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Certain features of the Ice for Java run-time necessitate dynamic class loading. Applications with special requirements can supply a custom class loader for Ice to use in the following situations:

• Unmarshaling user exceptions and instances of concrete Slice classes
• Loading Ice plug-ins
• Loading IceSSL certificate verifiers and password callbacks

If an application does not supply a class loader (or if the application-supplied class loader fails to locate a class), the Ice run time attempts to load the class using class loaders in the following order:

• current thread's class loader
• default class loader (that is, by calling Class.forName)
• system class loader

Note that an application must install object factories for any abstract Slice classes it might receive, regardless of whether the application also installs a custom class loader.

To install a custom class loader, set the classLoader member of Ice.InitializationData prior to creating a communicator:

{zcode:java}
Ice.InitializationData initData = new Ice.InitializationData();
initData.classLoader = new MyClassLoader();
Ice.Communicator communicator = Ice.Util.initialize(args, initData);
{zcode}

See Also

• Java Mapping for Exceptions
• Java Mapping for Classes
• Plug-in Facility
• IceSSL
• Communicator Initialization