What is the purpose of Manifest file

Question

http://java.sun.com/developer/Books/javaprogramming/JAR/basics/manifest.html

What does a manifest file do? What is the purpose of it?

Manifest-Version: 1         


        

Answer 1

The manifest is a special file that can contain information about the files packaged in a JAR file. By tailoring this "meta" information that the manifest contains, you enable the JAR file to serve a variety of purposes.

Mainfest file is mainly known for contains the name of the class that holds the main function, among various classes in the package...

When you create a JAR file, it automatically receives a default manifest file. There can be only one manifest file in an archive, and it always has the pathname

META-INF/MANIFEST.MF