Recently I'm creating something that have to load/unload external jar packages dynamically. I'm now trying to do this with URLClassLoader, but I keep getting NoClassDefFoundError while trying to make new instances.
It seems that the external class is loaded successfully since the codes in the constructor are executed, but ClassNotFoundException and NoClassDefFoundError still keep being thrown.
I made an small package that recreates the error and here are the codes:
The codes below are in ExternalObject.class ,which is put in a .jar file, that I'm trying to load dynamically:
package test.outside;
import test.inside.InternalObject;
public class ExternalObject
{
private final String str;
public ExternalObject()
{
this.str = "Creating an ExternalObject with nothing.";
this.print();
}
public ExternalObject(InternalObject inObj)
{
this.str = inObj.getString();
this.print();
}
public void print()
{
System.out.println(this.str);
}
}
And the codes below are in InternalObject.class:
package test.inside;
public class InternalObject
{
private final String str;
public InternalObject(String s)
{
this.str = s;
}
public String getString()
{
return this.str;
}
}
I tested the file with Main.class below:
package test.inside;
import java.io.File;
import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLClassLoader;
import test.outside.ExternalObject;
public class Main
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
try
{
File externalJar = new File("F:\\Dev\\ext.jar");
URLClassLoader uclTest = new URLClassLoader(new URL[]{externalJar.toURI().toURL()});
Class<?> clazz = uclTest.loadClass("test.outside.ExternalObject");
InternalObject inObj = new InternalObject("Creating an ExternalObject with an InternalObject.");
try
{
System.out.println("Test 1: Attempt to create an instance of the ExternalObject.class with an InternalObject in the constructor.");
Constructor<?> conTest = clazz.getConstructor(InternalObject.class);
ExternalObject extObj = (ExternalObject)conTest.newInstance(inObj);
}
catch(Throwable t)
{
System.out.println("Test 1 has failed. :(");
t.printStackTrace();
}
System.out.println();
try
{
System.out.println("Test 2: Attempt to create an instance of the ExternalObject.class with a void constructor.");
Constructor<?> conTest = clazz.getConstructor();
ExternalObject extObj = (ExternalObject)conTest.newInstance();
}
catch(Throwable t)
{
System.out.println("Test 2 has failed. :(");
t.printStackTrace();
}
uclTest.close();
}
catch(Exception e)
{
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Both InternalObject.class and Main.class are in a jar pack which is included in the classpath while launched.
And I got this in the console:
Console output screenshot
As the codes this.print() in both constructors of ExternalObject.class are executed, I have really no idea what's wrong. Help! :(
UPDATE: Thank you wero!!! But I actually want to make an instance of ExternalObject for further usage such as accessing methods in it from other classes. Is there any way that I can return the created instance as an ExternalObject? Or I have to use getMethod() and invoke() to access the methods?
Sincerely,
Zevin
Your Main class references ExternalObject and therefore the compiled Main.class has a dependency on ExternalObject.
Now when you run Main and ExternalObject is only available in ext.jar but not in the classpath used to run Main the following happens:
The uclTest classloader successfully loads ExternalObject from ext.jar. Also creation succeeds (seen by the print statement in the constructor).
But what fails are the assignments to local variables ExternalObject extObj.
Main cannot use the loaded class ExternalObject since it is loaded by a different classloader. There is also no ExternalObject in the classpath of Main and you get a NoClassDefFoundError.
Your test should run without problems when you remove the two assignments ExternalObject extObj = (ExternalObject).
I think because there are two classLoaders involved, and you try to cast an object from a classLoader to an object from another class loader. But is just a guess.
How you are running the Main class is causing the problem.
As you said, I have created jar called ext1.jar with ExternalObject and InternalObjct class files inside it.
And created ext.jar with Main and InternalObject class files.
If I run the following command, it throws Exception as you mentioned
java -classpath .;C:
\path\to\ext.jar test.inside.Main
But, If I run the following command, it runs fine without any Exception
java -classpath .;C:
\path\to\ext1.jar;C:
\path\to\ext.jar test.inside.Main
Hooray!! I just found a better way for my codes! What I did is creating an abstract class ExternalBase.class with all abstract methods I need, then inherit ExternalObject.class from ExternalBase.class. Therefore dynamically loaded class have to be neither loaded into the custom loader nor imported by the classes that use the object, and the codes work totally perfect for me. :)
Related
i am creating a little game with libgdx framework and netbeans 8. I have all java classes in a single package that match with the directory structure.
