How to load resources.properties from local directory, not the JAR in Java?

Question

I have a Java application using Guice and JavaFX that requires configurable resources.

I am trying to load multiple resources using https://github.com/dueni/faces-ext/blob/master/resourcebundle/src/main/java/ch/dueni/util/MultiplePropertiesResourceBundle.java

I am able to load the two resource files from the JAR, but I want to be able to load them from a local directory where a user has access to modify them.

I have tried sending them to AppData, but I would prefer the file to be somewhere more configurable like the installation folder. I also do not know if its possible to load properties files from outside of the package.

This is currently how to loads the resources using ClassLoader:

      ClassLoader cl = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
      List<String> bundleNames = new ArrayList<String>();
      try {
         String baseFileName = baseName + ".properties";
         String resourcePath = getResourcePath();
         String resourceName = resourcePath + baseFileName;
         if (isLoggable) {
            LOG.logp(Level.FINE, CLASS, METHOD, "Looking for files named '" + resourceName + "'");
         }
         Enumeration<URL> names = cl.getResources(resourceName);

I want to be able to get the names by a custom function which searches a designated directory for resource files.

Is there anyway this is possible?

It appears you want to allow users to provide ResourceBundle properties files in their own local directories. Is that correct? — VGR, Sep 06 '19 at 15:09
*How to load resources.properties from local directory, not the JAR in Java* Using FILE API. — Antoniossss, Sep 07 '19 at 16:20

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 06 '19 at 13:17

Yes, this is possible. I hope I understood your problem correctly.

1) Create the file with the path you want, example:

settingsFile = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/{Project}/settings.xml");
settingsFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();
settingsFile.createNewFile();

The path leads to the user's default directory (For me, C:\users\meiswjn{Project}) but you can use any.

2) Set default values with properties.put(..).

3) Save the properties.

FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter(settingsFile);
BufferedWriter propWriter = new BufferedWriter(fileWriter);
props.store(propWriter, "Comment");
propWriter.close();
fileWriter.close();

4) You can read the properties with:

FileReader fileReader = new FileReader(settingsFile);
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(fileReader);
props.load(reader);
fileReader.close();
reader.close();

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the reply. Well, it does help but maybe not in the way that I intended. My issue is that I am trying to load ResourceBundles from an external directory from the Jar. I think I may have came to a solution by using PropertyResourceBundle on a FileInputStream. — Quade Kayle, Sep 06 '19 at 15:01

How to load resources.properties from local directory, not the JAR in Java?

1 Answers1