CODEWITHSUNDEEP
eclipsejarmanifestcommand-prompt
Armin Beda
Armin Beda

Reputation: 109

I cannot access MANIFEST.MF, but the jar file has one. How could I access and edit it?

I try to execute a jar file in the command prompt, but I always get the message 'no main manifest attribute, in 2056751-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT-src.jar'. So, I guess I should edit the manifest file. If I check it in the command prompt with the command 'jar tf 2056751-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT-src.jar' I can see that there is a MANIFEST.MF file, still I cannot see it in Eclipse project view.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 742

Answers (1)

dave_thompson_085
dave_thompson_085

Reputation: 38990

To partially answer the question asked, IF on Windows (which you didn't say and isn't the only system with a command prompt), a jar file is really a ZIP file underneath and Explorer in all supported versions (>XP/S03) can treat a ZIP file as a directory subtree, so just rename to have the extension .zip and open in explorer, go to META-INF, select MANIFEST.MF and open with plain-text editor of your choice such as notepad. However this may not allow you to edit; if so copy to somewhere writable like the desktop, edit, then copy or move back. Then rename back to .jar

Although the manifest file in a jar can be loaded from an actual file, usually it is created by the jar tool. If you want a jar containing classes to run from the usual file association on Windows use the jar tool with the e option as described in the man page or Windows version on the web and help message. However if your file name is accurate and this is actually a source jar, it will never be runnable by only changing the manifest and you need to learn how Java works.

Upvotes: 1

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