Develop Reference

Absolute path of a file inside a project package

I've created a file inside a project package using this code:
File xmlFile = new File("src/com/company/project/xml/tags.xml");
I am able to read the file while running from eclipse. However, after creating .jar, I'm unable to read the file. So I want to put absolute path while reading the file from the project package. How it can be done? Help and suggestions are appreciated.

In most cases, IDE's will include no Java files in the resulting Jar. Most IDE's will also include the src directory in the classpath when you run/debug the program from within them.
As a general rule of thumb, never include src in any path, src will simply not exist once the program is built.
Instead you need to make use of Class#getResource or Class#getResourceAsStream, depending on your needs. You should remember, you should never treat an "embedded" resource as a File, as in most cases it won't be, it'll be a stream of bytes in a zip file.
Something like...
URL xmlFile = getClass().getResource("/com/company/project/xml/tags.xml");
will return a URL reference to the resource. Remember, if you need a InputStream, you'll have to Class#getResourceAsStream.
If you want the resource to be writable, then you will need to find a different location to store it, as embedded resources are read only

Try with getClass().getResource()
new File(getClass().getResource("src/com/company/project/xml/tags.xml").toURI());

weblogic classloading binary resource

I'm trying to use a binary resource in my application. I need it for crypt/decript passwords. The file is located in the "classes" folder of my ear, just like properties files that the application access without problems.
Anyway, I am loading the files as follows.
ClassLoader.class.getResourceAsStrem(/file.xxxx);
But in the case of the binary file the resultant InputStream is null.
The question is, why it works with properties files and does not with a binary file? What can i do for load a binary resource?
Best regards.

Ensure that the file is available on the class path.
Use the context class loader instead - this will ensure that the code trying to look up the file can reside in a shared library as well.
Something on the lines of:
Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(..)
Hope that helps.

Instead of ClassLoader use the class name where you are currently in.
YourClass.class.getResourceAsStrem(/file.xxxx);

The correct place to put the config file in Eclipse

I have created a Dynamic Web Project in Eclipse and I have a following Java statement that needs to read a config file:
Document doc= new SAXReader().read(new File(ConstantsUtil.realPath+"appContext.xml"));
Basically, ConstantsUtil.realPath will return an empty string.
I tried putting "appContext.xml" under both "src" folder and under "WEB-INF" folder. However, I will always get the following error:
org.dom4j.DocumentException: appContext.xml (The system cannot find the file specified)
I am really confused: in Eclipse, where is the correct place to put my config xml file?
Thanks in advance.

Your concrete problem is caused by using new File() with a relative path in an environment where you have totally no control over the current working directory of the local disk file system. So, forget it. You need to obtain it by alternate means:
Straight from the classpath (the src folder, there where your Java classes also are) using ClassLoader#getResourceAsStream():
Document doc= new SAXReader().read(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("appContext.xml"));
Straight from the public webcontent (the WebContent folder, there where /WEB-INF folder resides) using ServletContext#getResourceAsStream():
Document doc= new SAXReader().read(servletContext.getResourceAsStream("/WEB-INF/appContext.xml"));
The ServletContext is in servlets available by the inherited getServletContext() method.
See also:
Where to place and how to read configuration resource files in servlet based application?
getResourceAsStream() vs FileInputStream
What does servletcontext.getRealPath("/") mean and when should I use it

You can embed your config files into your jar/war files
InputStream is = MyClass.class.getResourceAsStream("/com/site/config/config.xml");

You could either create a folder with all your configurations and reference it on the class path of the web application when published on the server, or place them under the WebContent folder, in both cases you need to reference them relatively.

There can be multiple places where you could place your property files. The selection of the location depends on the architeture of the project.
Commonly used location are:
/YourProjectRootFolder/src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/properties/XYZ.properties
: in the same folder where you have your java class files.
YourProjectConfFolderNAme/src/main/resources/XYZ.properties: here all the property files are kept in a seperate location than your project class files.
Both are the same as you need to move all your property files to you server's conf folder.

How to use ClassLoader.getResources() in jar file

Problem statement:
I have a jar file with a set of configuration files in a package mycompany/configuration/file/.
I don't know the file names.
My intention is to load the file names at runtime from the jar file in which they are packaged and then use it in my application.
As far as I understood:
When I use the ClassLoader.getResources("mycompany/configuration/file/") I should be getting all the configuration files as URLs.
However, this is what is happening:
I get one URL object with URL like jar:file:/C:/myJarName.jar!mycompany/configuration/file/
Could you please let me know what I am doing wrong ?

For what you are trying to do I don't think it is possible.
getResource and getResources are about finding named resources within the classloader's classpath, not listing values beneath a directory or folder.
So for example ClassLoader.getResources("mycompany/configuration/file/Config.cfg") would return all the files named Config.cfg that existed in the mycompany/configuration/file path within the class loader's class path (I find this especially useful for loading version information personally).
In your case I think you might almost have half a solution. The URL you are getting back contains the source jar file (jar:file:/C:/myJarName.jar). You could use this information to crack open the jar file a read a listing of the entries, filtering those entries whose name starts with "mycompany/configuration/file/".
From there, you could then fall back on the getResource method to load a reference to each one (now that you have the name and path)

Getting XML file not in the same root as the source file in Java

I have a problem where I can't seem to link to a xml file, see the layout below:
Folder Name
-Folder
-Folder
-SourceFiles
-packagename
-all my java files
-myXml.xml
Build is where all the class files etc is stored.
src is where the projectFolder is, and within it the java files
Code I am using to link XML File for Synth: SynthDialog.class.getResourceAsStream("synthtest/synthDemo.xml")
Now I want to link to the myXML.xml file in the top-level folder. It would be the PHP Equivelent of ../../Folder/
Thanks

You appear to be attempting to access the file using getResourceAsStream with a relative name. If that is the case, then the resource should be in located in a JAR file or directory on the classpath, and the location will be resolved relative to the FQN of the class.
I can't tell where the ".class" files are located in the tree, or how your classpath is set up, so I can't be more specific.
UPDATED
If you are executing out of that build directory, then your build process needs to copy the XML file to the appropriate place in the build tree so that the class-relative path ends up referring to the file. (Or use a path that starts with "/" so that you don't depend on the classes FQN at all.)
In the long term, you will probably execute out of a JAR file, and the data file will need to be inside it.

Use "getSystemResourceAsStream" instead of "getResourceAsStream" to access files outside of your codebase.