how to specify external jar files for ActionHandlers

[shavianshakes]

Hi,

I am trying to implement an ActionHandler which uses a class from third party jar file. Where should I specify the path to the third party jar files ? I tried adding the jars in the $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib directory, and also adding them in various lib directories under the jbpm directory. But when the action is executed, the classloader is not able to find the jar file. I see errors in the log like :

935 Caused by: org.jbpm.JbpmException: couldn't get value for file 'classes/com/jareva/zcil/client/SPLSession.class'
936 at org.jbpm.file.def.FileDefinition.getBytes(FileDefinition.java:186)
937 at org.jbpm.instantiation.ProcessClassLoader.findClass(ProcessClassLoader.java:55)
938 at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:289)
939 at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:235)
940 at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClassInternal(ClassLoader.java:302)
941 at com.jbay.action.ListSoftware.execute(ListSoftware.java:19)
942 at org.jbpm.graph.def.Action.execute(Action.java:123)
943 at org.jbpm.graph.def.GraphElement.executeAction(GraphElement.java:235)
944 ... 62 more
945 Caused by: org.jbpm.JbpmException: file 'classes/com/jareva/zcil/client/SPLSession.class' not found in db
946 at org.jbpm.file.def.FileDefinition.getByteArray(FileDefinition.java:210)
947 at org.jbpm.file.def.FileDefinition.getBytesFromDb(FileDefinition.java:202)
948 at org.jbpm.file.def.FileDefinition.getBytes(FileDefinition.java:183)


btw I am using the jbpm starters kit 3.1 beta 3. Do I need to put the jars in some specific dir or add their locationin some config file.

thanks.

[koen.aers]

You should simply make sure they are on the classpath.

Regards,
Koen

[shavianshakes]

I had already added the jars to the classpath ( in Eclipse -> -> Properties -> Java Build Path -> Libraries and "Order and Export"). I hope these are the right places to add. Also they are added to the the $CLASSPATH variable on my linux development system. The build/compile is just fine, but it is at runtime that the error is generated. Do I need to add the jars elsewhere ?

btw, my JUnit test case which walks the workflow runs just fine.

I also looked up the code in ProcessClassLoader.java where the error is being generated:

 49 public Class findClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
 50 Class clazz = null;
 51
 52 FileDefinition fileDefinition = processDefinition.getFileDefinition();
 53 if (fileDefinition!=null) {
 54 String fileName = "classes/" + name.replace( '.', '/' ) + ".class";
 55 byte[] classBytes = fileDefinition.getBytes(fileName);
 56 clazz = defineClass(name, classBytes, 0, classBytes.length);
 57 }

It happens at line 55. Not sure though what to make of it.

thanks.

[shavianshakes]

I got it to work by modifying the classpath in the run.sh for starting jboss:

JBOSS_CLASSPATH="$JBOSS_BOOT_CLASSPATH:/mypath/myjar.jar

I am sure there is a better way to do this but am unable to find it in the docs.

thanks.

[hosierdm]

If you are running the process in JBoss, just stick the jar file in the server//lib directory. I think that should work with a "normal" classloading scheme in JBoss.

[koen.aers]

Yes, this would be the best way if you don't want to modify the webapp. Put the jars in the '%jbpm_server_home%/server/jbpm/lib' folder where '%jbpm_server_home%' is the location where you extracted your starter's kit. Another possibility is to rebuild the webapp and put the jars in the WEB-INF/lib folder of your war file.

Regards,
Koen