You can define a utility project as a shared library and
associate defined shared libraries with an application or web project.
Before you begin
To use the shared library function in the workbench, you must
create a utility project and define it as a shared library. The utility
project is the only project type that can be used as a shared library.
About this task
A shared library is an external Java™ archive (JAR)
file that is used by one or more applications. Using shared libraries enables multiple applications
published on a server to use a single library, rather than use multiple copies of the same library.
After you associate shared libraries with an application or project, the application or module class
loader loads classes in the shared libraries and makes those classes available to the application or
module.
Procedure
To define a utility project as a shared library:
- Create a utility project:
- In the toolbar, select .
- Expand Java EE and select Utility Project. Click Next.
- In the Project name field, specify
a name for the utility project.
- Under the Ear membership section, clear the Add project to an
EAR check box.
- Under the Target runtime section, verify that WebSphere® Application Server Liberty is selected.
- Click Finish.
- Define the artifacts in the newly created utility project.
For example, you can add Java classes to the utility project.
- Define the utility project as a shared library:
- In the Project Explorer view, right-click the utility project and select .
- In the Shared library ID field,
type a string as an identifier for the shared library.
- In the Archive directory field,
type or browse to a directory where you want to place the compressed
copy of your utility project as a JAR file. The file name convention
of the JAR file is utilityProjectName.jar, where utilityProjectName is the
name of the utility project.
- In the Liberty Shared Library page, click Apply
to confirm your changes. Click OK to close the
Properties window.
- Optional:
Set the API visibility. - Right-click a utility project.
- Select .
- Select from the following check boxes to set the API visibility: API,
IBM API, Spec, and Third party.
The default visibility is set for API, IBM API, and
Spec.
- Add the utility project to the server.
For more details see Deploying applications to Liberty servers by using developer tools topic.
Results
Here is an example entry added to the server configuration
(
server.xml) file:
<library id="libid">
<fileset dir="C:\temp" includes="Util.jar"/>
</library>
In addition, the JAR file is added in the
specified archive directory. In the previous example, the
Util.jar file is added in the
C:\temp directory.