Create directories and files by given path with jar - java

I have a java maven project, which converts .json files to .yaml and vice versa. Long story short,I wrote method which creates resulting directory of converting process using path of where jar actually is. Then I created the method which creates files and writes there result of converting process to the /path_of_resulting_dir/file-name.json/.yaml. In case I run jar from my project in IntelliJ idea - everything is ok. However, when I run jar file from random folder on my desktop, nothing happens.
So, how can I correctly make jar to know if there are any files I should convert placed next to the jar file(e.g. C:\path_to_jar\SomeJarDir\jar.jar So files are in the SomeJarDir with a jar), or if there are any files which I access from path I write as jar argument need to be converted.
Link to the GitHub, where is my code placed(old version where I haven’t tried to make jar to know what to convert from any folder it’s placed, which works only if u run jar in IntelliJ idea):
https://github.com/foreverdumb/javaSprSum2021/tree/JavaSprSmrHmwrk/michaelProject
P.S. How can I force log4j to create log file next to jar?

your program maybe using relative path, so when you run your program from different location, it will read the directory relative to itself. Either provide the path during runtime as user input or set the absolute path to the jar.

Related

Where should i place my files in order to be able to access them when i run the jar?

I store some objects in files and everything works fine in Netbeans console. But when i run the JAR through the command line (java -jar myapp.jar) i get this:
Where should i place the files in order to be able run the app through the command line?
The answer will depend on if you want to write to the files or not...
You could...
Ensure that the files are placed relative to the Jar file and use a relative path. The problem with this is if the execution context is not the same directory as where the jar and files are stored, you won't be able to find them again...
This will also be dependent on your build process to make sure that any required files are placed copied to the build location of the Jar
You could...
Place the files within a well know location, for example, on Windows you could use {user.home}/AppData/Local/{application name} or on Mac you could use {user.home}/Library/Application Support/{application name} and place the files here, then you could use an absolute path to the files
This likely becomes an installation issue, as you need to ensure that any required files are copied to the required location when the application is installed.
If the files are auto generated at runtime, then you just need to make sure the directories exists and make them if they don't
You could...
Store the files within the Jar context (AKA embedded resources), the means by which you do this will depend on your IDE and build process, for example, in Netbeans, you can copy files into the src directory of your project and they will automatically be included in the resulting Jar file. I believe that Eclipse can work the same way. However, if you're using Maven, you will need to place the files into the resources directory instead.
You would then access these resources using Class#getResource or Class#getResourceAsStream depending on your needs.
This will make the resources read-only however.

Building file.jar, External Executable File missing

Assuming that I use NetBeans 7.3 , I created a project that, in a nutshell, receiving as input a set of parameters, it returns as output a print on screen. The project is made up of a number of directories. Each directory contains a class (in file.class form). One of these directory contains an executable in C. I wrote it as the kernel of the Java project.
I built file.jar and I added it as a library in a new project. When I tried to test it, an error message made ​​me realize that the C written program is not was automatically added to file.jar under construction.
One of my first attempt to solve this problem was to manually add the C-executable file. By using the JAR command from the terminal on my Mac, I was able to update the file.jar adding the executable in the right subfolder.
This solution is not served because, moving from project to file.jar, the relative path that leads to the execution of the C-program has changed. So I tried to change this path seeing it from the point of view of file.jar. Yet this attempt was futile.
I defer to those with more experience than me in the packaging and distribution of Java content.
As far as I know, an operating system cannot directly execute an executable that is inside a zip file (which is what a jar file actually is). It has to be first extracted.
So your program could first open its own jar file and extract the executable file into a file on disk, then run that file.
You can create an installer program, to install both the jar file and the executable file to a suitable location on the user's disk.

How to make jar files that draw from a source folder

I've been wanting to make executable jar files with java lately. When executing my code with Eclipse it works perfectly. But when I use Eclipse to export the same code as a runnable jar, Most of my jars work except the ones that draw from separate source folders.
The jar will be made but when launched it will try and open and then just say to check to console for possible errors. I try and run the jar through the console with the command "java -jar test.jar". and It says it cannot access the jar. Any Ideas? Btw Im on a macbook pro osX. Thank you!!
picture of where my files are within eclipse
If you have a file you want to store in a jar and access from there, you don't really have a Java File any more. Look at Class.getResourceAsStream() and Class.getResource() - the first can give you an InputStream to the (used-to-be) file, the second returns a URL and can be used for things like images. Note that the file being accessed can be accessed relative to the package/folder location of the class or relative to a classpath root (by putting "/" at the front of the resource name ("/resource/funny.jpg")).
When you execute the jar from a command line, be aware that you have a thing called the "default directory"; it is a folder in which your commands execute by default. If your jar is not in the default directory, you have to specify a valid folder path to your jar to execute it.

Load files External To The Distribution Jar

I have written a Java program which I package and run from a JAR file. I need to have some user-changeable configuration files which are simply text lines of:
key = value
format. To load these files I used the class described here. When I run my program through Netbeans IDE all works fine as I have included the directory where I store the configuration files in the Project properties.
The problem comes when I build my application into a JAR file. As I want the configuration files to be user-editable I keep them OUTSIDE of the JAR but in the same directory but now when I run my application from the command line it cannot find the configuration files. If I manually add the files to JAR file at the ROOT folder then all is well.
So how can I tell Java to look outside of the JAR for my loadable files? The -classpath option has no effect.
That's because the way you are loading them requires that they be inside the .jar when running from a jar, or inside the project directory if not; it's relying on the classloader to tell it where to find the file.
If you want to open a file outside the .jar, you need to just open it as a File and read it in.
One of the ways we've approached this is to take the external filename as an option on the command line (e.g. java -jar myJar.jar -f filename). This allows you to explicitly state where the file is located. You can then decide whether or not to also look in a default location, or inside the .jar if the file isn't specified on the command line.
I resolved it by referring to this question. I Added the current directory to the MANIFEST file of the jar and it works.
Why is the -classpath option ignored in this case I wonder? Security?
I had the same problem and saw your post, but the answer in the end, was simple.
I have an application deployed via Java Webstart and am building it in Netbeans 7.3.
I have a properties file config.xml that will be updated during run time with user preferences, for instance, "remember my password".
Hence it needs to be external to the jar file.
Netbeans creates a 'dist' folder under the project folder. This folder contains the project jar file and jnlp file. I copied over the config.xml to the dist folder and the properties file was loaded using standard
FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream("config.xml");
testData.loadFromXML(in);
in.close();

Find text files in Jar

I have an app which has to read from a text file (using FileInputStream). The text file is in the directory structure relative to the class file (eg. "../textdir/text.txt"). When I run it normally (ie specifying the /bin folder containing the .class file in the cp) everything works fine. However, I somehow need to package everything into one jar and when I run the jar nothing works. The error is something like "FileNotFOund: MyJar.jar!/textdir/text.txt". I ran jar -tvf on the jarfile and the text file was indeed inside. I have read but not write access to the source code.
More than trying to solve my problem (I think there are plenty of workarounds), can someone explain to me how the whole thing work? How does the jar search for files? What if I want to read from current working directory of the command prompt instead of the directory of the .class in the jar file? Also, I recently had a similar problem with loading resources when I converted a non-jar project to a jar, how does that work?
Instead of opening the file as a FileInputStream, use getResourceAsStream which will work in both of your contexts ie. within the jar file or unpacked.

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