karaf: linking my code to a jar file

Question

I am writing a karaf bundle which depends on an external jar library. I understand I may import this bundle in my features.xml using wrap but this means it gets loaded into its own classloader.

What I want is for my bundle's classloader to load whatever I access in this jar file and I want to make direct method calls to the classes in this jar file. How can I do this?

I don't want a new bundle - just a library that I can link my application to.

Thanks,

Answer 1

You can try to embed the external jar when building your bundle as follow:

       <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.felix</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-bundle-plugin</artifactId>
            <extensions>true</extensions>
            <configuration>
                <instructions>
                    <Export-Package>
                        ...,
                        root_package_in_external_jar*,
                        ...
                    </Export-Package>
                    <Import-Package>
                        ...
                    </Import-Package>
                    <Embed-Dependency>your_external_jar</Embed-Dependency>
                </instructions>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>