Simple How-To for JAVA / JAR Files

After creating your Program.java code file ... do the following...

Compile the program (which checks for errors)
javac Program.java

If the program compiled correctly, you can now run it...
java Program

Now, we need want to put it in a JAR file. First, create a
manifest.txt. Inside this file should be the following...

Main-Class: Program <carriage return>

After creating the manifest.txt, we can create the JAR file... use the
following syntax

jar cvmf manifest.txt Project.jar *.java *.class

Note : c means create, v means verbose, m means expect a manifest
file, and f means expect a jar filename.

Note : It is important to include all CLASS files (object files) and all JAVA files (source code files) in the JAR file.

To test your jar file, try running your program directly from the jar

java -jar Project.jar

It is very important that you test your JAR file to make sure it executes BEFORE you submit it. A problem with JAR file execution is usually related to the manifest file. If you receive an error while trying to run your JAR file, delete your manifest file, recreate it, recreate the JAR, and test it again.

This concludes the simple JAVA/JAR tutorial......