How do I run a java program from a different directory?

Question

I have a java program that I would like to be able to run from anywhere on my machine. I would like to run it from my Cygwin command prompt. I've made scripts to call the java program. I added the location of the java program to the classpath, and the scripts work when I run them from the java program's directory. However, when I try to run from any other directory, I get:

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: commandprogram/CommandProgram

This is my script:

#!/bin/sh
CWD=`dirname "$0"`
java -cp "$CWD/classes;$CWD/lib/AJarFile.jar" commandprogram/CommandProgram

Changing the java line to the following:

java -cp "$CWD/classes;$CWD/classes/commandprogram;$CWD/lib/AJarFile.jar" CommandProgram

produces the same results.

could you post your script, that will give people a better idea on where to look at... — Cesar Hermosillo
– Cesar Hermosillo, Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 19:15
Don't you need to do java commandprogram/CommandProgram.class or java -jar commandprogram/CommandProgram.jar? — Thomas Owens
– Thomas Owens, Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 19:29
isnt' the path separator a colon (:) instead of the semicolon (;) you've used? — Ryan Fernandes
– Ryan Fernandes, Commented Jul 28, 2009 at 3:21
The path separator is a colon on *nix, semicolon on Windows. I'm not sure which one you use in cygwin. — Xiong Chiamiov
– Xiong Chiamiov, Commented Jul 29, 2009 at 21:09

woakas · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-27 19:16:41Z

33

add your directory to classpath example:

java -classpath commandprogram CommandProgram

or

java -classpath directory_to_program Program

answered Jul 27, 2009 at 19:16

woakas

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Swoogan · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-27 19:46:51Z

After trying just about everything I could think of, I echoed out the command and saw that there was mixing of Cygwin paths and Windows paths. The solution was to change the script to:

#!/bin/sh
CWD=`dirname "$0"`
CWD=`cygpath -w "$CWD"`
java -cp "$CWD/classes;$CWD/lib/AJarFile.jar" commandprogram/CommandProgram

Then CWD changed to "C:\Program Files\..." instead of "/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/..."

I had previously encountered this problem and solved it with the cygpath -w solution, but then changed my script slightly and didn't notice that the path problem came back.

cd1 · Accepted Answer · 2009-07-27 19:36:02Z

1

you have to use a dot to separate packages, not a slash.

java -cp "$CWD/classes;$CWD/lib/AJarFile.jar" commandprogram.CommandProgram

answered Jul 27, 2009 at 19:36

cd1

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1 Comment

Swoogan Over a year ago

/ works too. Keep in mind that the script works when I'm in the directory with the scripts.

Dhara · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-03 20:37:37Z

-10

The usual way of running a java file is to save it in the Java/Bin folder and Run cmd

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_05\bin> javac filename.java && java classname

If you save the file in different directory such as D:, you can use the following on the cmd prompt:

D:\Project java> set path=%path%;C:Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_05\bin

edited Jul 3, 2012 at 20:37

Dhara

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answered Jul 3, 2012 at 16:24

Kaushik

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1 Comment

Mac Over a year ago

Saving your java files or class files in the Java bin directory is, in fact, very unusual and should be avoided. The Java bin directory is for Java's own binary files and nothing else.

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