title: Java packaging issue
body: <p>I have an application that I've developed. Currently it is deployed with all its config files (including <code>log4j.properties</code>, as used by some external libs I use) in the same dir as my application.</p>
  
  <p>So, I have a <code>bin</code> dir, containing my <code>app.jar</code>, plus a few properties files, plus a <code>lib</code> dir with all my external jars. The external jars are specified in a classpath specified in the <code>app.jar</code>'s manifest file.</p>
  
  <p>Now the powers that be have decreed that the new structure will be a <code>bin</code> dir with just the <code>app.jar</code>, with a <code>lib</code> dir at the same level (i.e. <code>../lib</code>, relative to <code>bin</code>) for external jars and a <code>../etc</code> directory for configuration files.</p>
  
  <p>Easy enough, I thought -- I changed all the classpath paths from <code>./lib/&lt;jarname&gt;</code> to <code>../lib/&lt;jarname&gt;</code>, and added <code>../etc</code> to the classpath as well.</p>
  
  <p>Problem is that now any jars that use log4j don't work -- they don't see the <code>log4j.properties</code> file -- because, I suspect, the classpath for <code>app.jar</code> doesn't affect the classpath for the external jars (maybe?), and previously they were finding it simply because it was in '.'.</p>
  
  <p>Any thoughts?</p>