using .exe in the .jar

[Mike Phillip]

Hi,

I'm doing a java program that needs to execute a .exe file, and when I finish I would like to make a .jar file.

Can I put the .exe file inside the jar and execute it from within?

thanks

[Henry Wong]

Barring new enhancements that I don't know about, the answer is "yes" for the first part and "no" for the second.

You can place an exe into a jar file, as you can place any file into a jar file, but the JVM can't execute it.

However, you can have your code check a directory for the exe, and execute it, if it is there. And if it is not, scan the jar files in the classpath for the exe file, and copy it to the directory, prior to executing it.

Henry