Linking to files outside a jar

Hey all, this is the problem:
I have a jar called, lets say, Test.jar that contains a class TestClass.jar.
TestClass references a properties file where it gets information about where to find required resources etc.
Test.jar is in a directory C:\Java\jars\Test.jar but the properties file I wish to reference is at C:\ level.
So the question is how do I reference this relative to my Test.jar.
I've tried "../../" and "..\\..\\" but it aint working.
Have also tried referencing it according to what would happen if the jar was expanded, but still no luck.
Any and all help would be much appreciated.

hi Ceci,
the problem is, this is gonna be moving soon so I dont want to be changing a different paths.
On the plus side, it will be deployed as a war, so everything should stay in the same position relative to the jar.
Any ideas now you know the problem better?

Similar Messages

How to access files outside a .jar file netbeans project

Hi, i need to access a file outside a built project inside netbeans. Ideally i would like this file next to the .jar file as myapp.properties. If possible i would like it so that when i am compiling and running the project in netbeans the file can be with the class files or something along those likes. Either way it would be nice to have different code for built projects and just running them outside a jar.
Heres what i got so far
properties = new Properties();
            InputStream in = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("applications.properties");
            properties.load(in);
            in.close();this only works if the file is next to the classes. (think thats called the classpath ? )
Thanks for any replies!!

Your wrong code:
properties = new Properties();
InputStream in
= this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("applications.properties");
properties.load(in);
in.close();A right code:
// basic assumption 1: applications.properties
// is a pure ISO 8859-1 text file
// basic assumption 2: the file applications.properties
// is stored in the same directory where your
// jar file is stored
properties = new Properties();
try{
FileInputStream in      // assume current dir
   = new FileInputStream("applications.properties");
properties.load(in);
in.close();
catch (Exception e){
e.printStackTrace();
}

How to read a file outside my .jar

Hello!
I have my j2me application in a .jar file , and my application needs to read a .txt file which is outside my .jar but in the same directory.
I tried to do :
InputStream input = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/myfile.txt");
as well as
InputStream input = getClass().getResourceAsStream("myfile.txt");
but nothing is working...
Could you help me, please??? I'm getting crazy with this :(
Thanks in advance!

Thanks sabre150,
sabre150 wrote:
You cannot update a running jar file. I am sorry. I didn't know about it. Thanks to point out.
There are two ways I approach this depending on my exact requirements -
1) use the java.util.prefs.Preferences APII will try this one
>
2) if not already present I copy the preferences file from the jar to a known place. I use a directory in the user's home directory and normally make the directory name the program with a '.' prefix.
One cannot access files in a jar file using the File API. One needs to use the getResource() or getResourceAsStream() methods on Class or ClassLoader.

How to read files outside the jar ?

Hi all,
One of my classes inside jar needs to read XML file that resides in the same location where the jar sits. I use MyClass.getClass().getResource("MyXMLFile.xml") but it keeps returning null.
If I place the XML file inside the JAR, I can find it using above methods, but since I want the user to easily edit the XML file without opening the jar file and detach the XML file, I choose not to include the XML file inside the jar.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Setya

