Read local file in Intellij IDEA JavaEE web application deployed with tomcat

Question

I have a simple JavaEE web application project in Intellij and I need to read a file in src.main.resources folder. Follow is a screen shot of what my project looks like.

I need to return the context of data.txt file in the getData() function. Current method does nothing but return "Error" to the index.jsp and throw a NoSuchFileException. I tested using following paths but result is the same.

"data.txt"
"/data.txt"
"src/main/resources/data.txt"
"/src/main/resources/data.txt"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You have to either use the absolute path or the path relative to the Tomcat working directory (or change Tomcat working directory inside the server startup script). The better option could be to read it from the classpath instead. — CrazyCoder, Apr 29 '17 at 18:49
Can you please show me how to do that relevantly to my environment? — Vihanga Liyanage, Apr 30 '17 at 05:35
I'm sure you can find hundreds of answers how to do that, like [this one](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1464291/how-to-really-read-text-file-from-classpath-in-java). — CrazyCoder, Apr 30 '17 at 10:00

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 30 '17 at 09:32

1

System.out.println("get data");
    String newMessage = "error";
    String fileName = "abc.txt";
    try {
        newMessage = new String(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get("C:\\Users\\kalingay\\IdeaProjects\\SpringMVCCrudApp\\src\\main\\resources\\" + fileName)), "UTF-8");
        System.out.println("out--->" + newMessage) ;
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.out.println("Exception-->" + e);
    }

answered Apr 30 '17 at 09:32

KalingaYapa

21
2

Using relative paths is not a good practice @KalingaYapa. This would result in numerous errors when deployed elsewhere. – Vihanga Liyanage Apr 30 '17 at 13:02

KalingaYapa · Answer 2 · 2017-05-01T05:52:08.987

 System.out.println("get data");
    StringBuilder out = new StringBuilder();
    try {
        InputStream inputStream = HelloWorld.class.getResourceAsStream("kky.txt");
        BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(inputStream));
        String line;
        while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
            out.append(line);
        }
        System.out.println(out.toString());
        reader.close();
        System.out.println("out--->" + out);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        System.out.println("Exception-->" + e);
    }

Make Sure HelloWorld class and kky.txt in same folder ... :) :) This will help you :) :)

Using Relative Path .... :) :) try this one

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '17 at 20:46

1

First, create your java project structure correctly, place HelloWorld.java under src/main/java.

Put your resources under /src/main/resources.

Load the resources with:

.getClass().getClassLoader().getResource(fileName)

answered Apr 30 '17 at 20:46

D00de

880
3
7
26

Complete solution I found is added as another answer. But your answer led me to it hence I'm marking this as the accepted answer. Thanks. – Vihanga Liyanage May 02 '17 at 10:10

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 02 '17 at 10:18

With the help of @D00de I got together a complete solution as follows.

First thing to do is reorganize the project as shown in the image. Classes should go in src.main.java.* and resources should go in src.main.resources.*

Then to access the file, use following code.

URI uri = HelloWorld.class.getClassLoader().getResource("metadata/data.txt").toURI();
out = String.valueOf(Files.readAllLines(Paths.get(uri)));

Read local file in Intellij IDEA JavaEE web application deployed with tomcat

4 Answers4