from the bash command line?
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_09-b05)

You should be able to simply use ant with the build.xml in the Netbeans project directory. It should "just work" for you. The project will likely not build WITHOUT Netbeans installed (if you tried moving the project to a different machine, for example), but with Netbeans, it should work out of the box.
If you don't have Ant installed, you'll need to install it.
Addenda:
To build it, if you have Ant installed, you should be able to simply go the project directory, where the build.xml file is, and type "ant", and it should build and put stuff in the dist directory.
If you go in to the dist directory and type java -jar yourapp.jar, it should run, because the manifest in the jar will point to the nearby lib jar files. If you want to distribute the app, there are different options for java, such as making a Mac compatible application, or a Windows EXE, you'll need to search for those. Or you can simply distribute the contents of the dist directory and write a script to do that whole java -jar yourapp.jar command.

If you are using Java 1.6 or above, you can toss all 26 jar files into a folder and simply add
-cp folder_name/*
as your classpath argument.
Some other options are 1.) type all 26 jar files on the command line (using the -cp argument as you have mentioned) 2.) use Ant or Maven or some other build tool and list those 26 jar files in the config file for said build tool or 3.) write a quick-and-dirty shell script that will set the CLASSPATH environment variable for you and then run your javac command.

How to run Java programs by clicking on their icon on Windows?

I have written a Java program that uses Java swing library. Now I would like to execute this program by double clicking on the executable file on Windows just like any other program with a GUI. How do I do that?

Since it is Java based and has a GUI, the obvious answer is to deploy it using Java Web Start.
Java Web Start (JWS) is the Oracle Corporation technology used to launch rich client (Swing, AWT, SWT) desktop applications directly from a network or internet link. It offers 'one click' installation for platforms that support Java.
JWS provides many appealing features including, but not limited to, splash screens, desktop integration, file associations, automatic update (including lazy downloads and programmatic control of updates), partitioning of natives & other resource downloads by platform, architecture or Java version, configuration of run-time environment (minimum J2SE version, run-time options, RAM etc.), easy management of common resources using extensions..
By 'desktop integration' read desktop shortcuts and menu items on supported platforms.
The 2 icons on the right (JotPad & Star Zoom Animation) are both Java based apps., installed using Java Web Start. Since JotPad is sand-boxed, the user will be prompted as to whether to create the shortcut. That choice is not offered for apps. with higher permission levels, so it would make more sense to install/remove the shortcuts and menu items using the IntegrationService - which allows an app. (after prompting the user) to create/remove them at run-time.

There are number of options:
Create an executable jar of your project. for this jar to work you have to have javaw as default application to open it.
Create an exe of your project.
Create a bat file which runs your jar file.
Take a look at this: How can I convert my Java program to an .exe file?

While the others mention excellent choices like creating a native executable, there is another useful method: creating a shortcut.
Right click your desktop, expand the "New" option, and click on "Shortcut".
Type "javaw.exe". Click next.
Name it whatever you want. Click done.
You'll notice the newly created shortcut on your desktop. Right click it and choose "Properties"
In the "Target" textfield, append "-jar path-to-your-jar.jar" where you replace "path-to-your-jar.jar" with the actual path to your jar
You can also now optionally change the icon to whatever icon you want
This shortcut can be pinned to the taskbar and be used from anywhere (considering you provided an absolute path to your JAR).