The problem is that i cant import or isntantiate classes, for example:
package com.myfolder.folder2;
import ...
public class myclass1{
private myclass2 mc2;
etc...
}
In this case myclass2 is public and is inside the package but netbeans complains "cannot find symbol".
If i try with alt+enter, netbeans says "Create class myclass2 in package com.myfolder.folder2" or the same like an inner class. If i press the first option, netbeans create a class in the package with the file name myclass2_1 (becouse myclass2 exists!), and myclass1 doesnt recognize the new class.
If i try to import the class:
import com.myfolder.folder2.myclass2;
It gives me the same error, and in fact the code completion tool only gives me one crazy option in the import sentence:
import com.myfolder.folder2.myclass1;
Import the same class.
What can i do? I never have these problems using netbeans.
PD: Sorry for my english :)
You can use a class inside the same package like this:
ClassName classVariableName = new ClassName();
Then when you want to run something from the class you would put
classVariableName.MethodThatIWantToRun();
Or if you want to access a property from that method you would access it in a very similar way:
classVarabileName.PropertyIWantToAccess
Example:
You have one class with a property you want to access:
class MyClass {
public int MyProperty = 5;
}
You access it in this class:
public class MainClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyClass myClass = new MyClass();
System.out.println(myClass.MyProperty);
}
}
If that doesn't work than you might have some other problem.
It was an error with one of my class package definition:
public class DesktopLauncher{
public static void main(String... args){
LwjglApplicationConfiguration cfg = new LwjglApplicationConfiguration();
.
.
.
new LwjglApplication(new MyClass, config);
}
}
It was in MyClass, becouse i copied a snippet from an older project, and accidentally copied the older package.
NetBeans is not smart enough,
Solution: just declare the package name in all classes, example:
Class A:
package test;
public class ClassA {
public static void main(String[ ] args) {
ClassB.myFunctionB();
}
}
Class B:
package test;
public class ClassB {
public static void myFunctionB () {
System.out.print("I am ClassB!");
}
}
I have a library class with a package private method. Directly overriding this method by a subclass is no option. Is there any way, no matter how ugly, to execute own code when this package private method is called from inside the library, e.g. using AspectJ?
Here is a simplified example of the class (the packagePrivateMethod() actually is not invoked directly, but from native code):
public LibClass {
public LibClass() {
...
packagePrivateMethod();
...
}
void packagePrivateMethod() {
// <-- here I want to execute additional code
...
}
}
You could use a rather heavyweight approach.
Write a small Java agent SO post about that topic.
Use the provided Instrumentation interface to intercept the class loading
Use a byte code modification library (e.g. ASM or Java Assist (only Java 6 !) ) to instrument the byte code (e.g. to replace the method call with whatever you really want to do.
This would work as you can modify the byte code of everything, but it requires you to modify that byte code before it is executed.
Of course you can do that also statically by just modifying the class file, replacing the existing byte code with the byte code you create in step 3 above.
If you do not want / cannot statically replace the byte code of the class, you'll have to do the modification of the bytecode at runtime. For the using a Java agent is a good and solid idea.
Since this is all rather abstract until now, I have added an example which will intercept the loading of your library class, inject a method call in a package private method. When the main method executes, you can see from the output, that the injected method is called directly before the library classes' code. If you add return; as the injected code, you can also prevent the execution of that method alltogether.
So here is the code of an example to your problem solved with Java 6 and JavaAssist. If you want to go along that path and use something newer like Java 7, the you just have to replace the byte code manipulation with ASM. This is a little bit less readable, but also not exactly rocket science.
