How to get file from classpath

MartinHilpert Posts:3,374 Registered: 10/24/97	How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 3:14 AM
	Referencing a file with the absolute path or relative to the current working directory works flawlessly. what if i don't know the path during compile time but only during runtime? i know the fileName (without path) during runtime, but don't know where it is located. I just know that it is in the CLASSPATH. SO i tried these two ways to get the InputStream for a fileName: try { URL url = IOUtils.class.getResource(fileName); result = url.openStream(); } catch (Exception e) { out(e); }   //try to load from CLASSPATH: if (result == null) { try { URLClassLoader cl = (URLClassLoader) IOUtils.class.getClassLoader(); URL url = cl.findResource(fileName); result = url.openStream(); } catch (Exception e) { out(e); } } but both don't find the file, even though the file is in the CLASSPATH (also checked correct spelling). is there another way to retrieve the File or InputStream object to a file in the CLASSPATH?
davidsingleton Posts:193 Registered: 1/21/00	Re: How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 3:34 AM (reply 1 of 5)
	Hallo, yes, this is sometimes a difficult problem. I have sweated blood doing this as well. I think that the bast way is probably: URL url = ClassLoader.getSystemResource(fileName);
MartinHilpert Posts:3,374 Registered: 10/24/97	Re: How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 4:11 AM (reply 2 of 5)
	nope that doesn't work. but i wrote my own method that loads the file from the classpath (which works :-) : /** * Get CLASSPATH entries. * * @return List of all entries in the current CLASSPATH. */ public static List getClassPath() { List result = new ArrayList(); String classPath = System.getProperty("java.class.path"); StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer(); for (int i = 0; i < classPath.length(); i++) { //for each character if (classPath.charAt(i) == ';') { result.add(sb.toString()); sb.setLength(0); } else { sb.append(classPath.charAt(i)); } }//next character if (!sb.equals("")) { result.add(sb.toString()); }   return result; }//getClassPath()   /** * Try to open a valid InputStream from various sources (CLASSPATH, Filesystem, Jar, etc.) * * @param fileName Name of file to open. * @return InputStream or null if not found/not possible. */ public InputStream openInputStream(String fileName) { InputStream result = null;   if (fileName != null) { //try to load from URL: try { URL url = this.class.getResource(fileName); result = url.openStream(); } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ }   //try to get from system: if (result == null) { try { URL url = ClassLoader.getSystemResource(fileName); result = url.openStream(); } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ } } //try to load from CLASSPATH (JDK 1.2): if (result == null) { try { URLClassLoader cl = (URLClassLoader) IOUtils.class.getClassLoader(); URL url = cl.findResource(fileName); result = url.openStream(); } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ } }   //try to load from CLASSPATH (JDK 1.1): if (result == null) { try { ClassLoader cl = this.class.getClassLoader(); result = cl.getResourceAsStream(fileName); } catch (Exception e) { //ignore } } //try to load from current working directory: if (result == null) { try { result = new FileInputStream(fileName); } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ } } //try to load from user home directory: if (result == null) { try { result = new FileInputStream(System.getProperty("user.dir") + File.separatorChar + fileName); } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ } }   //try to load from CLASSPATH: if (result == null) { try { List classPath = getClassPath(); Iterator iterator = classPath.iterator(); while (iterator.hasNext()) { String classPathFileName = (String) iterator.next(); File file = new File(classPathFileName); if (file.exists()) { if (file.isFile()) { //check if CLASSPATH file is the file we're looking for: if (file.getName().equals(fileName)) { result = new FileInputStream(classPathFileName); break; } else { //perhaps the current file is an archive containing the file: ZipInputStream zis = new ZipInputStream(new FileInputStream(classPathFileName)); ZipEntry ze = null; for (ze = zis.getNextEntry(); ze != null; ze = zis.getNextEntry()) { if (ze.getName().equals(fileName.replace(File.separatorChar, '/'))) { result = new DataInputStream(zis); break; } }//next ZipEntry } } else if (file.isDirectory()) { // if class path is directory, check if file found along that path file = new File(classPathFileName + File.separatorChar + fileName); if (file.isFile()) { result = new DataInputStream(new FileInputStream(file)); break; } } }//else: file does not exist }//next CLASSPATH entry } catch (Exception e) { /* ignore */ } } }//else: input unavailable   return result; }//openInputStream()
edsonw Posts:3,055 Registered: 18/06/98	Re: How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 4:16 AM (reply 3 of 5)
	Great! But replace if (classPath.charAt(i) == ';') { by something that is more operating-system independent, like comparing with a variable that holds the value of System.getProperty("path.separator").
Andi_Berlin Posts:47 Registered: 9/1/03	Re: How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 4:19 AM (reply 4 of 5)
	I' m using Util.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("myFile.txt"); and it works.
MartinHilpert Posts:3,374 Registered: 10/24/97	Re: How to get File/InputStream from a file in CLASSPATH?    Nov 26, 2003 5:22 AM (reply 5 of 5)
	even better: /** * Get CLASSPATH entries. * * @return List of all entries in the current CLASSPATH. */ public static List getClassPath() { List result = new ArrayList(); String classPath = System.getProperty("java.class.path"); StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer(); char pathSeparator = ';'; //default String ps = System.getProperty("path.separator"); if (ps != null && ps.length() > 0) { pathSeparator = ps.charAt(0); }   StringCharacterIterator sci = new StringCharacterIterator(classPath); char c = sci.first(); while (c != CharacterIterator.DONE) { if (c == pathSeparator) { result.add(sb.toString()); sb.setLength(0); } else { sb.append(c); } c = sci.next(); }//next character if (!sb.equals("")) { result.add(sb.toString()); } return result; }//getClassPath()