Add maven's output directory to exec:java classpath - maven

Question

I want to add the target/classes directory to maven's exec:java classpath. The compilation and runtime dependencies are handled fine, but the resources copied from src/*/resources are not available during execution. I am almost sure it is because the plugins' classpath includes only the project dependencies and not the target/classes directory. I'd like to be able to run the application during development as mvn clean compile exec:java
while leaving all properties files, and other files in the resources directories.
I've tried several variations of exec configuration but I can't seem to get it right:
my pom.xml:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.2.1</version>
<configuration>
<executable>java</executable>
<mainClass>Example</mainClass>
<arguments>
<argument>-cp</argument>
<classpath/>
<argument>%classpath:target/classes</argument>
<argument>someFile.txt</argument>
</arguments>
</configuration>
</plugin>
I don't think this one is correct syntax because I'm getting an ArrayStoreException:
java.lang.ArrayStoreException
at java.lang.System.arraycopy(Native Method)
at java.util.Arrays.copyOf(Arrays.java:2763)
at java.util.ArrayList.toArray(ArrayList.java:305)
at org.codehaus.plexus.component.configurator.converters.composite.ArrayConverter.fromConfiguration(ArrayConverter.java:141)
at org.codehaus.plexus.component.configurator.converters.ComponentValueSetter.configure(ComponentValueSetter.java:247)
at org.codehaus.plexus.component.configurator.converters.composite.ObjectWithFieldsConverter.processConfiguration(ObjectWithFieldsConverter.java:137)
at org.codehaus.plexus.component.configurator.BasicComponentConfigurator.configureComponent(BasicComponentConfigurator.java:56)
at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.populatePluginFields(DefaultPluginManager.java:1357)
at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.getConfiguredMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:724)
at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:468)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:694)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeStandaloneGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:569)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:539)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:387)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:348)
at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:180)
at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:328)
at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:138)
at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362)
at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:60)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315)
at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255)
at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.jav
I used example configuration poms from here and here.

Answer 1

By default the target/classes and all the dependencies are in the classpath when you use exec-maven-plugin plugin.
I have similar setup and following config works for me. In my Test class I read one xml file as Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("mapping.xml"). I have kept the file in src/main/resources which after build is available under target/classes.
<plugin>
<groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
<artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>1.2.1</version>
<executions>
<execution>
<goals>
<goal>exec</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
<configuration>
<executable>java</executable>
<mainClass>com.Test</mainClass>
</configuration>
</plugin>