Develop Reference

Java: Getting resource path of the main app instead of jar's

A lot has been discussed already here about getting a resource.
If there is already a solution - please point me to it because I couldn't find.
I have a program which uses several jars.
To one of the jars I added a properties file under main/resources folder.
I've added the following method to the jar project in order to to read it:
public void loadAppPropertiesFile() {
try {
Properties prop = new Properties();
ClassLoader loader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
String resourcePath = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResource("").getPath();
InputStream stream = loader.getResourceAsStream(resourcePath + "\\entities.properties");
prop.load(stream);
String default_ssl = prop.getProperty("default_ssl");
}catch (Exception e){
}
}
The problem (?) is that resourcePath gives me a path to the target\test-clasess but under the calling application directory although the loading code exists in the jar!
This the jar content:
The jar is added to the main project by maven dependency.
How can I overcome this state and read the jar resource file?
Thanks!

I would suggest using the classloader used to load the class, not the context classloader.
Then, you have two options to get at a resource at the root of the jar file:
Use Class.getResourceAsStream, passing in an absolute path (leading /)
Use ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream, passing in a relative path (just "entities.properties")
So either of:
InputStream stream = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/entities.properties");
InputStream stream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("entities.properties");
Personally I'd use the first option as it's briefer and just as clear.

Can you try this:
InputStream stream = getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("entities.properties")

java.lang.NullPointerException while getting a filepath in Java (executing through a jar file)

I am getting an NPE at the point of getting path of a File (an sh file in assets folder).
I have tried to read about NPE i detail from the following thread, but this actually could not solve my problem.
What is a NullPointerException, and how do I fix it?
Following is my code snippet:
File absPathofBash;
url = ClassLoader.class.getResource("assets/forbackingup.sh");
absPathofBash = new File(url.getPath());
Later I'm using it in a ProcessBuilder, as
ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(url.getPath(), param2, param3)
I've also tried getting the absolute path directly, like
absPathofBash = new File("assets/forbackingup.sh").getAbsolutePath();
Using the latter way, I am able to process it, but if I create a jar then the file cannot be found. (although the Jar contains the file within the respective folder assets)
I would be thankful if anyone can help me on that.

Once you have packaged your code as a jar, you can not load files that are inside the jar using file path, instead they are class resources and you have to use this to load:
this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResource("assets/forbackingup.sh");
This way you load assets/forbackingup.sh as an absolute path inside your jar. you also can use this.getClass().getResource() but this way the path must be relative to this class path inside jar.
getResource method gives you an URL, if you want to get directly an InputStream you can use getResourceAsStream
Hope it helps!

Since the file itself is in the jar file, you could try using:
InputStream is = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(fileNameFromJar);

In case of jar file , classloader will return URL different than that of when the target file is not embedded inside jar. Refer to answer on link which should help u :
How to use ClassLoader.getResources() in jar file

I got it done by creating a temp file. Though it's not difficult, yet I'm posting the code patch here:
InputStream stream = MyClass.class.getClassLoader().
getResourceAsStream("assets/forbackingup.sh");
File temp = File.createTempFile("forbackingup", ".sh");
OutputStream outputStream =
new FileOutputStream(temp);
int read = 0;
byte[] bytes = new byte[1024];
while ((read = stream.read(bytes)) != -1) {
outputStream.write(bytes, 0, read);
outputStream.close();
}
Now, we have this temp file here which we can pipe to the ProcessBuilder like,
String _filePath=temp.getPath();
ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(url.getPath(), param2, param3)
Thank you everyone for your considerations.

