Jenkins Shared Library - Importing classes from the /src folder in /vars

Question

I am trying to writing a Jenkins Shared Library for my CI process. I'd like to reference a class that is in the \src folder inside a global function defined in the \vars folder, since it would allow me to put most of the logic in classes instead of in the global functions. I am following the repository structure documented on the official Jenkins documentation: Jenkins Shared Library structure

Here's a simplified example of what I have:

---

/src/com/example/SrcClass.groovy

package com.example

class SrcClass {
  def aFunction() {
    return "Hello from src folder!"
  }
}

---

/vars/classFromVars.groovy

import com.example.SrcClass

def call(args) {
  def sc = new SrcClass()
  return sc.aFunction()
}

---

Jenkinsfile

@Library('<lib-name>') _
pipeline {
  ...
  post {
    always {
      classFromVars()
    }
  }
}

My goal was for the global classes in the /vars folder to act as a sort of public facade and to use it in my Jenkinsfile as a custom step without having to instantiate a class in a script block (making it compatible with declarative pipelines). It all seems pretty straightforward to me, but I am getting this error when running the classFromVars file:

<root>\vars\classFromVars.groovy: 1: unable to resolve class com.example.SrcClass
 @ line 1, column 1.
   import com.example.SrcClass
   ^

1 error

I tried running the classFromVars class directly with the groovy CLI locally and on the Jenkins server and I have the same error on both environments. I also tried specifying the classpath when running the /vars script, getting the same error, with the following command:

<root>>groovy -cp <root>\src\com\example vars\classFromVars.groovy

Is what I'm trying to achieve possible? Or should I simply put all of my logic in the /vars class and avoid using the /src folder?

I have found several repositories on GitHub that seem to indicate this is possible, for example this one: https://github.com/fabric8io/fabric8-pipeline-library, which uses the classes in the /src folder in many of the classes in the /vars folder.

Answer 1

As @Szymon Stepniak pointed out, the -cp parameter in my groovy command was incorrect. It now works locally and on the Jenkins server. I have yet to explain why it wasn't working on the Jenkins server though.

Answer 2

I found that when I wanted to import a class from the shared library I have, to a script step in the /vars I needed to do it like this:

//thanks to '_', the classes are imported automatically.
// MUST have the '@' at the beginning, other wise it will not work.
// when not using "@BRANCH" it will use default branch from git repo.
@Library('my-shared-library@BRANCH') _ 

// only by calling them you can tell if they exist or not.
def exampleObject = new example.GlobalVars() 

// then call methods or attributes from the class.
exampleObject.runExample()