Packaging a MIDLet Suite (JAR and JAD)

To package a MIDlet suite manually you must create a manifest file, an application JAR file, and finally, a MIDlet descriptor (also known as a Java Application Descriptor or JAD).

Create a manifest file containing the appropriate attributes as specified in the MIDP specification. You can use any text editor to create the manifest file. For example, a manifest might have the following contents:

MIDlet-1: My MIDlet, MyMIDlet.png, MyMIDlet
MIDlet-Name: MyMIDlet
MIDlet-Vendor: My Organization
MIDlet-Version: 1.0
MicroEdition-Configuration: CLDC-1.1
MicroEdition-Profile: MIDP-2.1

Create a JAR file containing the manifest as well as the suite’s class and resource files. To create the JAR file, use the jar tool that comes with the Java SE software development kit. The syntax is as follows:

jar cfm file manifest -C class-directory . -C resource-directory .

The arguments are as follows:

file - JAR file to create.
manifest - Manifest file for the MIDlets.
class-directory - Directory containing the application’s classes.
resource-directory - Directory containing the application’s resources.

For example, to create a JAR file named MyApp.jar whose classes are in the classes directory and resources are in the res directory, use the following command:

jar cfm MyApp.jar MANIFEST.MF -C classes . -C res .

Create a JAD file containing the appropriate attributes as specified in the MIDP specification. You can use any text editor to create the JAD file. This file must have the extension .jad.

Note - You must set the MIDlet-Jar-Size entry to the size of the JAR file created in the previous step.

For example, a JAD file might have the following contents:

MIDlet-Name: MyMIDlet
MIDlet-Vendor: My Organization
MIDlet-Version: 1.0
MIDlet-Jar-URL: MyApp.jar
MIDlet-Jar-Size: 24601

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Java Platform Micro Edition Software Development Kit Version 3.0

Java Platform Micro Edition Software Development Kit Version 3.0

Packaging a MIDLet Suite (JAR and JAD)