Develop Reference

Adding External jar copy to Project

I created a project but I am using an external library for it. enter link description here
I added the library to my Beans as follows:
Right click on folder "Libraries"
Add Library
Create...
Gave it a name "gson 2.7"
Picked the class, source and javadoc files.
I went on and continued programming and then I added my code to Github. Then when I cloned it my Library was missing.
How can I fix this ? How can I make it dynamic so I dont have to worry about this anymore. In other words I need to add the library to my code and not just the reference.
Thanks a lot for the help

Just upload a copy of your library to github.

I have not used netbeans, but from what I understand it adds the jar somewhere outside of your project directory, and it simply adds the location of the jar to your classpath. When you upload and then clone the project from github, the jars are not uploaded/cloned, and the project structure metadata for your project is also lost from netbeans.
My suggestion is to learn and start using a build tool like maven. It takes up the responsibility of adding your dependency libraries everytime, given that you have an internet connection. It also adds the libs to the target directory of your project folder, so you probably will need the internet connection only once. The libs will be uploaded and cloned back from the github repo everytime.
IDEs like eclipse have inbuilt support for maven, so you don't even have to worry about executing the mvn commands. Here's a tutorial that will get you intrigued - with the IDE that you prefer.
https://platform.netbeans.org/tutorials/nbm-maven-quickstart.html

Thanks a lot for all the replies and comments.
Technically there are two approaches to my problem. For this articular example I chose to copy the external jar files to my project.
1. Copy jar files to your project.
Go to project properties
Under Libraries folder make sure to set up a libraries folder by following the steps.
Add Library at the bottom ( you can create or import; since I already had gson in Netbeans I just imported it.)
Press ok to confirm and you are done!
2. Use Maven
Go to plugings and make sure you have all Maven plugins installed, if not do so.
Create an new project and choose maven/java application
Follow the prompts
At this point you can start coding (in my case I just imported my class files from the other project)
Right click in "Dependencies folder and then "Add Dependency"
Under query type the repository you are looking for; in my case "com.google.code.gson : gson : 2.7"
Click add and you are done!
Thanks a lot to everyone for the help :)

Jar file too big

I created a simple project using WindowBuilder in Eclipse and my goal is to send it by email. I don't know what kind of computer the person is using, so I exported my project into a 'Runnable JAR File' and checked the option 'Extract required libraries into generated JAR'.
The problem is that the generated JAR file is 20MB in size!!! The project has only one simple window - nothing complicated or fancy.
I found that some people use ProGuard to include only what is really needed.
I would like to know if there is a way to optimize it 'manually'? Are there libraries that are automatically included when creating a WindowBuilder project, and how may I determine which libraries I can remove?
Thank you.

I've had the same Problem using WindowBuilder. My solution was to look for the imports in my .java file, e.g.: import org.eclipse.swt.SWT;
In the Project Explorer in Eclipse you can see that there are much more imports than needed. Those 'Build Paths' can be removed carefully.
Simply rightclick on a .jar import like "com.ibm.icu_52.1.0.v201404241930.jar" and click on "Build Path" and "Remove from Build Path". Unfortunately, you can't remove or delete the packages inside the .jars.
But using this method, I managed to reduce the size from 20.7MB to 3.87MB. It's something...

Like fge said, send the source. Or upload the .jar to dropbox if you require you partner to access all of the files in the .jar.
If you don't like dropbox, find some other cloud storage solutions through a google search. Github or Bitbucket could also be an alternative to dropbox.
Cheers.

Use the Eclipse plugin FatJar. FatJar shows you which libraries are getting imported and allows you to specify which .jars, libraries, etc., that you want built into your JAR.
FatJar

Your jarfile is too big due of the project template. Create a sample java project, then use windowdbuilder components. Do not create a project Swing Template, by this way eclipse is gonna import all eclipse gui toolkits.
Tried it out with my way, my application's length equals to 3Ko against 24MO with the template project

How to add a library to an android project?

