Develop Reference

Access property/environment variables without launching Eclipse?

I want to set the log4j configuration file path/other folder paths that can be used across other class files, without hard-coding the folder path.
Rightnow, I have set the variables as Environment variable. But It can only be modified if I launch Eclipse. How do I set this variable in such away that anyone (doesn't want to launch Eclipse) can modify it, from outside. Also, it will be used in test configurations. So it's better to not hard-code it and have all the file paths etc. easy to refactor.
final static String log4jpath = System.getenv("LOG4J_PATH");

Paraphrasing a comment:
[How to get value from] outside of the Java program such as a separate file, that contains all other filepaths?
That is called a configuration file.
It is often a properties file, similar to a Log4j configuration file, but it can be any types of file, e.g. XML, JSON, YAML, ...
To identify a single such file, you can use:
An environment variable (like you are right now)
A system property (more common)
A specifically named file in the current directory
...
The entries in that file will identify all the values you really want.
For example, Spring, which is a populate Java framework, will look for configuration values in many places. See 24. Externalized Configuration for full detail, but here is a summary of the most common ones:
Command line arguments, e.g. java -jar MyApp.jar --foo=bar
Java System properties, e.g. set using -Dfoo=bar on the command-line
OS environment variables, e.g. SET foo=bar (Windows) or export foo=bar (Linux)
Application properties outside of your packaged jar, i.e. relative to current directory.
Name and location can be overridden on command-line.
config/application.properties
config/application.yaml
application.properties
application.yaml

Soni, If you want to put the log4j configuration file in one place so that everybody can access. Follow the steps.
Create a project with some name and inside src/main/resources folder keep the log4j configuration file.
Create a jar file which must contain this log4j configuration file.
Use this created jar file wherever it is required. Log4j will automatically use the configuration for desired logging. If you want, you can distribute this jar file to anybody who wants to use it.
The above option is if you do not want to change the configuration file.
Now if there is a situation where someone wants to modify the configuration file.
In this case, simply put the configuration in any project classpath, means inside resource folder. As long as log4j jar files are there in the classpath and configuration files. It will log everything.
However, if you want, you can extend the functionality of Log4j by passing configuration as an object. You can refer below the link to access pro grammatically.
https://howtodoinjava.com/log4j/how-to-programmatically-configure-appenders-in-log4j/

I have added all file and folder paths inside the properties file (example config.properties) and then used it inside the testsetup method by InputStream input = new FileInputStream("Path to//config.properties");
Properties prop = new Properties();
prop.load(input);
System.setProperty("log4j2.configurationFile", prop.getProperty("log4j.path"));
this way, all files/folder paths can be modifies from outside and there's no need to set environment variable from inside the project.

Property File Outisde of .WAR file

I need to be able to read in a property file, that lives outside of my war. My problem is that a need a solution that will allow me to tell my war file where my property file is located. Can this be done through bashrc variables and windows env variables?
I need to do this because I need to be able to drop the property file in different locations that could be away from the war file.
I am struggling to come up with a solution.

This will very much depends what the property file is for. Some libraries will have have the possibility of setting it on the command-line and others will allow you to explicitly load them in code.
In case of the latter, System.getProperties() can prove helpful, since it allows you to read properties passed to the JVM using the '-D' flag. For example
java -jar -Dfilelocation="yourfilelocation" yourapp.jar
would populate the system property 'filelocation' with the string 'yourfilelocation'. This could then be used in your code to load the property file (or whatever you want to do with it).
Since you are running inside some sort of application server, there are different ways you can accomblish this. For jetty you can put them in start.ini (or simply pass them on the command-line when you start jetty)
where tomcat uses an enviroment variable called JAVA_OPTS, so
JAVA_OPTS='-Dfilelocation=yourfilelocation' start.sh
would set the system property when you start tomcat.

one way is to provide specific location by passing java argument or setting up environment varialble and read it from app to determine the location
and as a fallback (default) app should be announcing to look at
${user.home}/appname/some.peroperties

