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4.1 FCS 1) Create a library in library manager with a folder containing JAR files (do not add JAR files, but their parent directory) 2) JAR files are not used for CC/compilation in Java/Web projects - it confuses users, see nbusers feedback: http://www.netbeans.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=nbusers&msgNo=53631 SOLUTION: When adding a folder, check it. If it contains JAR files, warn the user that he/she should add JAR files directly. Notice: I think that checking only files directly in the directory will be good enough.
See similar Java project issue 59245 and Web project issue 59246 - there should be same warning in project's Properties | Libraries | Add JAR/Folder.
The issue is real, but the solution given is completely incorrect. The right answer is support adding folders of JAR files to the classpath. Currently the IDE makes a real mess out of this. Consider the following entirely plausible setup: some/path/repository/ ant/ant/ ant-1.6.jar apache/commons-cli/ commons-cli-1.0.jar jboss/hibernate <a dozen or so JAR files> ... and so on for 20-30 more 3rd party libraries... Adding these to the classpath in the IDE for a project or a library in the library manager is extremely hard. One is forced to navigate one by one into each folder (all 30 of them in the example above) and control-click each and every JAR. Contrast Ant - which solved this problem years ago: <include path="some/path/repository/**/*.jar"/> If the user adds a folder full of JAR files to the classpath, we should make it work. It should mean **/*.jar. It should *not* expand the folder out to be what it contains at the time it is added - it should be live, updating as the user adds and removes items from the foler.