I just want to compile a simple one-file program, so naturally I thought of javac first. But with the NetBeans Blogging Contest on, I thought I'd take a look at how NetBeans IDE 6.1 Beta simplifies the task ...

... It doesn't.

The file is related to, but not part of Cosmic Horizon's in-house Random Test Program Generator (RTPG), mentioned in Waveform Viewer and Integer Multiplier and in I Owe You an Explanation. It is part of the
com.alanfeldstein.sparcrtpg
package because that's the directory it sits in as it is committed to CVS, but RTPG is independent of the one-file application about which I now write (RandomOperands.java).

In the NetBeans IDE, I want to create a new Java project with existing source. I am asked to "Specify the folders containing the source packages ..." When I do that, NetBeans shows a Warning icon (it should be an Error icon because NetBeans fails to continue) accompanied by

Package Folder Already Used in Project
[The] Following folders you selected are already used in this or another project. One package folder can only be used in one project in one package folder list (source packages or test packages).

Package folders already in use:
C:\Feldstein\packages\com\alanfeldstein\sparcrtpg (owned by FSSNetBeansProject)

owned!

First, RTPG is independent of FSS. The only thing they have in common is that they are under
com.alanfeldstein
in the package hierarchy.

Second, why can't a folder be shared by multiple NetBeans projects?