You could defines a list of possible directories ... and try to read each one ...
I have a solution that read a property file in the file system using a default directory structure.
Eg: c:\properties\code-suit\prd\application.properties
Where:
code-suit is a variable defined by application name;
prd is a environment that I will use
Good luck

Getting the current working resource directory in java maven project

I am currently working on a JUnit test that checks functionality responsible for loading/saving a process configuration from/to some file. Given that a particular configuration file is present in resources, the functionality loads parameters from the file. Otherwise the functionality attempts to create new configuration file and persist a default configuration coded in the class. Right now I am using .class.getResource() method to check if configuration file exists, and to retrieve the necessary information. This approach is proven to be working fine from both maven's "test-class" and "class" directories. However, I am having problems while attempting to save default configuration when the file does not exist, namely the .class.getResource() method returns null, as the resource does not yet exist. This stops me from building the target resource directory (context-dependent) where the file should be saved.
Is there a way to code my functionality to evaluate whether particular object is being executed as a test or in production? More precisely, how can I build a relative path to my resource files to point to either production resources (../classes/...) or test resources (../test-classes/..) depending on the execution mode in which the project currently is?
My question is somewhat similar to the following How should I discover test-resource files in a Maven-managed Java project? but I think it is different enough to warrant new thread.

If I understand you right, essentially your issue is that you have a Maven project, which reads a particular file (normally, and during unit tests), that determines the application's behaviour. If that file doesn't exist, your application creates it.
The problem with ClassLoader.getSystemResource(...), is that it's not actually scanning a single directory. Instead it's looking at Java's classpath to determine the location of that particular resource. If there's multiple directories on the classpath, it'll have a number of areas that the file could potentially be located in.
In a sense then, .getSystemResource(...) is one way. You're able to look-up the location of a file, but not get the appropriate location to place it.
*So what about when you need to put the file in the correct location?*
You have two options essentially:
Hard-code the location of the file: Noone likes doing that.
The locations that are scanned on the classpath are passed into the classloader. You could use, for example, the first one and create the file there.
The second option isn't actually a bad one; have a look at this sample code.
final Enumeration<URL> urls = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().getResources("");
if(! urls.hasMoreElements()) {
LOG.error("No entries exist on the class path!");
System.exit(1);
}
final File configFile = new File(urls.nextElement().getFile(), "config.xml");
configFile.createNewFile();
LOG.info("Create a new configuration file: " + configFile.getPath());
System.exit(0);
This resolved the configuration file to be within my target folder: ..\target\classes\config.xml
Up to you what you do; happy to provide more tips & advice if you feel more is required.

It sounds like you want to do the following:
When your code runs, it tries to load the configuration file. When the configuration file is not found you want to create the configuration file. The twist is that
if you are executing the code in "production mode" (I presume using something like the exec-maven-plugin or jetty-maven-plugin depending on the nature of your code) you want the configuration file to be placed in ${project.build.outputDirectory}
if you are executing the code in "test mode" (e.g. via surefire or failsafe) you want the configuration file to be placed in ${project.build.testOutputDirectory}
What I would do is use the ServiceLoader pattern.
You create a ConfigFileStore interface that is responsible for storing your configuration.
The ConfigFileStoreFactory enumerates all the services implementing that interface (using the ServiceLoader API by getting all the /META-INF/services/com.yourpackage.ConfigFileStore resources and extracting the class names from those. If there are no implementations registered then it will instantiate a default implementation that stores the file in the path based on getClass() (i.e. working backwards to get to the ${project.build.outputDirectory} note that it should handle the case where the classes get bundled up into a JAR, and I would presume in such a case the config file might get stored adjacent to the JAR)
Note: The default implementation will not be registered in /META-INF/services
Then in src/test/java you extend the default implementation and register that extended implementation in src/test/resources/META-INF/services/com.yourpackage.ConfigFileStore
Now when running code that has the test code on the classpath, the test version will be found, that will pick up the getClass() for a class from ${project.build.testOutputDirectory} because it is from the test classpath's /META-INF/services.
When running code that does not have the test code on the classpath, the default implementation will pick up the getClass() for a class from ${project.build.outputDirectory}
Should do what you want.