you need to create exe from the java program.
Creating executable jar files
First, make sure you have installed Java 1.2 or above. This facility is not available in previous versions of Java.
Next, create your working java system. In general, you will want to put it into a package. For this example, I created a trivial HelloWorld application that prints out "Hello World" plus the first command line argument, and placed it into the package "psae". Therefore, the HelloWorld files (HelloWorld.class, HelloWorld.java) were located in the directory psae. I tested the system to make sure it worked before going on to the next step.
In the directory in which the psae is located, created a file called "mainClass". This file contains a single line specifying where the main Class is to be found in the jar file. Note that I use the package specification. Here is the single line:
Main-Class: psae.HelloWorld
Note: make sure you type a carriage return after this line; some windows systems need it and will report a "Failed to load Main-Class manifest attribute" error.
Next, I create a jar file called psae.jar using the "jar" command in Java2. I use the "m" command line argument to specify the manifest file mainClass, which adds information to the jar file on where the main class will be found. Here is the jar command:
bertha:~ > jar cmf mainClass psae.jar psae
Just for fun, and to check what's happened, I print the table of contents for the jar file I just created. Here's the command and its result:
bertha:~ > jar tf psae.jar
META-INF/
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
psae/
psae/HelloWorld.java
psae/HelloWorld.class
Having successfully created the jar file, I can now invoke java2 on it with the command line argument:
bertha:~ > java -jar psae.jar Philip
Hello World Philip

There are a few projects, like http://jsmooth.sourceforge.net/ and http://launch4j.sourceforge.net/

you can use something like Launch4j.
also look at JSMooth.
Hope it helps

There are two ways. Both involve packaging your code in a .jar.
The first way is to build an actual .exe file using a tool like Launch4j. It will require you to set up things like tell it which class to execute, which icon to use, which JRE is OK, what JRE parameters to use, etc.
The second option is to make the .jar itself executable. You do this by adding a manifest to the .jar. The manifest is a small configuration file that describes the jar. One of the attributes is Main-Class which defines the entry point. In other words, it says which class has the main function that should be called when the user double-clicks the file.
Here's a basic tutorial about manifests: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/manifestindex.html
The 2nd option is easier to get going, but users will know what to do with a .exe far more often.
Note that if either approach complains that it can't find the class, make sure to set the classpath manifest attribute to match your project.

If you have an executable jar file, just shift-right click on your file and set it to be opened by javaw. The other option (in case you want to pass in parameters to your application) is to create a .bat file where you spin off your application via java or javaw

Right click to your "project" in eclipse and select "export" then choose "Java->Runnable Jar File" select your project name and finish.

Seems you want to deploy and run the standalone application of swings. Being a java developer you should understand the power of jar files. Those are executable in themselves {so no need to create .exe files :)} .
The below code will help you to create a jar file.
Creating a jar File in Command Prompt
Start Command Prompt.
Navigate to the folder that holds your class files:
C:\>cd \mywork
Set path to include JDK’s bin. For example:
C:\mywork> path c:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_09\bin;%path%
Compile your class(es):
C:\mywork> javac *.java
Create a manifest file:
C:\mywork> echo Main-Class: NameOfProject >manifest.txt
Create a jar file:
C:\mywork> jar cvfm NameOfProject.jar manifest.txt *.class
Test your jar:
C:\mywork> DanceStudio.jar
After creating a jar just double click on it and you are done.

You have to create an executable jar file. For that you just simply add a META-INF folder to the jar, then add a MANIFEST.MF text file with two lines:
Manifest-Version: 1.0
Main-Class: your.package.YourMainClass

Here's how to run a Java program by RIGHT-CLICKING on it (in other words, from the Windows Explorer context menu). This handy trick is great for beginners who need to test their simple programs on the fly. Works on both Win7 and XP rigs.
[ATTN: Depending on the situation, you may need to remove the package directive from the top of your Java file.]
Step 1. Create a batch file (e.g., RWJ.bat) inside a folder of your choice (say, in C:\Program Files\Java.)
Step 2. Fill RWJ.bat with the following commands (they will work just fine as is with simple classes but you can, of course, tweak them according to your particular needs by specifying compiler / interpreter switches, passing args, adding echo off, removing pause or whatever):
javac %1
java %~n1
pause
The first command passes the full name of your right-clicked file to the Java compiler; the second one strips the file extension and feeds JVM with the class name only.
Step 3. Add the following key to your Registry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Run With Java and then create its command (default value):
C:\Program Files\Java\RWJ.bat %1.
Step 4. Run your Java class by right-clicking it and selecting Run with Java option.
That's all there is to it.
Another way to run Java programs by pointing and clicking is to use AOT compilers. For example, GCC has an entry point named GCJ, which can be used to compile the source code into both byte codes and standard executable file for your particular OS.
And finally, instead ot batch files one can run WSH, etc.