You can use Path class like :
Path path = Paths.get("data/test-write.txt");
if(!Files.exists(path)){
// can handle null pointer exception
}

Unable to open properties file in servlet via a helper class

I have a class,in which ther is a func,which opens a properties file. When i write main in the same class & call that function,i am able to open the properties file n read. but, when i am tying to call the same func in my servlet by creating instance to that class, i get file not found exception.
This is the function, which i have written in my class to read properties file. And both my class and servlet are in src folder. I am using eclipse IDE.
Code:
private void readPropertiesFileAndFieldListData() {
String PROP_FILE = "./src/fields.properties";
try {
FileReader reader = new FileReader(PROP_FILE);
BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(reader);
ArrayList<String> field = new ArrayList<String>();
while ((str = br.readLine()) != null) {
if (!str.startsWith("#") && str.trim().length() > 0) {
// System.out.println(str);
field.add(str);
count++;
}
}
}

You're relying on the current working directory of the disk file system path. The current working directory is dependent on how the application is started and is not controllable from inside your application. Relying on it is a very bad idea.
The normal practice is to put that file in the classpath or to add its path to the classpath. Your file is apparently already in the classpath (you placed it in the src folder), so you don't need to change anything else. You should should just get it from the classpath by the class loader. That's more portable than a disk file system path can ever be.
ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
InputStream input = classLoader.getResourceAsStream("fields.properties");
// ...
See also:
getResourceAsStream() vs FileInputStream
Unrelated to the concrete problem, you're basically reinventing the java.util.Properties class. Don't do that. Use the following construct:
ClassLoader classLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
InputStream input = classLoader.getResourceAsStream("fields.properties");
Properties properties = new Properties();
properties.load(input);
// ...

PLease write a small test, for printing the file path of "PROP_FILE" to the log or console.
it seems, that you relativ path is incorrect.
Your relative path starting point can change, depending on where your *.exe file is started.
Your test should print
File tFile = new File(PROP_FILE);
// print tFile.getAbsolutePath()
Its better to get a special class by calling
SomeClass.class.getResource(name)
Eclipse RCP from the Bundle
Bundle.getResource(ResourcePathString)
EDIT:
Please check, whether the resource is part of your *.jar. It could be, that you missed to add it to the build.properties file.
Check whether the file is existing, before you read the properties file.

Netbeans: Try to load file but not found (Java)

I have every time the same problem when I'm trying to load files with Java in Netbeans (6.9).
It seems that the files aren't found. I get the error:
java.lang.NullPointerException
In this context:
File file = new File(this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResource("file.xml").getFile());
// or this also don't work
File file = new File("file.xml");
The file file.xml is in the same directory as the Main.java file.
How could I load this file?

This should work (it does for me):
String path = URLDecoder.decode(getClass().getResource("file.xml").getFile(), "UTF-8");
File f = new File(path);
If I understand the Javadocs correctly, this should be the same as using getClass().getClassloader().getResource() but in my experience it is different

I would suggest that you add a line so it says something along the lines (untested):
File f = new File(....);
System.out.println("f=" + f.getAbsolutePath());
// do stuff with f
This will tell you exactly where the file is expected to be and allow you to figure out what exactly is going on.

Sometimes you might need to add an extra / in front
File file = new File(this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResource("/file.xml").getFile());

How to read file from relative path in Java project? java.io.File cannot find the path specified

I have a project with 2 packages:
tkorg.idrs.core.searchengines
tkorg.idrs.core.searchengines
In package (2) I have a text file ListStopWords.txt, in package (1) I have a class FileLoadder. Here is code in FileLoader:
File file = new File("properties\\files\\ListStopWords.txt");
But I have this error:
The system cannot find the path specified
Can you give a solution to fix it?

If it's already in the classpath, then just obtain it from the classpath instead of from the disk file system. Don't fiddle with relative paths in java.io.File. They are dependent on the current working directory over which you have totally no control from inside the Java code.
Assuming that ListStopWords.txt is in the same package as your FileLoader class, then do:
URL url = getClass().getResource("ListStopWords.txt");
File file = new File(url.getPath());
Or if all you're ultimately after is actually an InputStream of it:
InputStream input = getClass().getResourceAsStream("ListStopWords.txt");
This is certainly preferred over creating a new File() because the url may not necessarily represent a disk file system path, but it could also represent virtual file system path (which may happen when the JAR is expanded into memory instead of into a temp folder on disk file system) or even a network path which are both not per definition digestable by File constructor.
If the file is -as the package name hints- is actually a fullworthy properties file (containing key=value lines) with just the "wrong" extension, then you could feed the InputStream immediately to the load() method.
Properties properties = new Properties();
properties.load(getClass().getResourceAsStream("ListStopWords.txt"));
Note: when you're trying to access it from inside static context, then use FileLoader.class (or whatever YourClass.class) instead of getClass() in above examples.

