如何将iText作为源代码包含到我的项目中？

Question

I have downloaded itext source code from here (downlaod snapshot).

However, I don't know how do I add it to my project so it would work...

If I add the com package, then resources are ommited. If I add a package from higher level, all imports get messed up (it's fixable, but I don't know if there are other consequences).

But whatever I do, I don't have BouncyCastle jars that are needed so all iText classes would function properly, and I know it had some heavy API changes recently so I'm not sure what version is compatible with the version of iText on sourceForge that I downloaded.

I don't even know which and if I downloaded the right version...

Any advice?

Answer 1

you've downloaded the source code. It's better to download the ZIP file from here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/itext/files/iText/iText5.4.3/

The zip file in this directory contains several jars. Normally you'll only need the itextpdf-5.4.3.jar to start with.

The easiest way to build your project from the iText source code (should you wish to do that anyway), is to use the POM file. If you don't know what a POM file is, please search the net for Maven. The POM file allows you to import the project as a Maven Project. This will automatically import all dependencies. (Of course: now I'm assuming that you've installed Maven in Eclipse.)

The reason why the code doesn't compile when you download it, is simple: iText has a dependency on BouncyCastle and if you don't add BouncyCastle to your CLASSPATH, iText won't compile. At runtime, you only need BouncyCastle as soon as you need encryption (password encryption, certificate encryption, digital signatures).

If you wait until Monday, you'll be able to download iText 5.4.4.