If a "#" exists in any element of the classpath (as an absolute path)
then those classpath elements are unreachable, leading to NoClassDefFoundError.

Create a directory /tmp/a#b.

Create a trivial java program:

public class Hello {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello");
}
}

# cd /tmp/a#b
# javac Hello.java
# jar cf Hello.jar Hello.class

Case 1:

# java Hello
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Hello

Case 2:

# java -classpath Hello.jar Hello
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Hello


This problem occurs with Merlin build b25.