The main class:
package com.aop.example;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Main starts!");
LibClass libClass = new LibClass();
System.out.println("Main finished!");
}
}
Your LibClass:
package com.aop.example;
public class LibClass {
public LibClass() {
packagePrivateMethod();
}
void packagePrivateMethod() {
// <-- here I want to execute additional code
System.out.println("In packagePrivateMethod");
}
}
The Agent:
package com.aop.agent;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.lang.instrument.ClassFileTransformer;
import java.lang.instrument.IllegalClassFormatException;
import java.lang.instrument.Instrumentation;
import java.security.ProtectionDomain;
import javassist.CannotCompileException;
import javassist.ClassPool;
import javassist.CtClass;
import javassist.CtMethod;
import javassist.LoaderClassPath;
import javassist.NotFoundException;
public class Agent {
public static void premain(String agentArgs, Instrumentation instr) {
System.out.println("Agent starts!");
instr.addTransformer(new ClassFileTransformer() {
#Override
public byte[] transform(ClassLoader classLoader, String className, Class<?> arg2, ProtectionDomain arg3,
byte[] bytes)
throws IllegalClassFormatException {
System.out.println("Before loading class " + className);
final String TARGET_CLASS = "com/aop/example/LibClass";
if (!className.equals(TARGET_CLASS)) {
return null;
}
LoaderClassPath path = new LoaderClassPath(classLoader);
ClassPool pool = new ClassPool();
pool.appendSystemPath();
pool.appendClassPath(path);
try {
CtClass targetClass = pool.get(TARGET_CLASS.replace('/', '.'));
System.out.println("Enhancing class " + targetClass.getName());
CtMethod[] methods = targetClass.getDeclaredMethods();
for (CtMethod method : methods) {
if (!method.getName().contains("packagePrivateMethod")) {
continue;
}
System.out.println("Enhancing method " + method.getSignature());
String myMethodInvocation = "com.aop.agent.Agent.myMethodInvocation();";
method.insertBefore(myMethodInvocation);
}
System.out.println("Enhanced bytecode");
return targetClass.toBytecode();
}
catch (CannotCompileException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
catch (NotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
}
});
}
public static void myMethodInvocation() {
System.out.println("<<<My injected code>>>!");
}
}
The command for running the example (you have to put a agent in a jar with the manifest having an attribute Premain-Class: com.aop.agent.Agent:
%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java -cp .;..\javassist-3.12.1.GA.jar -javaagent:..\..\agent.jar com.aop.example.Main
The output of this example running a command like this:
Agent starts!
Before loading class com/aop/example/Main
Main starts!
Before loading class com/aop/example/LibClass
Enhancing class com.aop.example.LibClass
Enhancing method ()V
Enhanced bytecode
<<<My injected code>>>!
In packagePrivateMethod
Main finished!
Before loading class java/lang/Shutdown
Before loading class java/lang/Shutdown$Lock
You can you Mockito or similar mock library to mock a package private method. Example:
// declared in a package
public class Foo {
String foo(){
return "hey!";
}
}
#Test
public void testFoo() throws Exception {
Foo foo = Mockito.spy(new Foo());
Assert.assertEquals("hey!", foo.foo());
Mockito.when(foo.foo()).thenReturn("bar!");
Assert.assertEquals("bar!", foo.foo());
}
Can you add Spring to your project?
It might be possible to use a ProxyFactory - see another SO post
Using the ProxyFactory, you can add an advice for a class instance and delegate the method execution to another class (which does packagePrivateMethod() and/or replaces it with the code you want).
Since the library is not spring-managed, you might have to use load-time weaving with spring: ltw xml & examples
use the decorator pattern. Its specifically designed for this situation. If you need more details then ping me back else check this
Or you can also use reflections or a byte code manipulation mechanism to create your type dynamically at runtime.
Another idea: create a new class with the same name in the same package.
Say you want to replace LibraryClass in the below project:
Project structure:
- library.jar (contains com.example.LibraryClass)
- src
- com
- mycompany
- MyClass.java
Just create the package and file with the same name.
Project structure:
- library.jar (contains com.example.LibraryClass)
- src
- com
- mycompany
- MyClass.java
- example
- LibraryClass.java <- create this package and file
This relies on the class loader picking up your file instead of the library's file, but if you are just trying to get a hack working for testing, it is worth a shot. I'm not sure how the class loader decides which file to load, so this may not work in all environments.
If you don't have the source code for LibraryClass, just copy the decompiled code, and make your changes.
For the project where I needed this ability, it was just some test prototyping code... I didn't need anything production quality, or to work in all environments.
I am attempting to load a groovy class by name using a classloader, and the class fails to load in the case that the class has a reference to a static inner class in another class.
