jar -C option does not seem to work

Question

I am using the command ``` $ jar cvf a.jar -C ../bin/ ../bin/a.class ../bin/b.class ``` the output is: ``` adding: ../bin/a.class(in = 0) (out= 0)(stored 0%) adding: b.class(in = 0) (out= 0)(stored 0%) ``` The -C option does not work for the first file but works for the second. What can be the problem?

Accepted Answer

You seem to be confused with the command line options. The usage is:

```
Usage: jar {ctxui}[vfm0Me] [jar-file] [manifest-file] [entry-point] [-C dir] files ...

-C  change to the specified directory and include the following file
```

(Notice include the following file in the help for `-C` option.) When you say:

```
jar cvf a.jar -C ../bin/ ../bin/a.class ../bin/b.class
```

it looks for `../bin/../bin/a.class` and `../bin/b.class` which results into the behavior that you observe. Either say:

```
jar cvf a.jar ../bin/a.class ../bin/b.class
```

or

```
jar cvf a.jar -C ../bin/ a.class -C ../bin/ ../bin/b.class
```

For including all the files in the `../bin/` directory, say:

```
jar cvf a.jar -C ../bin/ .
```

jar -C option does not seem to work

Solution

Problem