Jython CLASSPATH, sys.path and JDBC drivers

Question

How can I add JDBC drivers at runtime to Jython? Using CLASSPATH works, but using sys.path doesn't work with zxJDBC even though the class is imported fine and can be manipulated from the Jython interpreter prompt.

Why does this work:

$ CLASSPATH=/tmp/jtds\-1.2.5.jar ./jython
*sys-package-mgr*: processing new jar, '/private/tmp/jtds-1.2.5.jar'
Jython 2.5.1 (Release_2_5_1:6813, Sep 26 2009, 13:47:54) 
[Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (Apple Inc.)] on java1.6.0_20
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from java.lang import Class
>>> Class.forName('net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver')
<type 'net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver'>

But this doesn't?

$ ./jython

Jython 2.5.1 (Release_2_5_1:6813, Sep 26 2009, 13:47:54) 
[Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (Apple Inc.)] on java1.6.0_20
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import sys
>>> sys.path.extend(['/tmp/jtds-1.2.5.jar'])
>>> from java.lang import Class
>>> Class.forName('net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
        at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:202)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:190)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:307)
        at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:301)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:248)
        at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
        at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:169)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver
>>> sys.path
['', '/home/me/pkg/jython2.5.1/Lib/site-packages/distribute-0.6.13-py2.5.egg', '/home/me/pkg/jython2.5.1/Lib', '__classpath__', '__pyclasspath__/', '/home/me/pkg/jython2.5.1/Lib/site-packages', '/home/me/pkg/jython2.5.1/Lib/site-packages/setuptools-0.6c11-py2.5.egg-info', '/tmp/jtds-1.2.5.jar']
>>> import net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.Driver as Driver
>>> drv = Driver()
>>> drv
jTDS 1.2.5

Does it have something to do with the classloader?

Answer 1

The solution is tricky, but everything is explained here.