Java classloader

Question

Hi all, I need to get method names of a class from a java file in a directory.

   File file=new File("C:/class/");
    try {
      // Convert File to a URL
      URL url = file.toURL();          // file:/c:/class/
      URL[] urls = new URL[]{url};

      // Create a new class loader with the directory
      URLClassLoader loader = new URLClassLoader(urls);

      // Load in the class; Class.childclass should be located in
      // the directory file:/c:/class/
      Class cls = loader.loadClass("Arithmatic.java");
      Method[] methods=cls.getMethods();
      for(Method method:methods){
       System.out.println("Method name:"+method.getName());
      }
  } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
   System.out.println("Exception");
  } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
   System.out.println("Class not found exception");
  }

I am getting ClassNotFoundException.

Is this is the correct way of doing?

Can any body suggest the solution please...

Answer 1

Try

Class.forName("Arithmatic", true, loader)

instead of

loader.loadClass("Arithmatic.java")

Answer 2

You can't load a .java file as class. You should load a .class file (which means it should be compiled first)

loader.loadClass("Arithmatic", true);

In case you don't have the class in a compiled form, you can compile it at runtime using JavaCompiler