static public String contentsToClassPath(File folder) {
    if (folder == null) {
      return "";
    }

    StringBuffer abuffer = new StringBuffer();
    String sep = System.getProperty("path.separator");

    try {
      String path = folder.getCanonicalPath();

//    disabled as of 0136
      // add the folder itself in case any unzipped files
//      abuffer.append(sep);
//      abuffer.append(path);
//
      // When getting the name of this folder, make sure it has a slash
      // after it, so that the names of sub-items can be added.
      if (!path.endsWith(File.separator)) {
        path += File.separator;
      }

      String list[] = folder.list();
      for (int i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
        // Skip . and ._ files. Prior to 0125p3, .jar files that had
        // OS X AppleDouble files associated would cause trouble.
        if (list[i].startsWith(".")) {
          continue;
        }

        if (list[i].toLowerCase().endsWith(".jar") ||
            list[i].toLowerCase().endsWith(".zip")) {
          abuffer.append(sep);
          abuffer.append(path);
          abuffer.append(list[i]);
        }
      }
    } catch (IOException e) {
      e.printStackTrace();  // this would be odd
    }
    //System.out.println("included path is " + abuffer.toString());
    //packageListFromClassPath(abuffer.toString());  // WHY?
    return abuffer.toString();
  }