Method to dynamically load java class files
I believe it's a ClassLoader
you're after.
I suggest you start by looking at the example below which loads class files that are not on the class path.
// Create a File object on the root of the directory containing the class file
File file = new File("c:\\myclasses\\");
try {
// Convert File to a URL
URL url = file.toURI().toURL(); // file:/c:/myclasses/
URL[] urls = new URL[]{url};
// Create a new class loader with the directory
ClassLoader cl = new URLClassLoader(urls);
// Load in the class; MyClass.class should be located in
// the directory file:/c:/myclasses/com/mycompany
Class cls = cl.loadClass("com.mycompany.MyClass");
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
}
MyClass obj = (MyClass) ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().loadClass("test.MyClass").newInstance();
obj.testmethod();
or
MyClass obj = (MyClass) Class.forName("test.MyClass").newInstance();
obj.testmethod();
If you add a directory to your class path, you can add classes after the application starts and those classes can be loaded as soon as they have been written to the directory.