ImageMagick/IM4J FileNotFoundException

I am trying to use IM4J (a Java wrapper for ImageMagick) to create thumbnails of JPEGs and it is my first experience (ever) with both libraries. Please note that this is a hard requirement handed to me by my tech lead (so please don't suggest to use anything other than an IM4J/ImageMagick) solution - my hands are tied on the technology choice here!
I am getting a FileNotFoundException on the and convert command which tells me I don't have one of these libraries (or both) setup correctly.
On my computer, here is my directory structure:
C:/
myApp/
images/ --> where all of my JPEGs are
thumbnails/ --> where I want ImageMagick to send the converted thumbnails to
imageMagickHome/ --> Where I downloaded the DLL to
ImageMagick-6.7.6-1-Q16-windows-dll.exe
...
In my Java project, I make sure that the IM4J JAR (im4java-1.2.0.jar) is on the classpath at runtime. Although I am required to use the 1.2.0 version of IM4J, I have the liberty to use any version of ImageMagick that I want. I simply chose this version because it seemed like the most current/stable version for my Windows 7 (32-bit) machine. If I should use a different version, please send me a link to it from the ImageMagick downloads page in your answer!
As for ImageMagick, I just downloaded that EXE from here and placed it in the folder mentioned above - I didn't do any installation, wizard, MSI, environment variable configuration, etc.
Then, in my Java code:
// In my driver...
File currentFile = new File("C:/myApp/images/test.jpg"); --> exists and is sitting at this location
File thumbFile = new File("C:/myApp/thumbnails/test-thumb.jpg"); --> doesnt exist yet! (destination file)
Thumbnailer myThumbnailer = new Thumbnailer();
myThumbnailer.generateThumbnail(currentFile, thumbFile);
// Then the Thumbnailer:
public class Thumbnailer
{
// ... omitted for brevity
public void generateThumbnail(File originalFile, File thumbnailFile)
{
// Reads appConfig.xml from classpath, validates it against a schema,
// and reads the contents of an element called <imPath> into this
// method's return value. See below
String imPath = getIMPathFromAppConfigFile();
org.im4java.core.IMOperation op = new Operation();
op.colorspace(this.colorSpace);
op.addImage(originalFile.getAbsolutePath());
op.flatten();
op.addImage(thumbnailFile.getAbsolutePath());
ConvertCmd cmd = new ConvertCmd();
cmd.setSearchPath(imPath);
// This next line is what throws the FileNotFoundException
cmd.run(op);
}
}
The section of my appConfig.xml file that contains the imPath:
<imPath>C:/myApp/imageMagickHome</imPath>
Please note - if this appConfig.xml is not well-formed, our schema validator will catch it. Since we are not getting schema validation errors, we can rule this out as a culprit. However, notice my file path delimiters; they are all forward slashes. I did this because I was told that, on Windows systems, the forward slash is treated the same as a *nix backslash, in reference to file paths. Believe it or not, we are developing on Windows
machines, but deploying to linux servers, so this was my solution (again, not my call!).
IM4J even acknowledges that Windows users can have trouble sometimes and explains in this article that Windows developers might have to set an IM4JAVA_TOOLPATH env var to get this library to work. I tried this suggestion, created a new System-wide environmental variable of the same name and set its value to C:\myApp\imageMagickHome. Still no difference. But notice here I am using backslashes. This is because this env var is local to my machine, whereas the appConfig.xml is a config descriptor that gets deployed to the linux servers.
From what I can tell, the culprit is probably one (or more) of the following:
I didn't "install" the ImageMagick EXE correctly and should have used an installer/MSI; or I need to add some other environmental variables for ImageMagick (not IM4J) itself
Perhaps I still don't have IM4J configured correctly and need to add more environmental variables
Could be the Windows/*nix "/" vs. "" issue from my appConfig.xml file as mentioned above
I'm also perplexed as to why I'm getting a FileNotFoundException on a file named "convert":
java.io.FileNotFoundException: convert
I assume this is a batch/shell file living somewhere inside the IM4J jar (since the only thing I downloaded for ImageMagick was the EXE). However, if I extract the IM4J jar I only see classes inside of it. I see "script generator" classes, so I assume these kick off before my cmd.run(op) call and create the convert file, and maybe that's what I'm missing (perhaps I need to manually kick off one of these generators, like CmdScriptGenerator prior to executing my Thumbnailer methods. . Or, maybe my download is incomplete.
Either way, I'm just not versed enough with either library to know where to start.
Thanks for any help with this.

