How to save something to the desktop without hard-coding the directory?

Question

I was wondering how to get java to save a text file named hello.txt to the desktop without writing

"C:\\Users\\Austin\\Desktop"

Any help would be great. so like:

FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter(fileName.getText(), true);

..and the fileName.getText() is just going to be the 'hello'.

UPDATE: i think that i would be able to use the jfilechooser, so would this work?

JFileChooser chooser = new JFileChooser();
chooser.setVisible(true);

would that work? and if so, how would i get it to save the file using the selection in there? im a noob.... :(

If you know the operating system, then you may use User Home folder shortcut name for creating a full Desktop directory relative to user home. — tartar, Apr 15 '12 at 21:52
`C:\\Users\\NoAustin\\Desktop`.... can you be a more specific in stating what you want? Do you just want to get the home directory from environment or is it something else? — SJuan76, Apr 15 '12 at 21:53
Is this what you are looking for? http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1080634/how-to-get-the-desktop-path-in-java — Laky, Apr 15 '12 at 21:55
well, im thinking for mac and windows, and so what is the user home folder shortcut for windows 7> — PulsePanda, Apr 15 '12 at 21:56
I don't know of any simple OS-agnostic solution to this. You will likely have to create a solution for each platform. — Hovercraft Full Of Eels, Apr 15 '12 at 21:58
ok, but what is the user home folder shortcut for windows 7? — PulsePanda, Apr 15 '12 at 21:59
I recommend you read the desktop file path from a configuration file. Then it isn't hardcoded in your program. — Tony Ennis, Apr 15 '12 at 22:00
*"would that work?"* I figure you could have tried that in the time I waited to reply. What happened when you did (try it)? — Andrew Thompson, Apr 15 '12 at 22:56

Andrew Thompson · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-15T22:39:43.247

7

import java.io.File;

class FindDesktopOnWindows {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        if (System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().indexOf("win")<0) {
            System.err.println("Sorry, Windows only!");
            System.exit(1);
        }
        File desktopDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home"), "Desktop");
        System.out.println(desktopDir.getPath() + " " + desktopDir.exists());

        java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().open(desktopDir);
    }
}

I forgot different Locales. Very fragile code (even for code that starts out OS specific). See my comment below re. OS X/JFileChooser.

..how the (System.getProperty("user.home"), "Desktop") works..

Oracle helpfully provides docs for this kind of thing.

See System.getProperty(String) & new File(String,String).

I'll cede to an expert (or a user) on this, but I don't think OS X supports any application icons or document icons directly on the ..start screen, default look, whatever.. Probably better to offer the end user a JFileChooser pointing to user.home and ask them to save the document to the desktop (or wherever they feel like).

edited Apr 15 '12 at 22:39

answered Apr 15 '12 at 22:15

Andrew Thompson

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alright, explain how the `(System.getProperty("user.home"), "Desktop")` works please? – PulsePanda Apr 15 '12 at 22:23
alright. so i cant find how to make the jfilechooser... and so could u give an example on just the basics? like just creating a jframe, but make this pop up, and make it be able to save? – PulsePanda Apr 15 '12 at 22:30
well, im trying to do this for free. its for a school project – PulsePanda Apr 15 '12 at 22:33
2

+1 for `suggesting JFileChooser`. On Mac OS X, the `user.home` property yields the correct path. "Desktop" is a valid directory name, even if it's been [localized](http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/37237/20589). – trashgod Apr 16 '12 at 00:45

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 08 '15 at 14:22

3

This points you on desktop dir:

javax.swing.filechooser.FileSystemView.getFileSystemView().getHomeDirectory()

answered Oct 08 '15 at 14:22

mauretto

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On windows it does, not Linux though :(. – Majora320 Mar 10 '16 at 03:04
1

try: File desktop = new File(System.getProperty("user.home"), "Desktop"); – mauretto Mar 11 '16 at 08:28

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:00

0

User.home works, but just hardcoding the directory should be just fine.

answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:00

Hock3yPlayer

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How to save something to the desktop without hard-coding the directory?

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