finding javac version used to compile a class

[peter cooke]

I have several provided 3rd party jar file. One class is throwing a java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError "Unsupported major.minor v" (sorry not permitted to post actual exception). I have only seen this when a class is compiled in a newer jdk than what is running the class.

I need to know what version of javac compiled the classes them.

javap tells me methods and variables but does not tell me what the compiler version was.

Thoughts suggestions?

[marc weber]

In a Java class file, the first 4 bytes are the magic number (0xCAFEBABE). The next two bytes are the respective major and minor versions.

See this page for an example of how to read these...

http://www.rgagnon.com/javadetails/java-0544.html

[David Newton]

Or just javap -verbose; the class version info is at the top.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Just to be picky: There's no way to find out the version of the Java compiler used to compile a class (which is what you're asking). The best you can do is find out the Java version for which the code has been compiled, which is not necessarily the same, but which is usually what you're interested in. Just a little something to keep in mind; check out the documentation of the "-source" and "-target" switches of the "javac" executable for more detail.