The dreaded java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError

I've looked through many of the existing threads about this error, but still no luck. I'm not even trying to package a jar or use any third-party packaging tools. I'm simply running from within Eclipse (works great) and then trying to run the exact same app from the command line, in the same location it's built to (getting this error). My goal is to be able to zip up the bin folder and send it off to be run by someone else via a command line script. Some details:
It's a command-line app and I'm using the commons-lang-2.4.jar for string utilities. That is the file that cannot be located (specificaly "java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/apache/commons/lang/StringEscapeUtils")
I have that jar in my lib folder and have added it to my build path in Eclipse via right-click "Build Path -> Add to Build Path"
The .classpath file looks correct and contains the reference to the jar, but I assume that file is only used by Eclipse (contains this line: <classpathentry kind="lib" path="lib/commons-lang-2.4.jar"/>)
Could this be related to the Eclipse working directory setting? I have some internal template files that I created that are under src/templates, and the only way I can seem to get those to be seen is by setting the project working directory to AppName/src. Maybe I should be putting those somewhere else?
Let me know if any additional info would help. Surely this is something simple, but I've wasted too much time on it at this point. This is reminding me why I originally left Java back in '05 or so...

A NoClassDefFoundError basically means that the class was there in the classpath during compiletime, but it is missing in the classpath during runtime.
In your case, when executing using java.exe from commandline, you need to specify the classpath in the -cp or -classpath argument. Or if it is a JAR file, then you need to specify it in the class-path entry of its MANIFEST.MF file.
The value of the argument/entry can be either absolute or relative file system paths to a folder containing all .class files or to an individual .jar file. You can separate paths using a semicolon ;. When a path contains spaces, you need to wrap the particular path with doublequotes ". Example:
java -cp .;c:/path/to/file.jar;"c:/spacy path/to/classes" mypackage.MyClass
To save the effort of typing and editing the argument in commandline everytime, use a .bat file.
Edit: I should have realized that you're using an Unix based operating system. The above examples are Windows-targeted. In the case of Unix like platforms you can follow the same rules, but you need to separate the paths using a colon : and instead of an eventual batch file, use a .sh file.
java -cp .:/path/to/file.jar:"/spacy path/to/classes" mypackage.MyClass

Are you specifying the classpath to java on the command line?
$ java -cp lib/commons-lang-2.4.jar your.main.Class

The classpath setting you are setting in Eclispe are only for the IDE and do not affect how you application is run outside the IDE. Even if you use the Eclipse Functionality to export your application as an executable jar file there is no out of the box way to package all the jars your application depends on.
If you have packaged you application into a jar file called myapp.jar then running a command like below will run the application with the jar you depend on, if you have more than one just add them separted by ; on Windows or : on Unix:
java -jar myapp.jar -cp .;c:/pathtolibs/commons-lang-2.4.jar
If you are just running the classes directly then either run the folder containing your .class files will also need to be on the path (though I assume it already is since you are able to run the program and get errors).

Consider File -> Export -> Runnable jar to create a jar file which can be invoked directly with
java -jar yourProgram.jar
There are several variants depending on your needs.

Eclipse does not move any of the jars in your classpath into the bin folder of your project. You need to copy the util jar into the bin folder. If you move it to the root of the bin folder, you might be able to get away without any classpath entries but it's not the recommended solution. See #BalusC's answer for good coverage of that.

Eclipse doesn't build executable java classes by default. Don't ask me why, but it probably has something to do with using their own tools.jar (somewhere in plugins/org.eclipse.core ?) so that Eclipse can run without a JDK.
You can usually go to your project bin directory and do:
java -cp . MyClass
But if you have external jars, Eclipse handles those internally in another weird way, so you'll need to add those too.

make sure your jar commons-lang-2.4.jar in classpath and not redudance.
I ever add jar file to my classpath, and have 2 file jar in my classpath. After I delete it, work smooth