Question

If I place a file called libA.jar in a classpath folder, and rename the old one to:

libA.jar.old

Will the classloader load the classes?

I’m using weblogic over Solaris 8.

Thank you!

Udo

Answer 1

No.

If you’re using Java 5 or earlier, you must explicitly name all classes and jar files to be loaded. Obviously, since the old one, libA.jar.old isn’t named, it won’t be loaded.

It’s a bit of a different story if you’re using Java 6, since concept of wildcard matching exists there.

Still, non jar files won’t be loaded. Info taken from official site. Quote:

Class path entries can contain the
basename wildcard character *, which
is considered equivalent to specifying
a list of all the files in the
directory with the extension .jar or
.JAR. For example, the class path
entry foo/* specifies all JAR files in
the directory named foo.

A classpath
entry consisting simply of * expands
to a list of all the jar files in the
current directory. A class path entry
that contains * will not match class
files. To match both classes and JAR
files in a single directory foo, use
either foo;foo/* or foo/*;foo. The
order chosen determines whether the
classes and resources in foo are
loaded before JAR files in foo, or
vice versa.