FileOutputStream paths in java/jsp web application

Question

I have a simple java web application with following folder structure.

When I deploy the web app it has data.json file in WEB-INF/classes folder. I need to write data to this file from controller.java class controller package which is in WEB-INF/classes folder.

I tried following code.

FileOutputStream output = new FileOutputStream("..\\data.json", true);
output.write(jsonObject.toJSONString().getBytes());
output.flush();

This doesn't give me any error which suggest that the operation happen in a file somewhere in my computer.

How can I write to the data.json file? I can't give absolute path here.

Take a look at this post may helps you : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4340653/file-path-to-resource-in-our-war-web-inf-folder — JHDev, Dec 23 '16 at 14:07

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 23 '16 at 14:12

2

WEB-INF/classes is for the class-path. Files there should be considered read-only, cacheable resources (getResource, getResourceAsStream).

The HttpRequest.getServletContext().getRealPath("/WEB-INF") can be used, for file system paths.

I suggest using the classes files as template, copied the first time to a real file system path, and then being overwritten.

Use /, not Windows \\.

Use close() and then flush() is not needed.

Use getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8).

answered Dec 23 '16 at 14:12

Joop Eggen

107,315
7
83
138

Is it okay to put data.json file in WEB-INF folder outside classes folder? – Chamila Wijayarathna Dec 23 '16 at 14:15
1

outside WEB-INF it will be directly accessible to outside world. any request to /yourapp/data.json will serve that file unless you explicitly protect it. – Balaji Krishnan Dec 23 '16 at 14:56
What is the HTTPRequest here? How can I obtain that. I could pass a `HttpServletRequest` object from jsp to java file, but it does not contain a getServeletContext() method. – Chamila Wijayarathna Dec 23 '16 at 15:08
1

Yes that is what I meant – Joop Eggen Dec 24 '16 at 12:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 23 '16 at 15:21

1

Following code worked,

FileOutputStream output = new FileOutputStream( request.getSession().getServletContext().getRealPath("WEB-INF/classes/data.json"), false);

answered Dec 23 '16 at 15:21

Chamila Wijayarathna

1,815
5
30
54

FileOutputStream paths in java/jsp web application

2 Answers2