Thanks for the dukes.
My JDBC post on this forum discusses the issues of
using Class-Path in your jar file. It works, but it
may vary from system to system.
Thanks also from my side: I have read recently your discussion about reading files in the jar's directory, since I had the same problem. So I was really glad to see your solution. However, I had one more problem, namely that I'm running my application sometimes from the jar, sometimes from the classes directly (debugging). In order to have always the correct path (although a different one) I have added some more lines to deal with that case. I hope that will be useful for you as well!
Dieter Profos
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.WindowAdapter;
import java.awt.event.WindowEvent;
import java.awt.event.WindowListener;
import java.net.URL;
* @author pkwooster
* @author Dieter Profos
* @version 1.01 04/03/26
public class ReadOutside extends Frame {
private TextArea textArea;
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create application frame.
ReadOutside tc = new ReadOutside();
tc.addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent we) {
System.exit(0);
// Show frame
tc.setSize(600,250);
tc.setVisible(true);
public ReadOutside() {
textArea = new TextArea(20,80);
add(textArea);
readOutside(this);
public void readOutside(Object o) {
System.out.println(getCodeBasePath(o));
/** Gets the absolute path of the directory where the JAR or CLASS file is
* located. If the application is run from a jar file, the directory of the
* jar file is returned; if it is run from a class file, the method will
* return the directory path of the class file.
* @param o The main class of the application.
* @return The absolute directory path, or null if neither the class nor a
* jar file could be found.
public String getCodeBasePath(Object o) {
Class c = o.getClass();
URL url;
// get the class name
String className = c.getName();
textArea.append("class name = " + className + "\n");
// replace package periods by file separators
className = className.replace('.','/');
ClassLoader cl = c.getClassLoader();
if (cl == null)
cl = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader();
url = cl.getResource(className + ".class");
String xPath = url.toExternalForm();
textArea.append("url = " + url + "\n");
textArea.append("extPath = " + xPath + "\n");
// make sure that the path starts with jar:file:
if (xPath.startsWith("jar:file:")) {
// remove jar:file: + the subsequent file separator
xPath = xPath.substring("jar:file:".length()+1);
int n = xPath.indexOf("!");
if (n < 0)
n = xPath.length();
String jarPath = xPath.substring(0, n);
textArea.append("jar file path = " + jarPath + "\n");
n = jarPath.lastIndexOf("/");
String jarDir = jarPath.substring(0, n+1);
textArea.append("jar dir = " + jarDir + "\n");
return jarDir;
else { // if program is run from its class file (development phase!)
if (xPath.startsWith("file:")) {
// remove file: + the subsequent file separator
xPath = xPath.substring("file:".length()+1);
textArea.append("class file path = " + xPath + "\n");
int n = xPath.lastIndexOf("/");
String classDir = xPath.substring(0, n+1);
textArea.append("class dir = " + classDir + "\n");
return classDir;
return null;

Accessing files outside the jar

Greetings,
I've got a jar file with some classes, which is in a directory. In this dir there are also some resources. How to access those resources from inside the jar?
Thanks in advance,
imaginner

Try this...
In your class, add this line...
String path = System.getProperty("user.dir");
it will give the path of the folder from which you are running
your jar file. To this path, add your properties file name
and start reading it.....
For example:
If i have a properties file which both :
1) should be able to read and edit by users and
2) should be accessible by classes in jar file....
I would use the above concept like this.... in my class.....
String path = System.getProperty("user.dir");
Properties props = new Properties();
props.load(new FileInputStream(path+"yourPropertiesFileName"));
Hope it helps...
Vijay

How to Sign jar file?? (Needed to access a File Outside of JAR)

Hi
We had a program that acces a txt file in the nokia's memory card but we need to sign the program because if doesn't do that we can't access to the file.
Thank you

Hi!!
I tryed and my N70 says "Imposible install the application".
and this is my jad code:
MIDlet-1: VA2, , VA2
MIDlet-Jar-Size: 2030
MIDlet-Jar-URL: VA2.jar
MIDlet-Name: VA2
MIDlet-Vendor: Vendor
MIDlet-Version: 1.0
MicroEdition-Configuration: CLDC-1.1
MicroEdition-Profile: MIDP-2.0
MIDlet-Permissions:javax.microedition.io.Connector.http, com.qualcomm.qjae.gps.Gps
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Is it possible to read an xml file from a jar file when the dtd is
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Long Question:
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i want have home page that have this menu
========================
-- Sale
--- Customer
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=======================
For example
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======================
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Can Netbeans put a jar file In a jar file?

