FileInputStream not working in web application

Question

We are trying to read a property file in a servlet using fileInputStream.

However we are constanlty getting a file not found exception.

This is the piece of code we are using

Properties properties = new Properties();
          File propertyFile = new File("config" + File.separatorChar + "abc.properties");
          try {
          FileInputStream propertyFileStream = new FileInputStream(propertyFile);
                properties.load(propertyFileStream);
                propertyFileStream.close();
            } catch (IOException e1) {
                // TODO Auto-generated catch block
                e1.printStackTrace();
            }

While using getResourceAsStream it is working fine.

However we need to understand why FileInputStream is not working.

We have placed the config\abc.properties file in the webInf. We have also tried placing it in the src folder(java classpath), the webContent folder, the WebInf\Classes folder but no success.

is it looking for some absolute path? what does the error print? — sidgate, May 13 '16 at 10:01
This is the error. java.io.FileNotFoundException: config\abc.properties (The system cannot find the path specified) — user123, May 13 '16 at 10:05
When you want to take from WEB-INF the correct way is getting from ServletContext getResourceAsStream(yourFilePath) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1108434/howto-load-a-resource-from-web-inf-directory-of-a-web-archive because **you are using web application** — M. Mariscal, May 13 '16 at 10:11
ok and if in case i want to use FileInputStream then where do i need to place my file ? — user123, May 13 '16 at 10:14
this guy explains good practices to work with FileInputStream http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6584054/how-to-find-the-working-folder-of-a-servlet-based-application-in-order-to-load-r — M. Mariscal, May 13 '16 at 10:28

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered May 13 '16 at 10:03

0

Resources are not files. They don't live in the file system and they cannot be accessed via File or FileInputStream.

You should be using Class.getResource().

answered May 13 '16 at 10:03

user207421

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but why am i able to access it in a standalone program ? – user123 May 13 '16 at 10:06
Because in the standalone program you aren't using a JAR file, you're accessing classes from the file system. – user207421 May 13 '16 at 11:36

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 13 '16 at 10:06

0

Try by using

  ResourceBundle resource = ResourceBundle.getBundle("test");
  String VALUE1=resource.getString("KEY1");
  String VALUE2=resource.getString("KEY2");

answered May 13 '16 at 10:06

KhAn SaAb

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ok. but why doesnt FileInputStream works....as in why this works for standalone but not in case of web ? – user123 May 13 '16 at 10:10

M. Mariscal · Answer 3 · 2016-05-13T10:21:28.950

0

You should use this code to get resources on web application, because the path must be taken from ServletContext, I think that's what you're looking for, if you are inside Servlet:

InputStream is = getContext().getResourceAsStream("/WEB-INF/yourFolder/abc.properties");

to get the full path for your interest:

String fullPath = getContext().getRealPath("/WEB-INF/yourFolder/abc.properties");

edited May 13 '16 at 10:21

answered May 13 '16 at 10:16

M. Mariscal

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FileInputStream not working in web application

3 Answers3