Upgrade Java Auto Modules
Pack common-cli and others with jlink
Some Java libraries still have no modules-info.java. That is why they can not be packed with jlink into your projects. A simple script changes this.
Java 9 added project JigSaw or modules. The entire JDK is not longer a large block. Instead it consists of modules. And since Java WebStart has been deprecated and removed with JDK 11 there was the need for a better shipping format. With Java WebStart or even so called Applets it was necessary to download at least a JRE or Java Runtime Environment first to run any Java program.
So a new tool called jlink was added. In combination
with module declaration a developer can pack all necessary
modules including the JDK ones into a single ZIP-archive. This
also includes a run script. When you download and unpack this
ZIP you can run it right away.
Some of the Java libraries I use are a bit outdated and probably
never become fully fledged Java modules. But I still want to
pack them as part of my programs. The invocation of jlink
fails with an error message that auto modules cannot be analyzed
correctly. It simply bails out and there is no ZIP to distribute.
Error: jdk.tools.jlink.plugin.PluginException: module-info.class not found for bad module
The new tools and features suffer from long standing bugs. Namely
JDK-8229396
tells the story of jdeps that was long broken. Finally
JDK-8130047
shows that jlink might never get fixed. So clever
people out there found a way to re-package a JAR to become a
distinct module instead:
- Auto-generate the modules-info.java through
jdeps - compile the file with
javac - Update the JAR with the compiled module definition
- update Maven signatures (signed modules cannot be patched)
One of my soliton scripts does all that for you. Have a look at Codeberg.org.