javac with -sourcepath switch

[nebulom]

I'm a little bit of lost with the -sourcepath switch. I'm structuring my project like this

classes
    + class destination
docs
    + documentation
src
    + java files
make.bat

And my make.bat is

javac -d classes -sourcepath src/*.java
javadoc -d doc -sourcepath src/*.java

But it only gets the last file. Say I have dtgen.java and Server.java, it only gets Server.java to be compiled and the class gets to classes and Server.html to doc+generated htmls.

What should I put after -sourcepath switch? Right now, I ended up to putting make.bat to src folder having a content like

javac -d ../classes *.java
javadoc -d ../doc *.java

Thanks in advance.

[CornedBee]

-sourcepath src

I also highly recommend Ant over any other build system for Java.

[nebulom]

Thanks, CB. I'll be learning Ant.

-sourcepath src BTW, doesn't do compiling. It says javac: no source files. Nevermind anyway, have to find good build system.

[CornedBee]

The -sourcepath switch doesn't specify which files to compile. It merely tells javac where to look for source files that the explicitely specified sources depend on.

[nebulom]

javac -d classes -sourcepath src

Does it suppose to compile all the .java in the src folder? It just displays the Usage: javac <options> <source files> after displaying javac: no source files.

[CornedBee]

No, it does nothing, because you specified no source files. But consider this:

// Class1.java
public class Class1
{
}

// Class2.java
public class Class2 extends Class1
{
}

Clearly, Class2.java depends on Class1.java being available. Let's assume you have this directory structure:

PROJECT_ROOT
-> classes (compiled sources)
-> docs (documentation)
-> src (source code)
  -> Class1.java
  -> Class2.java

From the PROJECT_ROOT, you could now type

javac -d classes src/Class2.java

The compilation will fail:

src/Class2.java:3: cannot find symbol
symbol: class Class1
public class Class2 extends Class1
                            ^
1 error

The compiler can't find Class1.java.

This command will succceed:

javac -d classes -sourcepath src src/Class2.java

Now the compiler knows where to look for dependencies. It will compile both Class1.java and Class2.java.

You should also add the -classpath:

javac -d classes -classpath classes -sourcepath src Class2.java

This way, the compiler will find Class1.class if it exists, and not compile it again.

[nebulom]

Assuming I have Class2.java, it says error: cannot read: Class2.java. I don't what did I miss but I've compiled it by javac -d classes -classpath classes -sourcepath src dtgen.java and I'm pretty sure, there is a dtgen.java in the src folder.

error: cannot read: dtgen.java

Thanks for being patient CB. I think I just have to learn Ant from now on. Again, thanks.

[CornedBee]

I edited my post after actually trying out what I wrote.