Read an xml file from a servlet

Question

I can't load correctly a file xml from my servlet: that's the code:

       try{

           DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
           DocumentBuilder db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();
           Document doc = db.parse("db.xml");
       } catch (Exception ex) {
       ex.printStackTrace();
           out.print("File Not Found!");
   }

the db.xml is inside the classes folder with the class and the java file...

If it's on the classpath you need to use `ClassLoader#GetResourceAsStream`. — Jim Garrison, Mar 25 '13 at 23:18
Document doc = ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream("db.xml"); ??? — Usi Usi, Mar 25 '13 at 23:22

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 25 '13 at 23:27

3

You need to use getResourceAsStream()

    try {
        DocumentBuilderFactory dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
        DocumentBuilder db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder();
        Document doc = db.parse(getClass().getResourceAsStream("db.xml"));
    } catch (Exception ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
        out.print("File Not Found!");
    }

answered Mar 25 '13 at 23:27

Boris the Spider

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it says File Not Found... the db.xml is on the root folder of my project and also inside the classes folder... is it correct? – Usi Usi Mar 25 '13 at 23:36
Give it a go with other paths such as "/db.xml". Trial and error will get you everywhere... – Boris the Spider Mar 25 '13 at 23:40
And you're sure the resource is on your classpath? – Boris the Spider Mar 25 '13 at 23:45
it is on app/WEB-INF/classes/ – Usi Usi Mar 25 '13 at 23:47
and also I have a copy on app/ – Usi Usi Mar 25 '13 at 23:48

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

If you have the XML file in the root folder of the war file, you can read it using the real path for the context application folder.

String contextPath = request.getSession().getServletContext().getRealPath("/");

In another way, you can use the context class loader in a multi-module environment:

ClassLoader classloader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader()
Document doc = db.parse(classloader.getResourceAsStream(contextPath+ "/db.xml"));

In some environments, the additional slash is not necessary.

Read an xml file from a servlet

2 Answers2