Exception in displaying data in a pdf format

[ramya narayanan]

I want to display data in a pdf format.
I've downloaded 3 jars & they're put in my jre/lib/ext/ path.
The 3 jars are:
iText-2.1.4.jar
iText-rtf-2.1.4.jar
iText-rups-2.1.4.jar


My path & classpath settings are:

 
path-->%JAVA_HOME%\bin;c:\sai;%ANT_HOME%\bin;
classpath->.;%JAVA_HOME%\lib;C:\sai\
JAVA_HOME->C:\jdk1.5.0
   

Now this is my code:

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import com.lowagie.text.Anchor;
import com.lowagie.text.Chunk;
import com.lowagie.text.Document;
import com.lowagie.text.DocumentException;
import com.lowagie.text.Paragraph;
import com.lowagie.text.html.HtmlWriter;
import com.lowagie.text.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.lowagie.text.rtf.RtfWriter2;
public class HelloMultipleWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello World in PDF, RTF and HTML");
Document document = new Document();
try {
PdfWriter pdf = PdfWriter.getInstance(document,
new FileOutputStream("differentWritersdPdf.pdf"));
RtfWriter2 rtf = RtfWriter2.getInstance(document,
new FileOutputStream("differentWritersRtf.rtf"));
HtmlWriter html = HtmlWriter.getInstance(document,
new 
 
FileOutputStream("differentWritersdHtml.html"));
document.open();
         document.add(new Paragraph("Hello World"));
Anchor pdfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in PDF.");
pdfRef.setReference("./HelloWorldPdf.pdf");
Anchor rtfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in RTF.");
rtfRef.setReference("./HelloWorldRtf.rtf");
pdf.pause();
rtf.pause();
document.add(pdfRef);
document.add(Chunk.NEWLINE);
document.add(rtfRef);
pdf.resume();
        rtf.resume();
} catch (DocumentException de) {
System.err.println(de.getMessage());
} catch (IOException ioe) {
System.err.println(ioe.getMessage());
}
document.close();
}
}
   

When i compile , there is no problem, when I try to run it , it throws java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError.

  
C:\sai>javac HelloMultipleWorld.java
 
C:\sai>java HelloMultipleWorld
Exception in thread "main" [B]java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError[/B]: com/lowagie/text/Docu
mentException
 

  

Please throw some light on this.
Regards.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Sun's Java installers used to sometimes (often) put a copy of java.exe into your C:\WINDOWS directory (or someplace along those lines) which is used by the Java Plug-in. This then leads to a situation where your path contains javac.exe from a JDK you've installed, but java.exe in C:\WINDOWS (or maybe in a JRE you've installed that's earlier on your path.)

In any case, examine your system closely; make sure that the java.exe you're running is the one that you expect. If it's not, then it won't be looking in that "ext" directory for extensions.

[ramya narayanan]

Dear Hill,

 class XYX
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Thanks Hill");
}
}
   

 
C:\sai>javac XYX.java
 
C:\sai>java XYX
[B]Thanks Hill[/B]
   

So my java.exe is working fine.
Regards.

[Rob Spoor]

First of all, please don't call Ernest "Hill". It's not his first name nor his last name - it's part of his last name. If you go around calling people by their last name only (which is quite uncommon in Europe and the US), then at least use "Friedman-Hill". Or just be lazy and call him EFH like everyone else does


Now back to the problem. You may not be using the JRE you think you are. When you install the JDK, it actually installs 2 JREs: one inside the JDK folder (in a folder simply called jre) and one in C:\Program Files (usually). So if you have put them in C:\jdk1.5.0\jre\lib\ext, the other JRE (C:\Program Files\Java\xxxxx) will not see those libraries. You have to copy the files to that folder as well.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Originally posted by ramya narayanan:

So my java.exe is working fine.

I didn't say that it wasn't working.

What I said was that the java.exe you're running may not actually be looking to the JDK extensions directory where you've installed iText.

And actually, I only said "may not" just to be nice, because I will actually guarantee you that what I've described is precisely the problem.

[ramya narayanan]

Thanks RP & EFH.
Now after putting all the jar's in both the exts(JRE of program files & in C:\jdk1.5) it's working fine.
If I have the jars simply in my classpath C:\jdk1.5\lib then it was throwing the same error at run time
Why?
Regards.

Note: Dear EFH please excuse me on your name I've used in the last post.