I have downloaded a messaging framework library from eneter.net. In eclipse I have imported the library to the /libs folder. I right clicked on the library and then added it to the build path. I know that the code is right, but when I compile it and try to run it, it says that that it can't find the classes. Odd thing is when I open up the apk in a zipping program, the library wasn't added to the apk at compile time. Does anyone know why this would be?

Try right-clicking your project in Eclipse's project explorer, then hit Properties. Go to the tab labeled Java Build Path and hit Add Library... (or if it is a jar file, Add JARs... if you already added the Jar to your project and Add External JARs... if it is not yet within the project). From there, browse for the library you wish to add and add it to the project. Re-compile (maybe even Project->Clean) and try running it, and see if the library gets added now.

I right clicked on the library and then added it to the build path
That is not necessary, as of the R17 version of the ADT plugin in Eclipse. Moreover, it may cause problems if you do it.
Does anyone know why this would be?
Possibly because there is a typo in your directory name, such that it is not named libs/. By adding it manually to your build path, you are compiling against it, but the build tools are not adding it to the APK.

Is the library in the form of a complete Android project? This is then used with another Android project by going to the Properties of that project, selecting the Android tab, and then finding and selecting that library in the lower window.

What's the best way of storing and extracting files inside the .jar archive?

I am looking for a way to store files inside the jar (and extract them), but it must work when running/debugging from Eclipse as well.
explanation:
Storing files as in images that I want to use for an icon of a Frame. I hope it's clear now.

I still think that the question is a bit unclear.
What is it that you want to do? You can create and read from jar-files using JarInputStream/JarOutputStream, and you can also read files from jar-files that are on the classpath using Class.getResourceAsStream(String name)

I don not get your question clearly.
Eclipse can export runnable jar files , right click on the project name and choose export. Then from the dialog choose runnable jar file under java category.

Creating JAR file using Eclipse IDE is pretty much easy.
Follow the simple steps.
1. Right click on your project, which you want to create a JAR file.
2. Select Export from the context menu.

Eclipse understands Ant build files. Write a build file that (compiles &) Jar's the code at the same time and this becomes a non-issue.

Install [java library] in Eclipse

I just downloaded Eclipse several hours ago, and needed to add Java3D to the classpath. Installing it went without a hitch, but Eclipse can't seem to find the documentation folders so that it can give super-IDE functionality, such as autocomplete and method signatures.
While I know how I would add them individually, this lead me to the question; what is the "correct" way to install a Java library in Eclipse? Is there a special directory format I should follow? Is there a plugin that already did this for me? (The answer to that is yes, but I don't know how to use it, or whether or not it's appropriate).
Thanks!
Edit 1: It seems to me that someone down-voted the question. May I ask why?
Edit 2: So after monkeying around with the JARs, it seems that manually setting the doc path for each JAR in the library seems to be the least-error prone way.

when you add a .JAR(library) to your project in the LIBRARIES tab for your project, you have the option of attaching the javadoc directory for the jar.
So, go to the LIBRARIES tab of the "java build path" for your projects. select your jar. expand the (+) sign and you will see that you can set the javadoc. path.
good luck,

I think I've got it (had the same issue as you). Better late than never.
Go here - http://java3d.java.net/binary-builds.html and download the documentation zip (j3d-1_5_2-api-docs.zip).
Extract the directory anywhere on your HD (Right in the Java3d folder is fine).
Link the Jar's JavaDoc listing to that Folder (java build path >> Libraries >> expand the Jar Listing >> JavaDoc Location >> browse to the folder location, then validate). Do it for each j3d Jar.
That should integrate the J3D Javadoc.

As far as I know (haven't used 3.4 very much thus far), Eclipse has two options for the automatic showing of Javadocs. The first is a JavaDoc jar to attach to the jar file. The second is having the javadoc in a source jar which is attached to the jar to show the source.
A directory, if I recall correctly, will not provide autocompletion of javadoc. However, if you press "F1", you will be able to access the javadoc via the help menu.
You might try placing the documentation directory into a jar file, and attaching it to the jar file and see if that tricks Eclipse.

I cheat; All my java projects are built with maven, so I use maven to generate an eclipse project, with classpaths etc already setup, with a simple 'mvn eclipse:m2eclipse'.