Inside my groovy class I have the following:
def classLoader = getClass().classLoader
try {
classLoader.loadClass( "com.test.TestClass" )
} catch(Throwable e) {
Sigil.logger.error("Error loading class: $it >> ${e.message}", e)
}
In the above, my groovy file TestClass has a static inner class inside it, that extends a static inner class of another file. When I try to run the above code I get the message:
ERROR [05 Aug 2013 06:53:28,851] (invoke0:?) - Error loading class: com.test.TestClass >> startup failed:
unable to resolve class UserValidity.Validator
# line 85, column 5.
public static class Validator extends UserValidity.Validator{
^
1 error
Has anyone come across any problems dealing with static inner classes and class loading in groovy before? The classes all compile correctly and unit tests run etc. I would have thought that when I try to load the class TestClass explicitly in my classloader, it would also load the other necessary classes from the source tree as needed?
UPDATE:
Here is a snippet of the class that is failing to load:
class TestClass{
//... Other normal class stuff here
public static class Validator extends UserValidity.Validator
#Override
def validate(u) {
def result = super.validate(u)
if(!u.valid ){
result += [isValid:false]
}
result
}
}
}
And this fails as it says it cannot resolve the reference to the UserValidity.Validator, which is also pretty simple:
class UserValidity {
//normal class stuff here
public static class Validator {
def validate(u){
//do validation stuff
result
}
}
}
Both are just regular groovy classes.
UPDATE 2:
If I extract the static inner class UserValidity.Validator out in to a standalone class, and just extend that with the static inner class in TestClass then it appears to work, so definitely seems to be some issue with the parent of the inner class being another inner class
I got a java class from which I created a jar file to access the class in another project.
the class looks like this
public class RunMain {
private ArgumentObject argObject = null;
private String outputFile = null;
private SimObject simObject = null;
public RunMain() {
}
public RunMain(String file) {
outputFile = file;
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
new RunMain().doMain(args);
}
public void testMethod(){
}
public void blaMethod(){
}
public SimObject getResults(){
return simObject;
}
public void doMain(String[] args) throws Exception {
// do some stuff
}
// write term and doc vectors to bin files
void writeVectorStore() throws Exception{
// do some stuff
}
}
My problem is, that when I now wanna access the methods in another project I can only call the main method or the doMain method.
RunMain run = new RunMain();
run.doMain(arguments);
this works fine
SimObject simObject = run.getResults();
this is marked red with "The method getResults() is undefined for the type RunMain"
Does someone have an idea why this is happening?
I have two ideas:
The jar file contains an earlier version of the compiled class.
You use an earlier version of the jar file.
But it is not possible that only some public methods of a class are accessible a jar file.
A couple things to check...
Make sure the project using this jar file doesn't have its own version of class RunMain on the classpath. It will "override" RunMain in the jar file. If there is a local version of the class thant doesn't have the method getResults(), well there's your compiler error.
If you've been working on the .jar file for awhile.. better re-build it to make sure the code in there is the latest version. It's possible you created the jar, then added a method, but didn't recreate the jar file. Then make sure the new jar file is being referenced by your project.
I have a ClassLoader which loads a class compiled by JavaCompiler from a source file.
But when I change the source file, save it and recompile it, the ClassLoader still loads the first version of the class.
ClassLoader cl = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
Class<?> compiledClass = cl.loadClass(stringClass);
What am I missing? like a newInstance or something?
A classloader can't replace a class that already has been loaded. loadClass will return the reference of the existing Class instance.
You'll have to instantiate a new classloader and use it to load the new class. And then, if you want to "replace" the class, you'll have to throw this classloader away and create another new one.
In response to your comment(s): do something like
ClassLoader cl = new UrlClassLoader(new URL[]{pathToClassAsUrl});
Class<?> compiledClass = cl.loadClass(stringClass);
This classloader will use the "default delegation parent ClassLoader" and you have to take care, the class (identified by it fully qualified classname) has not been loaded and can't be loaded by that parent classloader. So the "pathToClassAsUrl" shouldn't be on the classpath!
You have to load a new ClassLoader each time, or you have to give the class a different name each time and access it via an interface.
e.g.
interface MyWorker {
public void work();
}
class Worker1 implement MyWorker {
public void work() { /* code */ }
}
class Worker2 implement MyWorker {
public void work() { /* different code */ }
}
As it was stated before,
Each class loader remembers (caches) the classes that is has loaded before and won't reload it again - essentially each class loader defines a namespace.
