How can I get the filepath where my project is stored from inside the project?

Question

I'm working on a project for school that needs to read from text files inside the project directory. I have it working but only because I have the filepath hardcoded to my computer.

i.e.

String path = "C:\\Users\\MyName\\workspace\\ProjectName\\"

If I sent it to my teacher, the filepath would result in an error.

Is there a way I can set the filepath to wherever the project is stored, from inside the project?

http://www.coderanch.com/t/264434/java-programmer-SCJP/certification/difference-absolute-path-relative-paths - that should help you — childofsoong, Mar 24 '15 at 22:26
FYI slash works just fine, Java will convert to Windows' backspash `C:/Users/...` — Steve Kuo, Mar 24 '15 at 22:30

copeg · Answer 1 · 2015-03-24T22:32:18.813

1

Resource files can be place relative to the class files in your project (in this manner, they can be packaged together with class files as a jar file). To access these from within your project, you can use Class.getResource() or Class.getResourceAsStream. For instance...

InputStream is = MyClass.class.getResourceAsStream('path/to/file');

Where 'path/to/file' is the path relative to where MyClass resides. Note the lack of a '/' at the beginning of this path - if it began with '/' it would be an absolute path relative to the highest package level of the project. Also note that one can use a relative file path to read a file external to the class package directory structure.

edited Mar 24 '15 at 22:32

answered Mar 24 '15 at 22:27

copeg

8,290
19
28

I'm confused by what you mean when you say 'path/to/file'. If I put the project's filepath there, would the filepath not change when I send it to my teacher? And then I would have the same problem. – yourselvs Mar 24 '15 at 22:31
1

@yourselvs read the link I commented on your question to see the difference between relative (related to where your project is) and absolute (related to the root of the file system - "C:\" in your case) file paths. – childofsoong Mar 24 '15 at 22:34
1

You are reading the file RELATIVE to where the class is (as opposed to absolute as your initial post is suggesting you are doing). See the link @soong provided. – copeg Mar 24 '15 at 22:35

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 24 '15 at 22:29

1

Just put the file name.

String path = "XPTO.txt"

This means your file is in the project root.

answered Mar 24 '15 at 22:29

Daniel Vieira

32
3

Will this also work if my file is in a subdirectory instead of the project root, and then adding the subdirectory in front of it? – yourselvs Mar 24 '15 at 22:37
Yes works too. Do not forget to make the scape for "/". – Daniel Vieira Mar 25 '15 at 00:28

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

0

Just do WhateverNeedsAPath("Something") //path will be whereever/ProjectName/Something

This might help you also: How to define a relative path in java

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

1
1

answered Mar 24 '15 at 22:30

MightyBurn

1

How can I get the filepath where my project is stored from inside the project?

3 Answers3