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Opening PDF file stored in resources folder raises Exception

I wrote a program in which a pdf file should be opened on an Action Event (you can have a look at my code below).
menuElementHilfe.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
File hilfe = new File ("src\\resources\\Hilfe.pdf");
try {
java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().open(hilfe);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
If I execute the program via Eclipse everything works, but after exporting as a runnable jar I get following Exception:
Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: The file: src\resources\Hilfe.pdf doesn't exist.
Any Feedback is appreciated

The way you're retrieving resources may be the problem. try this :
menuElementHilfe.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
File hilfe = new File(getClass().getResource("/resources/Hilfe.pdf").getFile());
try {
java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().open(hilfe);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
});
When running in Eclipse, you are targeting a file in your build path.
When running from JAR/WAR, the URL is different and look like "jar:file:/your-path/your-jar.jar!/Hilfe.pdf" which is not what you set when calling new File(...) So to get the right URL for internal resources, you have to use methods like getResource or getResourceAsStream depending on your needs.
Check out following explanations for more information :)
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/lang/resources.html
[EDIT]
I assume you're working on some Swing app, but I dont know if you're aware that doing some task like that in your AWT-EventQueue thread will freeze your UI.
To prevent that you have to run UI-unrelated stuff in another thread.
This is made using SwingUtilities.invokeLater (Java 5 and prior) method and/or the SwingWorker class (since Java 6).
as mentionned in this answer
You should put the previous solution in something like that :
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
// Your UI unrelated code here
}
});

The resource can be packed in the application jar, hence File (physical disk file)
is not possible. Copy it to a temporary file, so that the desktop can open it.
menuElementHilfe.addActionListener(evt -> {
Path tmp = Files.createTempFile("hilfe-", ".pdf");
Files.copy(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/Hilfe.pdf"), tmp);
try {
Desktop.getDesktop().open(tmp.toFile());
tmp.toFile().deleteOnExit();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
});
An other difference is the forward slash, and that the path is case-sensitive, opposed to Windows File.
After problems
menuElementHilfe.addActionListener(evt ->
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
Path tmp = Files.createTempFile("hilfe-", ".pdf");
Logger.getLogger(getClass().getName()).log(Level.INFO, "actionPerformed "
+ tmp + "; event: " + evt);
Files.copy(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/resources/Hilfe.pdf"), tmp);
try {
Desktop.getDesktop().open(tmp.toFile());
//tmp.toFile().deleteOnExit();
} catch (IOException e) {
Logger.getLogger(getClass().getName()).log(Level.WARN, "Error with " + tmp,
e);
}
}));
I did not delete, so the Desktop access can live longer than the java app.
I did an invokeLater in order to have no frozen GUI on the actionPerformed.
I added logging to see every call to actionPerformed

How to get file from my project (where code is written)

I'm trying to get file (readme.txt) from my project folder. Don't know how to get location of project. When I say project, I mean location where my application code is written and not runtime application. I've tried getting absolute path, relative path... and it always gives me folder of runtime application. Also tried something like this.getClass() and tried to extract path or System.getProperty("user.dir"). These two also gives me path of my eclipse.../.../...runtime app. I'm making eclipse plugin, and this file is suppose to be part of my plugin, so that when user click's on button, this file opens (it's some help txt file). This is my code for opening file, problem is path.
/**
* Help button listener. If button is pressed, help file is opened.
*/
private void listenButtonHelp() {
buttonHelp.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if (Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
File helpFile = new File("\\readme.txt");
helpFile.setReadOnly();
Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
try {
desktop.open(helpFile);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
});
}

It depends on where exactly the file is in your project. A clean point to put it might be ${project.root}/resources, so create a folder and put the file there. Mark it as a "source folder" in Eclipse (project properties -> build path -> source folders). Your current setup isn't a good idea because the file will not be included in your distribution by Eclipse's compile.
Now, when you compile the code, this gets copied into the target directors (bin per default); you can check by opening it in your file browser.
So to check the file is there, you can do
Path filePath = Paths.get("resources", "readme.txt");
System.out.println(Files.exists(filePath));
If you need it as a File, you can do
File readmeFile = filePath.toFile();
This reads the file from the source project folder, so it won't be much use after you run the program somewhere else.
For that, you can use the ClassLoader:
URL readmeUrl = ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader().getResource("resources/readme.txt"));
File readmeFile = new File(readmeUrl.getFile());

