java not running .jar files without absolute path. (?!)

[epilogue at allstream.net]

hey all,

> which java
/usr/local/jdk1.4.2/bin/java

> java -jar Jreepad-1.0.jar 
Error: could not find libjava.so
Error: could not find Java 2 Runtime Environment.

however, the program will run with an absolute path:
> /usr/local/jdk1.4.2/bin/java -jar Jreepad-1.0.jar


i don't see any typos in my $PATH (witness 'which' result above).

the same occurs with linux-sun-jdk (when i put it earlier in the $PATH)

am i missing something?  is this standard behaviour for java?


thanks!
epi