[jboss-dev] Use cases for manipulating AS classpath

[Max Rydahl Andersen]

Hi guys,

Can you give me a usecase where it is useful to add jars to the AS 
classpath (JBOSS_CLASSPATH/RUN_CLASSPATH in the run.sh scripts) and not 
just add them into lib folder ?

Asking since it is a constant "battle" in the tooling between users who 
want full control and those who just want the server startup to *always* 
work.
Before we go add a bunch of complex code to handle this I would like to 
know of a use case that merits that users can set the classpath at 
startup time instead
of just adding it into lib.

The usecases I have come up with I'm not sure if they are valid:

1) allows me to put stuff on the global classpath of the server without 
manipulating a possibly read-only lib directory
2) Needed if you want to enhance the run.jar and other classes for 
profiling/debugging purposes
3) Allows you to try a patch on run.jar without changing the possible 
read-only AS directory

Anything else ?
Are those 3 usecases *valid* or is there better ways of doing that ?

 From a tooling users perspective I believe (though not yet confirmed) 
that bullet 1 is the reason why they want it - thus I would like to know if
doing point 1 is semantically equal to putting that jar in the lib dir 
of the server or the config. Or are there some (user perceived) difference ?

/max