Run the 'ImageMagick-6.7.6-1-Q16-windows-dll.exe' installer first to install the imagemagick libraries. Then make sure your environment path includes the location of the installed binaries ('convert.exe', 'mogrify.exe', etc)

Make sure u have Set the environment-variable IM4JAVA_TOOLPATH.

Loading application properties in a Java desktop application

What is the best way to store and load application level properties in Java.
Is there anything simulare to .net where I would just put something in the app.config
<appSettings>
<add key="emailAddress" value="me#example.com" />
</appSettings>
And then retrieve it like this:
string AdminEmail = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["emailAddress"];
Do I have to load properties files into file streams and such? seems like unnecessary work.
I have tried this:
Properties props = new Properties();
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("myProps.properties");
props.load(fis);
fis.close();
But this is give me a java.io.FileNotFoundException exception. Where does the properties file need to go to in relation to the class?

The Preferences API provides this functionality. It has many warts, but if you are looking to do this in an OS-agnostic fashion, this is the only way to accomplish this using the standard Java runtime libraries. You can of course always write your own OS-specific code to meet your needs. Yes, you can write simple code to load a properties file, but the location of that file can become a problem across multiple operating systems. I assume since you are writing a desktop app in Java, you care about OS portability. Otherwise Java might not be the best choice for a desktop app.

If you use a FileInputStream like that, your path is relative to the current directory of the OS, which usually is the startup directory.
If you instead use the Java built in resources mechanism (as described in the API, getResourceAsStream() et al), the path will be relative to the location of your class. With this approach you can also load resources from within jars and even over networks (for Applets for instance). The concept which is used is a sort of virtual filesystem, which is called the 'classpath' in Java jargon. There is a devx article covering it a litte more in detail.
In short, this sort of code works well:
Properties prop = new Properties();
//with properties in the same dir as current class
prop.load(getClass().getResourceAsStream("my.properties"));
//with properties in the root dir of your jar, or in base of classpath
prop.load(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/my.properties"));
You will need to add error handling...

Typically it will attempt to load from the application's current directory, which can vary depending on how you run it. You should be able to determine this at runtime by doing:
String currentFolder = System.getProperty("user.dir");

The file path it would be looking for in that case is relative to where you started your java application from. This is not where the main class is or the jar file but where you called Java from. If you are starting your application with a script that calls Java, then it is that directory.
Say for example, you application is bundled in a jar file 'app.jar'. Put 'myProps.properties' in the same directory and run 'java -jar app.jar' from that directory. It should find your properties file that way.

You can use Properties with a ResourceBundle. I use this in a application to store labels, buttons and messages in different languages
First you create a properties file, like test.properties. It´s a text file and inside it you put your information like this:
propertyname=value
In your case
emailAddress=me#example.com
email2=blablabla#example.com
and so on...
To get this properties in the code, create a ResourceBundle object with the name of your property file to call the properties.
ResourceBundle rb = ResourceBundle.getBundle("test");
To get an specific value from a properties file, just call the ResourceBundle
String value = rb.getString("emailAddress");
This way, the String named value contains the value of the property named "emailAddress", located in the test.properties file
String value2 = rb.getString("email2");
Likewise, the String named value2 contains the value of the property named "email2", located in the test.properties file

When you do not specify an absolute path, the one chosen is the current one.
It's not exactly what you asked, but if you want to use XML files as configuration, you could have a look at Apache Commons Configuration