Configuring Java for JUnit 3.8.1 in Windows

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Agile Software Development

Spring Semester 2003

Acknowledgment

Thanks to Randy Klug, Tim Schoenfelder, and Aaron Thompson for their assistance in preparing these instructions.

Configuring Windows for JUnit

The CLASSPATH is a system variable that tells your Java tools where to look for the classes it needs when compiling or executing a program. It is just a list of directories and .jar files separated by semi-colons (;).

In the discussion that follows, INSTALL_DIR refers to the path to the directory where you place your unzipped junit3.8.1 directory, including the drive specification. For example, if you place your junit3.8.1 in the subdirectory agile on your C: drive, INSTALL_DIR would be:

c:\agile

Here is what students tell me:

• The standard instructions for JUnit tell us to change the classpath using:

  SET CLASSPATH=.;INSTALL_DIR\junit3.8.1\junit.jar;%CLASSPATH%

  This ensures that your classpath includes ., so that JUnit will be able to work with files in any directory, as well as the .jar file that contain the JUnit framework.

• Under Windows 98, the %s in that expression must need to be *s, because students report success with set expressions that look like this:

  SET CLASSPATH=.;INSTALL_DIR\junit3.8.1\junit.jar\;*classpath*

• Finally, where do you set the classpath? Here is a set of instructions for setting your classpath permanently in Microsoft Windows NT, 2000, and XP.

  • Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click System.

  • In Windows NT, select the Environment tab; in Windows 2000, select the Advanced tab and then Environment Variables.

  • Look for "classpath" in the User Variables and System Variables section. If it is not in the list, click the New button and set the variable name to classpath, and the value to something similar to the expression below. If classpath is already in the list and you're not sure where to add the classpath, add it to the right end of the "classPath" in the User Variables.

  • A typical value for CLASSPATH is:

    .;INSTALL_DIR\junit3.8.1\junit.jar;

    Capitalization doesn't matter.

  • Click "Set", "OK", or "Apply", whichever your system offers.

  The new path takes effect in each new Command Prompt window you open after setting the PATH variable.

You should now be able to run JUnit from any directory. If you want to run the tests provided with the JUnit package, then you need to either

• change into the junit3.8.1 directory, or

• add the INSTALL_DIR\junit3.8.1 directory itself to your classpath, too.