Extracting files (specifically .png) from .jar files using 10.6

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Extracting files (specifically .png) from .jar files using 10.6

Ok, so basically I'm a complete idiot and I don't have any idea what the heck I'm doing but I do know that .jar files can contain other files and certain applications or tools can help extract those files. I am trying to extract a .png file from a .jar file and then edit it and reinsert it and I have been looking for a tool competent enough to do this but I haven't been able to. Have any pointers? (AKA links, programs, etc.) Thanks!

MacBook (2008 Aluminium), Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Mar 11, 2011 7:25 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 11, 2011 8:18 AM in response to Quinn Oak

'JAR' stands for 'Java Archive'. In fact, it's actually a zip file with a specific layout of the files within it. You can simply change the suffix from .jar to .zip and uncompress it to see all the files inside. You could also use the 'jar' command in terminal to uncompress it.

Simply uncompress the jar file, make any changes, and compress it again. There are no special tools needed.

In the shell (Terminal.app):


mkdir x
cd x
jar xf ../jarfile.jar
mv ../myimage.png ./some/file/path/something.png
jar cf ../jarfile2.jar .

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Answer 2

Quinn Oak Author

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Mar 11, 2011 10:25 PM in response to J D McIninch

Thank you sooo much mate you're absolutely brilliant, but is there a trick for taking the files and re-jarring them (you know what I mean)?

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Answer 3

Mar 13, 2011 11:26 AM in response to Quinn Oak

No trick. Reverse the process. Make a zip file with all the necessary files in it and replace the .zip with .jar, or use the 'jar' utility in Terminal.

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Answer 4

Quinn Oak Author

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Mar 14, 2011 3:20 AM in response to Quinn Oak

Ok, thanks, you're awesome mate.

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