[ramya narayanan]

Now when I include the jar files in my classpath(C:\jdk1.5\lib) & compile , the program is not getting compiled.
The error trace is:

C:\sai>javac HelloMultipleWorld.java
HelloMultipleWorld.java:3: package com.lowagie.text does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.Anchor;
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:4: package com.lowagie.text does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.Chunk;
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:5: package com.lowagie.text does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.Document;
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:6: package com.lowagie.text does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.DocumentException;
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:7: package com.lowagie.text does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.Paragraph;
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:8: package com.lowagie.text.html does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.html.HtmlWriter;
                             ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:9: package com.lowagie.text.pdf does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.pdf.PdfWriter;
                            ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:10: package com.lowagie.text.rtf does not exist
import com.lowagie.text.rtf.RtfWriter2;
                            ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:14: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Document
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                Document document = new Document();
                ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:14: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Document
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                Document document = new Document();
                                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:16: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class PdfWriter
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                PdfWriter pdf = PdfWriter.getInstance(document,
                ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:16: cannot find symbol
symbol  : variable PdfWriter
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                PdfWriter pdf = PdfWriter.getInstance(document,
                                ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:18: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class RtfWriter2
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        RtfWriter2 rtf = RtfWriter2.getInstance(document,
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:18: cannot find symbol
symbol  : variable RtfWriter2
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        RtfWriter2 rtf = RtfWriter2.getInstance(document,
                                         ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:20: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class HtmlWriter
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        HtmlWriter html = HtmlWriter.getInstance(document,
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:20: cannot find symbol
symbol  : variable HtmlWriter
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        HtmlWriter html = HtmlWriter.getInstance(document,
                                          ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:23: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Paragraph
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        document.add(new Paragraph("Hello World"));
                                         ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:24: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Anchor
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        Anchor pdfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in PDF.");
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:24: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Anchor
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        Anchor pdfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in PDF.");
                                            ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:26: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Anchor
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        Anchor rtfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in RTF.");
                        ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:26: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class Anchor
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        Anchor rtfRef = new Anchor("see Hello World in RTF.");
                                            ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:31: cannot find symbol
symbol  : variable Chunk
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                        document.add(Chunk.NEWLINE);
                                     ^
HelloMultipleWorld.java:35: cannot find symbol
symbol  : class DocumentException
location: class HelloMultipleWorld
                } catch (DocumentException de) {
                         ^
23 errors
 
    

It shows the some pdf related classes are not found, which is not the case when we include the jar in jre\ext.
Why is this so?

2) But other normal built-in classes are working at runtime.
How?

[Bauke Scholtz]

You should not be misusing JDK's /lib folder to place 3rd party JAR's in. It makes your application less portable. You would also get more trouble like as you're struggling with now when you're using multiple JDK's and/or ever going to reinstall or upgrade it.

Just use the -classpath or -cp argument for that.

javac -cp .;c:/path/to/jars/name.jar;c:/path/to/jars/another.jar yourpackage/YourClass.java

And to execute it:

java -cp .;c:/path/to/jars/name.jar;c:/path/to/jars/another.jar yourpackage.YourClass

To save effort in typing you can easily wrap in a batch or shell file, depending on the OS used.
[ December 19, 2008: Message edited by: Bauke Scholtz ]

[William Brogden]

Personally, I use ANT tasks to keep straight all the various versions of Java and toolkits present on my machine. ANT lets you define "properties" that get substituted into tasks like:

  <property name="classpath" value=".\bin;c:\Servers\hsqldb\lib\hsqldb.jar" />
  

used to compile like:

  <javac srcdir="${src.dir}"
       destdir="${dest.dir}"
       classpath="${classpath}"
       debug="${debug}"
       deprecation="${deprecation}"
         />
  

Yes, this is a bit more work than defining batch files with classpath variables but it is more general and worth the learning curve.

Bill

[ramya narayanan]

Thanks Bauke Scholtz & William Brogden for their valuable opinions.
Now I've understood

Don't put third party jar in jdk\lib. Instead use
i) javac -cp command or java -cp command.
ii) ant by using the properties attribute to include third party jars.

Now now need two clarifications

1)

You should not be misusing JDK's /lib folder to place 3rd party JAR's in. It makes your application less portable.

Now do you mean to say since the client's JVM & more specifically jdk\lib won't be having those third party jars , it makes our application less portable or is there any specific reasons.

2)

To save effort in typing you can easily wrap in a batch or shell file, depending on the OS used.

A batch file is similar to a text file only difference being saved in the extension .bat.
Here you are saying to wrap up the command javac & java in batch file.
Okay but using this we can run only one class right .

3)

You would also get more trouble like as you're struggling with now when you're using multiple JDK's

Can we use multiple JDK's in our application if yes normally in what situations they would opt for one

Regards.

[ramya narayanan]

Any replies?

[Rob Spoor]

Patience Is A Virtue.

[ramya narayanan]

Any replies?

[William Brogden]

1. Remember that yours may not be the only Java application your client is running. Placing 3rd party jars in the standard locations may break other applications

2. Thats the idea, one batch or shell file per application.

3. I distinguish between an application compiled so that it can run under several different Java editions and "using multiple JDKs" at the same time. What are you talking about?

Bill

[ramya narayanan]

3. I distinguish between an application compiled so that it can run under several different Java editions and "using multiple JDKs" at the same time. What are you talking about?

I'm talking about the purpose of using multiple jdk's at the same time.
Regards.

[William Brogden]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me even if you could do it.