CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javadebiandebian-based
Amit
Amit

Reputation: 34735

How to specify filepath in java?

I have created a java application for "Debian Linux." Now I want that that application reads a file placed in the directory where the jar file of that application is specified. So what to specify at the argument of the File Object?

File fileToBeReaded = new File(...);

What to specify as argument for the above statement to specify relative filepath representing the path where the jar file of the application has been placed?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 181542

Answers (7)

Bhanu Gawshinde
Bhanu Gawshinde

Reputation: 1

if you want to give path which are compatible with different Operation System then you can use.

File.separator = \
File.separatorChar = \
File.pathSeparator = ;
File.pathSeparatorChar = ;

ex:
//no platform independence, good for Unix systems
File fileUnsafe = new File("tmp/abc.txt");

//platform independent and safe to use across Unix and Windows
File fileSafe = new File("tmp"+File.separator+"abc.txt");

Upvotes: -1

Mohammad Hashemi
Mohammad Hashemi

Reputation: 647

On IntelliJIDEA right click on the file then copy the absolute path, then in the double quotation paste the path as filePath. for example it should be something like this:

"C:\\Users\\NameOfTheComputerUser\\IdeaProjects\\NameOfTheProject\\YourSubFolders\\name-of-the-file.example"

Upvotes: 1

Brendan
Brendan

Reputation: 91

Are you asking about escape character issues?

If that is the case then use forward slashes instead of backward slashes like

"C:/Users/You/Desktop/test.txt"

instead of

"C:\Users\You\Desktop\test.txt"

Upvotes: 9

BalusC
BalusC

Reputation: 1108722

Using relative paths in java.io.File is fully dependent on the current working directory. This differs with the way you execute the JAR. If you're for example in /foo and you execute the JAR by java -jar /bar/jar/Bar.jar then the working directory is still /foo. But if you cd to /bar/jar and execute java -jar Bar.jar then the working directory is /bar/jar.

If you want the root path where the JAR is located, one of the ways would be:

File root = new File(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource("").toURI());

This returns the root path of the JAR file (i.o.w. the classpath root). If you place your resource relative to the classpath root, you can access it as follows:

File resource = new File(root, "filename.ext");

Alternatively you can also just use:

File resource = new File(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource("filename.ext").toURI());

Upvotes: 5

tangens
tangens

Reputation: 39733

You could ask your classloader to give you the location of the jar:

getClass().getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().getPath();

...but I'd suggest to put the file you are looking for inside your jar file and read it as a resource (getClass().getResourceAsStream( "myFile.txt" )).

Upvotes: 2

Carl Smotricz
Carl Smotricz

Reputation: 67760

If you know the name of the file, of course it's simply 

new File("./myFileName")

If you don't know the name, you can use the File object's list() method to get a list of files in the current directory, and then pick the one you want.

Upvotes: 8

Geo
Geo

Reputation: 96817

I think this should do the trick:

File starting = new File(System.getProperty("user.dir"));
File fileToBeRead = new File(starting,"my_file.txt");

This way, the file will be searched in the user.dir property, which will be your app's working directory.

Upvotes: 3

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