Setting an Entry Point with JAR Tool

Here is the reference : http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/deployment/jar/appman.html

Two problems :
1. The e optioned mentioned is flagged invalid and on >jar is not listed (1.5).
2. Are they saying :
Main-Class: AClass (if specified) is the JAR's default entry-point (providing that AClass has a main()).
But that any JAR class (MyApp) with main() can be executed from the command line by specifying the e option ? If so, why is MyApp mentioned twice when public MyApp can be in no file other than MyApp.class ?
Thank you.

Please post the console showing the commandline and the error.
Also post the contents of the manifest file.

Norm,
You are correct to ask for a list of the JAR - it's missing the manifest.
As I was going through this exercise I backed up my JAR and the backup does have a manifest.
How could I have lost it ?

Restore the JAR from backup and continue.

Greetings.jar :

Greetings.jar manifest :

With this jar I can run Message.class which contains a main()
>javac -jar Greetings.jar.
But using the e option I want to run Hi.class (also has main()) instead.
Is that what the e option is supposed to do ?

>jar evf Greetings\jar Hi Hi.class 2> JarError.doc

Illegal option: e
Usage: jar {ctxu}[vfm0Mi] [jar-file] [manifest-file] [-C dir] files ...
Options:
    -c  create new archive
    -t  list table of contents for archive
    -x  extract named (or all) files from archive
    -u  update existing archive
    -v  generate verbose output on standard output
    -f  specify archive file name
    -m  include manifest information from specified manifest file
    -0  store only; use no ZIP compression
    -M  do not create a manifest file for the entries
    -i  generate index information for the specified jar files
    -C  change to the specified directory and include the following file
If any file is a directory then it is processed recursively.
The manifest file name and the archive file name needs to be specified
in the same order the 'm' and 'f' flags are specified.
 
Example 1: to archive two class files into an archive called classes.jar: 
       jar cvf classes.jar Foo.class Bar.class 
Example 2: use an existing manifest file 'mymanifest' and archive all the
           files in the foo/ directory into 'classes.jar': 
       jar cvfm classes.jar mymanifest -C foo/ .

Thank you

Oops , should be
>jar evf Greetings.jar Hi Hi.class 2> JarError.doc

Are you using jar version 1.6?

The 'e' flag (for 'entrypoint'), introduced in JDK 6,

You can always just include the JAR file as part of the classpath, then call the absolute class name:

Note that I included the current CLASSPATH contents (although that shouldn't be necessary since java -jar also ignores the class path).

Thank you,
I am using Java 1.5 and did not know that e option introduced with 1.6.

Hi Rob,
I believe that if you want to include a JAR in the classpath it cannot be comressed. Code -0 (zero) option for no compression.
Thank you.

Sure it can be compressed, I do that a lot of the time. In fact, almost every library I have on the class path is in a compressed JAR file.