Where to put .txt file with SimpleInput

Question

Hello everyone,
I'm rather new to Java and have a slight problem. The thing is that I need to write an app that can read a text file in this format:
2
Orc
name = Gnorck
experience = 20
maxHealthPoints = 50
healthPoints = 30
maxBerserk = 9
berserk = 7
Human
name = Aragorn
experience = 45
maxHealthPoints = 40
healthPoints = 30
maxGreed = 20
greed = 10
The first number is de number of characters in the file and after that every character is described in 7 lines.
Now the application has to be able to read the file. I've choosen to first just make a list of characters. A friend helped me with this code but I'm not completely sure if I know how it works. The code:
package RPGApplicatie;
import java.util.*;
public class Karakters {
     //Constructor
     public Karakters(int size){
          karakters = new ArrayList(size);
     //Methode voor het toevoegen van een karakter
     public void voegToe(Karakter k){
          karakters.add(k);
     public static Karakters readFile(String filename) throws ClassNotFoundException, RuntimeException, InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException{
          SimpleInput file = new SimpleInput(filename);
          int size = file.nextInt();
          Karakters result = new Karakters(size);
          for(int i = 0; i < size ; i++) {
               Class c = Class.forName(file.nextLine());
               result.voegToe((Karakter)c.newInstance());
          return result;
     //Variabelen aanmaken
     private ArrayList<Karakter> karakters;
}First question: I have the classes Karakter (which is the superclass for class Human and Orc), Human and Orc. So does the method forName scan for strings that are also classes? Like so it scans the file and when it comes across a line that says either 'Orc' or 'Human' it adds it to the list?
Second question: Where to put the text file that holds the data? I now have it in the same folder called test.txt. I use this code to run it:
package RPGApplicatie;
public class RPGApplicatie {
     public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException, RuntimeException, InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException {
          Karakters.readFile("test.txt");
}Thanks in advance! If more info is needed I can post that.
Regards,
Sander

Answer 1

I assume you have defined your Human and Orc classes to include fields name, experience, etc and a constructor that takes these values as parameters?
You can remove the Class.forName() method altogether. Example:
int count = file.readInt();
// define variables for Karakter values (name, experience etc.)
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
  String characterClass = file.readLine();
  // read common character components
  if (characterClass.equals("Human")
    // read human specific components
    karakters.add(new Human(...));
  if (characterClass.equals("Orc")
    // create Orc
//...Cheers