JAR limitations

I'm aware that the original ZIP file format limits the archive file to a maximum size of 4GB however I've been unable to find documentation from Sun that states the JAR file format is limited to a maximum file size of 4GB or that the JAR file format is based on the original ZIP file format and not the ZIP64 file format.

In tests using JDK 1.5 the Jar tool will create and extract a JAR file that is larger than 4GB suggesting that the JAR file format is based on ZIP64 and that the limit on the size of a JAR file is dictated by the underlying file system limit.

I've also been able to create and extract files from a JAR file larger than 4GB using the java.util.jar package in JDK 1.5 too.

I'm after some official documentation from Sun that states the actual limits of the JAR file format or that the JAR file format is definitely based on the ZIP or ZIP64 file format.

A comment on that bug says that 1.5 can create a JAR file larger than 4GB which is what I've found in testing but I've been unable to find anything in the release notes to say the JAR file format has changed?

JonBa at 2007-7-12 17:10:15 >