Java Garage

Setting the CLASSPATH

Sometimes, your programs will reference external libraries that are custom libraries of your own, or a third-party library, or a package in the Java 2 Enterprise Edition. Use the set command to set the classpath environment variable. The classpath tells the Java Virtual Machine where to find necessary class libraries. These libraries can be directories, .jar files (most commonly), .class files, or even .zip files. The path to a .jar or .zip file ends with the file name; the path to a .class file ends with the directory name.

In Windows

First, open a command prompt. Then type

set CLASSPATH=.;C:\java\MyClasses;C:\java\My.jar

Note that setting the classpath in this manner will only sustain the variable for the current command ...