I am new to java, what is the correct way to define CLASSPATH for the
files like test.class or test.jar.   In unix if I want to provide a
PATH to an executable like /userfiles/test.exe I would do the
following:

PATH=/userfiles

This provides a directory to search for.

In JAVA, I thought it was the same, but in some instances on our system
I see it point to the exact class file.  For example:

CLASSPATH=/userfiles/test.class

Shouldn't it be CLASSPATH=/userfiles  ?

The same for JAR files.  Should it be CLASSPATH=/userfiles, or
CLASSPATH=/userfiles/test.jar

Thanks.