If I have a java project that consists of several different types of files (pictures, sound, etc) and multiple jar dependencies, what is a good way to package it all into one single jar that can just be double-clicked?
I know jars by themselves are pretty dumb in that they don’t look within themselves for files that they depend on (something I only realized after the slightest bit of frustration (understatement)). — If jar A depends on classes contained inside jar B, putting jar B inside jar A will not work. Jar A must be in the same directory as jar B.
…Now, I know I could just extract all the files from all the other jars and put everything in the same directory. That would sort of work, but I don’t want to do it because: 1. It would be messy and 2. it still wouldn’t solve the problem of needing to have the sound files in the same directory as the final jar. (For whatever reason, sound files act the exact same way as internal jars)
Basically, I just want to make it so that the files my application depends on aren’t obnoxiously visible and ostentatious. So, if there were some solution where I could put everything inside a jar and have it be the only necessary file to run the entire program, that would be optimal. But, I am willing to accept creative/inventive ways to bypass the problem, such as having a batch script in a parent directory execute the jar or something. (I say “or something” because that exact scenario would only work on windows operating systems. …you know what I mean!)
You can extract all the JARs and merge them into one common JAR. There are ANT tasks and Maven plugins readily available for doing just this. Additionally, if you’re application is properly written, there is nothing preventing you from putting media files and other resources in the JAR as well. You just need to ensure that these resources are “loaded from the classpath“, rather than being loaded from the current working directory.