pxb1988/dex2jar · error · HelpException

Only one file is required, But we found

Error message

Only one <jar> file is required, But we found 

What it means

Command-line validation in doCommandLine of DecryptStringCmd: more than one positional argument was supplied. The tool decrypts strings in exactly one jar, so any extra positional arguments trigger this HelpException (which normally prints usage) — it is a usage error, not a processing failure.

Solutions

1. Provide exactly one jar per invocation; loop in a shell script for multiple jars
2. Quote paths containing spaces so they count as a single argument
3. Remove stray tokens after the jar argument

Example fix

// before
d2j-decrypt-string a.jar b.jar
// after
d2j-decrypt-string a.jar && d2j-decrypt-string b.jar

if (args.stream().filter(a -> !a.startsWith("-")).count() > 1)
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("pass exactly one jar");

try { DecryptStringCmd.main(args); } catch (HelpException e) { System.err.println(e.getMessage()); System.exit(2); }

When it happens

Trigger: Running d2j-decrypt-string with two or more positional jar paths, or stray unquoted tokens on the command line being counted as remainingArgs.

Common situations: Trying to process multiple jars in one run, or an accidental extra token (unquoted path with spaces) after the jar name.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• One file is required
• can't convert [ ] to type
• ERROR: Unrecognized option
• ERROR: Option need an argument value
• ERROR: Options: is required

AI-assisted analysis of pxb1988/dex2jar@b5bda4fb49 (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c56b1053c455457c. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at dex-tools/src/main/java/com/googlecode/dex2jar/tools/DecryptStringCmd.java:160

        String desc = line.substring(idx2);
        if (desc.endsWith(")")) {
            desc = desc + "Ljava/lang/String;";
        }

        MethodConfig config = new MethodConfig();
        config.owner = owner;
        config.desc = desc;
        config.name = name;
        return config;

    }

    @Override
    protected void doCommandLine() throws Exception {
        if (remainingArgs.length == 0) {
            throw new HelpException("One <jar> file is required");
        } else if (remainingArgs.length > 1) {
            throw new HelpException("Only one <jar> file is required, But we found " + remainingArgs.length);
        }

        final Path jar = new File(remainingArgs[0]).toPath();
        if (!Files.exists(jar)) {
            System.err.println(jar + " doesn't exist");
            return;
        }
        if (output == null) {
            if (Files.isDirectory(jar)) {
                output = new File(jar.getFileName() + "-decrypted.jar").toPath();
            } else {
                output = new File(getBaseName(jar.getFileName().toString()) + "-decrypted.jar").toPath();
            }
        }

        if (Files.exists(output) && !forceOverwrite) {
            System.err.println(output + " exists, use --force to overwrite");
            return;

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