Child class loader delegates class loading to the parent class loader, i.e.
Java 8 and before
Custom Class Loader(s) -> App Class Loader -> Extension Class Loader -> Bootstrap Class Loader
Java 9+
Custom Class Loader(s) -> App Class Loader -> Platform Class Loader -> Bootstrap Class Loader.
From the above we can conclude that each Class object is identified by its fully qualified class name and the loader than defined it (also known as defined loader)
From Javadocs :
Every Class object contains a reference to the ClassLoader that
defined it.
The method defineClass converts an array of bytes into an instance of
class Class. Instances of this newly defined class can be created
using Class.newInstance.
The simple solution to reload class is to either define new (for example UrlClassLoader) or your own custom class loader.
For more complex scenario where you need to substitute class dynamic proxy mechanism can be utilized.
Please see below simple solution I used for a similar problem to reload same class by defining custom class loader.
The essence - override findClass method of the parent class loader and then load the class from bytes read from the filesystem.
MyClassLoader - overrides findClass and executed defineClass
package com.example.classloader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
public class MyClassLoader extends ClassLoader {
private String classFileLocation;
public MyClassLoader(String classFileLocation) {
this.classFileLocation = classFileLocation;
}
#Override
protected Class<?> findClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
byte[] classBytes = loadClassBytesFromDisk(classFileLocation);
return defineClass(name, classBytes, 0, classBytes.length);
}
private byte [] loadClassBytesFromDisk(String classFileLocation) {
try {
return Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(classFileLocation));
}
catch (IOException e) {
throw new RuntimeException("Unable to read file from disk");
}
}
}
SimpleClass - experiment subject -
** IMPORTANT : Compile with javac and then remove SimpleClass.java from class path (or just rename it)
Otherwise it will be loaded by System Class Loader due to class loading delegation mechanism.**
from src/main/java
javac com/example/classloader/SimpleClass.java
package com.example.classloader;
public class SimpleClassRenamed implements SimpleInterface {
private static long count;
public SimpleClassRenamed() {
count++;
}
#Override
public long getCount() {
return count;
}
}
SimpleInterface - subject interface : separating interface from implementation to compile and execute output from the subject.
package com.example.classloader;
public interface SimpleInterface {
long getCount();
}
Driver - execute to test
package com.example.classloader;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
public class MyClassLoaderTest {
private static final String path = "src/main/java/com/example/classloader/SimpleClass.class";
private static final String className = "com.example.classloader.SimpleClass";
public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException, NoSuchMethodException, IllegalAccessException,
InvocationTargetException, InstantiationException { // Exception hell due to reflection, sorry :)
MyClassLoader classLoaderOne = new MyClassLoader(path);
Class<?> classOne = classLoaderOne.loadClass(className);
// we need to instantiate object using reflection,
// otherwise if we use `new` the Class will be loaded by the System Class Loader
SimpleInterface objectOne =
(SimpleInterface) classOne.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
// trying to re-load the same class using same class loader
classOne = classLoaderOne.loadClass(className);
SimpleInterface objectOneReloaded = (SimpleInterface) classOne.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
// new class loader
MyClassLoader classLoaderTwo = new MyClassLoader(path);
Class<?> classTwo = classLoaderTwo.loadClass(className);
SimpleInterface ObjectTwo = (SimpleInterface) classTwo.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
System.out.println(objectOne.getCount()); // Outputs 2 - as it is the same instance
System.out.println(objectOneReloaded.getCount()); // Outputs 2 - as it is the same instance
System.out.println(ObjectTwo.getCount()); // Outputs 1 - as it is a distinct new instance
}
}
I think the problem might be more basic than what the other answers suggest. It is very possible that the class loader is loading a different file than what you think it is. To test out this theory, delete the .class file (DO NOT recompile your .java source) and run your code. You should get an exception.
If you do not get the exception, then obviously the class loader is loading a different .class file than the one you think it is. So search for the location of another .class file with the same name. Delete that .class file and try again. Keep trying until you find the .class file that is actually being loaded. Once you do that, you can recompile your code and manually put the class file in the correct directory.