Where to store a text file when importing data?

Question

I have created a JDBC in Netbeans which loads data into the tables from a text file. When I run the program on a different computer, the file path (I think thats what it is called) will be different.

The text file is on my desktop. This means if I have to run the program from a different computer I would get an error because the file was obviously not found in the same place as on the original computer.

I created a string to load the data into the database, shown below:

String loadData = "load data local infile '/Users/Ricky/Desktop/table_data.txt'" +
                      "into table T1;";

Could I create a folder in the netbeans project to store the text file? So it could be accessed from any computer with the same path?

A possible solution is to use [system properties](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/environment/sysprop.html) (`user.home` for example) or a custom property — , Nov 24 '15 at 21:00
Where do you run your program? On your desktop? Or is this a web app or something like that? Edit: also, is it always the same text file, or can the text file be different? — markspace, Nov 24 '15 at 21:00
Take the location instead as a commandline parameter or other such mechanism. There's no sense in hardcoding the location. — Kayaman, Nov 24 '15 at 21:00
NETNEANS (also known as NetBeans) can create many kinds of apps, including both desktop and web apps. Please answer the question explicitly. — markspace, Nov 24 '15 at 21:02
There are several ways to solve this. Which solution to choose is up to you. Some of them: 1) if the file won't change and it depends merely on the project, then locate the file as a resource and let it be packaged as part of your jar 2) if the file can/should/must be changed by final users, then let it outside of the jar and let the client set a variable to locate the file 3) if the file can/should change its content, place it in a default place relative to the location of the jar as default, and provide to the clients the ability to set a new file and the path where this file can be consumed — Luiggi Mendoza, Nov 24 '15 at 21:03
As Luiggi's long comment implies, there are *many* possible solutions here, and they all depend on your intended usage. There is no single "best" answer. Please give us more details. I like the command line parameter suggestion, but a simple GUI interface might also be useful. — markspace, Nov 24 '15 at 21:07

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:30

A solution is to use relative paths, as explained here

What you have to do is instead of using an absolute location (i.e. 'C:\FolderName\filename.txt'), use a relative location (i.e. 'table_data.txt') instead.

In your case, this translates to using

String loadData = "load data local infile 'table_data.txt'" +
                      "into table T1;";

What this does is load the file from the same folder as where you ran your application from.

Another solution is to use a JFileChooser, which allows the user to find the file from whatever directory it's saved on.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 24 '15 at 21:03

If you run the program from the same directory as the data file, then you could use:

String loadData = "load data local infile 'table_data.txt'" +
                  "into table T1;";

By specifying no path, the program will look in the current working directory (the directory you started the program from).

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 24 '15 at 21:12

You can have an optional command line argument:

public class Main {

    private static final String LOAD_COMMAND = "load data local infile '%s' into table T1;";
    private static final String DEFAULT_FILE = System.getProperty("user.home") + "/table_data.txt";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String file = (args.length > 0) ? args[0] : DEFAULT_FILE;
        String command = String.format(LOAD_COMMAND, file);
        System.out.println(command);
    }
}

If you saved the above in Main.java, you could easily test it.

javac Main.java && java -cp . Main

would print:

load data local infile '/Users/<your-username>/table_data.txt' into table T1;

And

javac Main.java && java -cp . Main /my/file

would print:

# load data local infile '/my/file' into table T1;

Where to store a text file when importing data?

3 Answers3