I found answer, this works for me:
/**
* Help button listener. If button is pressed, help file is opened.
*/
private void listenButtonHelp() {
buttonHelp.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
if (Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
File file = null;
Bundle bundle = Platform.getBundle("TestProject");
IPath path = new Path("resources/readme.txt");
URL url = FileLocator.find(bundle, path, null);
/*
* After FileLocator, I get also this, like I commented before:
* D:\\eclipse-rcp-oxygen\\eclipse\\..\\..\\..\\eclipse_oxygen_workspace\\
* TestProject\\resources\\readme.txt and before it didn't work but if
* you add these lines:
* url = FileLocator.toFileURL(url);
* file = URIUtil.toFile(URIUtil.toURI(url));
* Like in my try bracket, it works. I guess it needs to be
* converted using URIUtil.
* Now it finds file, and it can be opened, also works for .html files.
*/
Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
try {
url = FileLocator.toFileURL(url);
file = URIUtil.toFile(URIUtil.toURI(url));
// file.setReadOnly();
desktop.open(file);
} catch (Exception e1) {
e1.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
});
}

open a xltm file using a batch file, show the comparison results, but how to save in a common path?

As per my requirement I've to open a xltm file using a batch file. Xltm file will show the comparison results between 2 excel files. As per my code I've opened the xltm file but I'm not able to save the xltm file in a common path.Anyone please help me on this?
public class Execute_Batch_and_Save_Excel {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start filepath/Batchname.bat");
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
System.out.print("Comparison result XLTM file is opened");
}
}

ChDir "Directory Path" Application.DisplayAlerts = False ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs Filename:="\FilePath\Filename.xlsx", FileFormat:=xlOpenXMLWorkbook, CreateBackup:=False

Exporting image in runnable jar doesn't work

I'm having a weird problem in java. I want to create a runnable jar:
This is my only class:
public class Launcher {
public Launcher() {
// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
String path = Launcher.class.getResource("/1.png").getFile();
File f = new File(path);
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,Boolean.toString(f.exists()));
}
}
As you can see it just outputs if it can find the file or not. It works fine under eclipse (returns true). i've created a source folder resources with the image 1.png. (resource folder is added to source in build path)
As soon as I export the project to a runnable jar and launch it, it returns false.
I don't know why. Somebody has an idea?
Thanks in advance
edit: I followed example 2 to create the resources folder: Eclipse exported Runnable JAR not showing images

If you would like to load resources from your .jar file use getClass().getResource(). That returns a URL with correct path.
Image icon = ImageIO.read(getClass().getResource("image´s path"));
To access images in a jar, use Class.getResource().
I typically do something like this:
InputStream stream = MyClass.class.getResourceAsStream("Icon.png");
if(stream == null) {
throw new RuntimeException("Icon.png not found.");
}
try {
return ImageIO.read(stream);
} catch (IOException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
} finally {
try {
stream.close();
} catch(IOException e) { }
}
Still you're understand, Kindly go through this link.
Eclipse exported Runnable JAR not showing images

Because the image is not separate file but packed inside the .jar.
Use the code to create the image from stream
InputStream is=Launcher.class.getResourceAsStream("/1.png");
Image img=ImageIO.read(is);

try to use this to get image
InputStream input = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/your image path in jar");

Two Simple steps:
1 - Add the folder ( where the image is ) to Build Path;
2 - Use this:
InputStream url = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/load04.gif");
myImageView.setImage(new Image(url));

Writing to a file inside of a jar

I am having a problem writing to a .xml file inside of my jar. When I use the following code inside of my Netbeans IDE, no error occurs and it writes to the file just fine.
public void saveSettings(){
Properties prop = new Properties();
FileOutputStream out;
try {
File file = new File(Duct.class.getResource("/Settings.xml").toURI());
out = new FileOutputStream(file);
prop.setProperty("LAST_FILE", getLastFile());
try {
prop.storeToXML(out,null);
} catch (Exception e) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, e.toString());
}
try {
out.close();
} catch (Exception e) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, e.toString());
}
} catch (Exception e) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, e.toString());
}
}
However, when I execute the jar I get an error saying:
IllegalArguementException: uri is not hierachal
Does anyone have an idea of why it's working when i run it in Netbeans, but not working when i execute the jar. Also does anyone have a solution to the problem?

The default class loader expects the classpath to be static (so it can cache heavily), so this approach will not work.
You can put Settings.xml in the file system if you can get a suitable location to put it. This is most likely vendor and platform specific, but can be done.

Add the location of the Settings.xml to the classpath.

I was also struggling with this exception. But finally found out the solution.
When you use .toURI() it returns some thing like
D:/folderName/folderName/Settings.xml
and hence you get the exception "URI is not hierarchical"
To avoid this call the method getPath() on the URI returned, which returns something like
/D:/folderName/folderName/Settings.xml
which is now hierarchical.
In your case, the 5th line in your code should be
File file = new File(Duct.class.getResource("/Settings.xml").toURI().getPath());