It is possible to access databases from a jar file. The jar file does not have to be on the classpath.
For example, suppose you have archived the database jarDB1 into a file called jar1.jar. This archive is in the classpath before you start up Derby. You can access jarDB1 with the following connection URL
jdbc:derby:/jarDB1
To access a database in a jar file that is not on the classpath, use the jar subprotocol.
For example, suppose you have archived the database jarDB2 into a file called jar2.jar. This archive is not in the classpath. You can access jarDB2 by specifying the path to the jar file along with the jar subsubprotocol, like this:
jdbc:derby:jar:(c:/derby/lib/jar2.jar)jarDB2
For complete instructions and examples of accessing databases in jar files, see Accessing a read-only database in a zip/jar file.