Replacing files in jar by files in folder

Issue

I have a directory, update, with the same structure as a JAR file Application.jar. Now I want to (programmatically) replace all files in Application.jar with the files in the update folder. Lets say I have the following structure for both directory and jar file:

Application.jar / update
    - TestDir
        - text2.txt
    - text1.txt

When using jar uf Application.jar update/TestDir/text2.txt it creates a new directory in Application.jar - update - and it's going to be added all from there, even worse when using absolute paths (Creating the whole C:\ structure inside the jar file). How can I preserve the structure, is there some way to mark pathToUpdate\update as a root? I know there's the -C parameter, but I don't understand it.

Solution

You have two options.

1. First change the working directory to update so that the relative path to the 'update' file matches what you want in the jar:

   cd update
   jar uf ../Application.jar TestDir/text2.txt
   

2. use the -C option:

   jar uf Application.jar -C update TestDir/text2.txt
   

It's possible the -C option requires that you do: jar Application.jar -C update update/TestDir/text2.txt.

In general, I advise the first option; the second gets tricky once you start using e.g. * and the like.

Answered By - rzwitserloot