I just went through the process of getting Eclipse to create a jar file that would execute from a command prompt using a plugin called fatjar :
http://fjep.sourceforge.net/
Details from other thread :http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5219638&tstart=0
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http://www.acousticlights.com/netbeans.png
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georgemc wrote:
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My first attempt at using an external jar in a java program lead me to believe that all of the code for a java program would be in a jar file including external jar files, after all the JDK standard library has tons of jars in it so I assumed the external jar file would be linked (as most other programming compiler/linkers I have worked with in my top down programming life).
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Really this is like getting into a race car and not knowing at what RPM to shift gears, sure you can press the pedal and make it go but if you don't understand how it works under the hood you are going to blow the engine if you keep it in first gear.
I have read many posts on these errors, the reason is the error message is just not very descriptive of the original problem. If I try and open a database called xyz.dbf that has one field defined as lastname, in C for example, I would not give the error message "Lastname could not be found) when indeed the lastname could not be found but the reason it could not be found was because the database xyz.dbf could not be found. Further , adding to the error message that the system is looking for xyz.dbf on drive X- subdirectory -mydatabases would complete the error message and allow the user to fix the error. Just what is a non java programmer that is using my java program suppose to do with an Ecception Error in (main) bla bla bla... I know now I need to check for library files myself within my own java programs and give a better error message to the user before the java VM sends out it's cryptic message.
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The best way IMO is to sync each iPad with your computer. Having all your stuff backed up on a computer is a good idea anyway. Just read how many folks here are trying to recover lost stuff that could easily be copied back from either backup or iTunes on the computer.
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I think I found a beginnig of solution, but I still have trouble.
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RH8 HTML and MS Word 2007
The images from linked Word documents are not showing up in my RH8 project.
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MS Word source files are in a network location (because several other writers are maintaining the source content). There are about 20 MS Word source files.
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Hi Peter,
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Since RH also does not automatically create any kind of Images folder in the project during the process of linking and generating the source files, I have tried copy/pasting the source images into the top-level RH project folder prior to even linking/generating htm topics from the Word source files. But when I go to a topic and view the properties associated with the image placeholder, RH still does not display any of the image files I pasted into the project folder.
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Thanks,
Athena

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Hi,
I am trying to read an xml file from a jar (which is not present inside the jar ) .
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TIA,
Regards,
Harsha

Hi,
Actually, my application needs to read two xml files , parse it, perform some operation and write
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Going by what you said, is it not possible for a java class to read a fie outside of the jar ? Is there no way to do this ? And right now i am not sure of how to go about this or if there's any work around . Any help would be appreciated.
Kindly reply at the earliest
TIA,
Harsha

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I have a program that has a Properties file which I would like to "save" into the JAR file, so it is not outside the JAR.
I know this can be done, because I've seen some Java programs that save their configuration between sessions, but not via a file inside its directory. This leads me to believe the file is maintained within the JAR itself, which would be REALLY handy and secure.
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package SBX;
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
public class MyProgram {
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    public String stringOne = "Will this be loaded?";
    public String stringTwo = "How about this one?";
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    public static void main(String[] args) {
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        // we should be able to get the values "ONE" and "TWO" for print outs 1 & 2 when we next
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class MyProperties {
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    public void updateProgram(MyProgram prg) {
        prg.stringOne = properties.getProperty("stringOne");
        prg.stringTwo = properties.getProperty("stringTwo");
    public void updateProperties(MyProgram prg) {
        properties.setProperty("stringOne", prg.stringOne);
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        try {
            FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("properties.txt");
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            fos.close();
        catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
}Thanks for any help!
PS...writing demo programs is kind of fun :)

Fossie,
Yup... you can jar up your properties file... you just need to add it to manifest file and jar (the program) takes care of the rest... google that there's loads of existing articles.
BUT, I don't think you can modify the properties file in the jar... it may be possible, but I just don't know how. Instead (I think) you ship your default properties file in the jar, but still save a local properties file to the same directory as the jar (obviously won't work for applets)... then you load your defaults, and the local settings over the top.
and PS I don't see how sticking a properties file in the jar would "secure" it in any fashion... it's just a zip file after all... would you care to elaborate?
Cheers,
Keith.

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So i have the following code in my program and when i goto run the jar file i get NPE's:
URL fileURL = getClass().getResource("resources/cfg/portlist");
BufferedReader portFileBuff = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fileURL.openStream()));Now my jar file has resources/cfg/portlist in it and i cannot figure out why this isnt working for me when it works just fine in another program i have. I feel im missing out on some framing issue. Any Suggestions?

Hello,
I have the same problem when trying to log "log4j" from a jar....
Here is my code that generate the error:
static{
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This code works well outside the jar.
It semms that I got also the same problem on library that are in my jar under the directory "lib"....
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Linking to files outside a jar

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