Create JAR file without including external dependencies
dependencies, jar, java, manifest
Solution
Use the `Class-Path` entry in the `META-INF/MANIFEST.MF` to tell where to look for dependencies relatively to your JAR. For example:
Class-Path: servlet.jar ../foo/bar.jar acme/beans.jar
Problem
Is it possible to create a JAR file that requires external dependencies without including those dependencies in the JAR file? My google-fu has failed to give me an answer; everything that I have found shows how to include them in the JAR file, but not what to put in the manifest file to say "I haven't got them, look in the user's classpath". I would assume that the dependencies are properly installed and configured on the user's classpath. In my case, my dependencies are Apache Commons CLI and Math. Edit: Inside my JAR file, I have Main.class. My manifest file looks like: ``` Manifest-Version: 1.0 Created-By: 1.6.0 (Sun Microsystems Inc.) Main-Class: Main ``` My CLASSPATH looks like ``` .;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_06\lib\ext\QTJava.zip;C:\java_lib\commons-cli-1.2.jar;C:\java_lib\commons-math-2.0\commons-math-2.0.jar ``` If I include the dependencies in the JAR in `/lib` and add the line `Class-Path: lib/commons-math-2.0.jar lib/commons-cli-1.2.jar` to the manifest, then it does work. I've tried adding `Class-Path: commons-math-2.0.jar commons-cli-1.2.jar` to the manifest without including the files in the JAR just to see if that would work, but it didn't.