The relative path works in Java using the . specifier.
. means same folder as the currently running context.
.. means the parent folder of the currently running context.
So the question is how do you know the path where the Java is currently looking?
Do a small experiment
File directory = new File("./");
System.out.println(directory.getAbsolutePath());
Observe the output, you will come to know the current directory where Java is looking. From there, simply use the ./ specifier to locate your file.
For example if the output is
G:\JAVA8Ws\MyProject\content.
and your file is present in the folder "MyProject" simply use
File resourceFile = new File("../myFile.txt");
Hope this helps.

The following line can be used if we want to specify the relative path of the file.
File file = new File("./properties/files/ListStopWords.txt");

InputStream in = FileLoader.class.getResourceAsStream("<relative path from this class to the file to be read>");
try {
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in));
String line = null;
while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
System.out.println(line);
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}

try .\properties\files\ListStopWords.txt

I could have commented but I have less rep for that.
Samrat's answer did the job for me. It's better to see the current directory path through the following code.
File directory = new File("./");
System.out.println(directory.getAbsolutePath());
I simply used it to rectify an issue I was facing in my project. Be sure to use ./ to back to the parent directory of the current directory.
./test/conf/appProperties/keystore

While the answer provided by BalusC works for this case, it will break when the file path contains spaces because in a URL, these are being converted to %20 which is not a valid file name. If you construct the File object using a URI rather than a String, whitespaces will be handled correctly:
URL url = getClass().getResource("ListStopWords.txt");
File file = new File(url.toURI());

Assuming you want to read from resources directory in FileSystem class.
String file = "dummy.txt";
var path = Paths.get("src/com/company/fs/resources/", file);
System.out.println(path);
System.out.println(Files.readString(path));
Note: Leading . is not needed.

I wanted to parse 'command.json' inside src/main//js/Simulator.java. For that I copied json file in src folder and gave the absolute path like this :
Object obj = parser.parse(new FileReader("./src/command.json"));

For me actually the problem is the File object's class path is from <project folder path> or ./src, so use File file = new File("./src/xxx.txt"); solved my problem

For me it worked with -
String token = "";
File fileName = new File("filename.txt").getAbsoluteFile();
Scanner inFile = null;
try {
inFile = new Scanner(fileName);
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
while( inFile.hasNext() )
{
String temp = inFile.next( );
token = token + temp;
}
inFile.close();
System.out.println("file contents" +token);

If text file is not being read, try using a more closer absolute path (if you wish
you could use complete absolute path,) like this:
FileInputStream fin=new FileInputStream("\\Dash\\src\\RS\\Test.txt");
assume that the absolute path is:
C:\\Folder1\\Folder2\\Dash\\src\\RS\\Test.txt

String basePath = new File("myFile.txt").getAbsolutePath();
this basepath you can use as the correct path of your file

if you want to load property file from resources folder which is available inside src folder, use this
String resourceFile = "resources/db.properties";
InputStream resourceStream = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(resourceFile);
Properties p=new Properties();
p.load(resourceStream);
System.out.println(p.getProperty("db"));
db.properties files contains key and value db=sybase

If you are trying to call getClass() from Static method or static block, the you can do the following way.
You can call getClass() on the Properties object you are loading into.
public static Properties pathProperties = null;
static {
pathProperties = new Properties();
String pathPropertiesFile = "/file.xml";
// Now go for getClass() method
InputStream paths = pathProperties.getClass().getResourceAsStream(pathPropertiesFile);
}