Rick,
For a description of the MANIFEST.MF file format, look here:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/jar/basics/manifest.html
Since a .war file is kind of a jar, I don't see any reason not to adopt the
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF Class-Path: extension mechanism, unless it is
specifically prohibited by the spec.
> 1) can the manifest be placed in an "open" or "expanded" .war
> archive (I'm
> not sure of the terminology; whatever it is where have
> separate folders,
> rather than a single .war file).
That would be a requirement, yes. The WebAppClassloader should look for
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF files in unexpanded .war files as well as expanded
ones. Ideally, it should not only look at the web app's
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF, but also the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF of any jars in
WEB-INF/lib. This could also be done recursively if you want to get
fanatical about it.
> 2) can this manifest be easily edited to add/change/remove
> class paths (i.e.
> with a regular text editor)?
It is a simple properties file, so, yes, a text editor can handle it.
-Doug
