What Is JDK JAR (Java ARchive) Tool? Can I use it to open JAR file?

The JDK JAR (Java ARchive) tool, or the jar tool, allows you to create and manage JAR files.

The jar tool combines multiple files into a single JAR archive file. jar is a general-purpose archiving and compression tool, based on ZIP and the ZLIB compression format. However, jar was designed mainly to facilitate the packaging of java applets or applications into a single archive. When the components of an applet or application (.class files, images and sounds) are combined into a single archive, they may be downloaded by a java agent (like a browser) in a single HTTP transaction, rather than requiring a new connection for each piece. This dramatically improves download times. jar also compresses files and so further improves download time.

In addition, the jar tool allows individual entries in a file to be signed by the applet author so that their origin can be authenticated. The syntax for the jar tool is almost identical to the syntax for the tar command. A jar archive can be used as a class path entry, whether or not it is compressed.

The jar tool is included in the JDK distribution package. It is located in the "%JAVA_HOME%\bin\jar.exe" program file

You can not the jar tool to open a JAR file. You can use it to extract files from a JAR file.

For more information, see the jar Website

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