Why cannot I read .txt from a file?

Question

This is actually driving me crazy. I do not understand why cannot I read a simple .txt file.

FileInputStream inputStream = new FileInputStream("/Resources/ExternalArchives/tokens.txt");
    try {
        String everything = IOUtils.toString(inputStream);
    } finally {
        inputStream.close();
    }

As you might have guessed, the file is located inside the project, in a Source folder called Resources. I have tried everything possible and keep getting the same exception.

java.io.FileNotFoundException: ExternalArchives\tokens.txt (The system cannot find the path specified)

Other paths that I have tried...

"/Smoothie/Resources/ExternalArchives/tokens.txt"
"/Resources/ExternalArchives/tokens.txt"
"/ExternalArchives/tokens.txt"
"ExternalArchives/tokens.txt"
"tokens.txt"

I am using Eclipse IDE Neon.3.

Thank you!

supply the full path for method or look here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1464291/how-to-really-read-text-file-from-classpath-in-java — XtremeBaumer, Apr 05 '17 at 11:15
`ExternalArchives\tokens.txt` != `ExternalArchives/tokens.txt`. — Seth, Apr 05 '17 at 11:16
@Seth Actually it is. You can use `/` as separator and it will work properly regardless of platform. — Kayaman, Apr 05 '17 at 11:19
I am not sure if you refer to the location of the file, but I do not understand why this would not work anyway. Location: C:\Users\blabla\workspace\Smoothie\Resources\ExternalArchives — Raúl, Apr 05 '17 at 11:25
What is the absolute path of that file? Can you open it, when you move it to - say "C:\Temp" and you try to open `new FileInputStream("C:\Temp\tokens.txt");` ? — Fildor, Apr 05 '17 at 11:27

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 05 '17 at 11:24

1

It should be something like:-

"src/Resources/ExternalArchives/tokens.txt"

The first / in your path means "from the root of the filesystem". Depending where exactly the Resources folder is (I'm assuming in a folder called "src"), then leaving out the slash will make it relative to where the Java app is running from.

answered Apr 05 '17 at 11:24

Steve Smith

2,244
2
18
22

1

wow, I feel stupid. The folder was not actually inside the src folder, but removing the initial "/" worked. Thank you very much. – Raúl Apr 05 '17 at 11:33

Why cannot I read .txt from a file?

1 Answers1