Jenesis

Choosing a target

The first argument names what to run. Its full form is:

<name>[@<version>][/<main-class>]

Only the name is required. The three parts each answer one question: what, which version, and which entry point.

The name - module or Maven coordinate

You can name what to run in two ways, and jpx tells them apart by a single rule: a module name can never contain a colon.

  • A Java module name - e.g. org.junit.platform.console. jpx looks the module up in Jenesis Modules and downloads it, and everything it depends on, from Maven Central. This is the everyday form: you name the module, nothing else.
  • A <groupId>:<artifactId> pair - e.g. org.junit.platform:junit-platform-console. The colon marks it as a Maven coordinate, resolved from Maven Central directly. Reach for this when you want a specific artifact, or one that carries no module name.

Both of these run the very same tool - the JUnit console launcher - one by its module name, the other by its coordinate:

jpx org.junit.platform.console                  # by module name
jpx org.junit.platform:junit-platform-console   # by Maven coordinate

With --modular, jpx resolves purely over module names, following each module's requires with no POM involved at all - so every dependency must itself be a named module. For that reason it applies only to a module name, not to a Maven coordinate.

The version - which release

Append @<version> to pin a release:

jpx org.junit.platform.console@1.11.0

Without a version, jpx prefers the most recently installed version of that target; failing that, it resolves the latest release. So the first run pulls the current release and later runs reuse it until you ask for a newer one.

The main class - which entry point

By default jpx launches the jar's module main class or its Main-Class manifest attribute. Append /<main-class> to choose a different entry point:

jpx org.junit.platform.console/org.junit.platform.console.ConsoleLauncher

This works exactly like java -m <module>/<main-class>, which also means a jar that declares no entry point at all is still runnable - just name the class yourself.