Package does not exist error

Question

I've just come back to fix some bugs in a small program that I've written, and now I can't compile because a package doesn't exist (according to javac).

As far as I know, I haven't changed anything in my class path, or the contents of my directories. I don't know if there have been any Java updates in between.

In my root directory, I have the four Java files that comprise my program. They don't have any package ascribed to them. Additionally, I have the directory structure org\apache\commons\cli in the root directory which contains the CLI java files from the Apache Commons. The Apache files do have a package ascribed that mirrors the directory structure in which they lie.

If I issue the command javac -verbose -d build CommandLine.java, it fails with

CommandLine.java:28: package org.apache.commons.cli does not exist
import org.apache.commons.cli.*;
^

CommandLine.java is the entry point of the program.

There is no attempt by the compiler to compile the CLI files, and if I compile them beforehand, the failure still takes place. Also, the CLI is also available in my classpath.

I am running javac 1.6.0_12.

What can I do/try?

.

EDITED FOR ANSWER:

As accepted below, I altered the compilation command to be:

javac -verbose -d build -classpath . CommandLine.java

Now it works. Don't know why it did before, and why it stopped now though...

.

EDITED FOR CAUSE OF PROBLEM

I installed a program that also used the CLASSPATH to run its own things. It changed the CLASSPATH that belonged to the user, but left the global one alone. I re-added the java classpath things back in and it works again!

Answer 1

Did you unpack that Apache JAR and add the .class files to your application? Why didn't you just add the JAR to your CLASSPATH?

You should not be depending on a CLASSPATH environment variable. Better to use the -classpath option for javac.exe when you compile and java.exe when you run.

Answer 2

Unless it's a typo, notice you said com\apache\commons\cli but the import wants org.apache.commons.cli -- org vs com