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JAVA Properties file in Windows Virtual Store causing problems through updates [duplicate]

I try to make a setup with Inno Setup for my program.
I have installed more file XML in the same folder as the .exe. The install work well, but when I run the program and modify the XML, the file is saved in another place, not the folder of the .exe and I can't find it. I think the file is stored in the PC because the program can open it without problems.
I also try to make the same setup with InstallAware Express 7 and it works well. Io I think it's not a problem in my exe but in Inno Setup.
Thanks

I think you are a victim of Windows File virtualization.
You probably install data files to Program Files folder.
That folder is not writable (unless your program runs with elevated privileges). If your program does not have application manifest, Windows considers it a legacy application that is not aware of its inability to write to Program Files and enables file virtualization. So, when your application tries to write the data/XML files, Windows redirects the write (and future reads) to a virtual store (C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore). The actual files in the Program Files are not modified.
It's difficult to answer, why it works with the InstallAware Express. If you tried it after the Inno Setup, the results can be affected by an existence of the file in the virtual store.
Anyway, the root cause is that your application tries to write the files in the Program Files. That's just wrong. No application should write to Program Files.
See also Application does not work when installed with Inno Setup.

Set a Path for database file in java

I am developing a program that uses a sqlite file as a database. When I compile and test my program I haven't any problem:
Conection c = DriverManager.getConnection(
"jdbc:sqlite:/home/mehdi/my_database.sqite");
as you can see in above, the code shows a direct path that set to database file (this path is only in my system).
So it works fine, but my problem starts when I create an executable jar file of my program, if I create executable jar file and share it with other users, when they run the executable jar it doesn't work.
My first question: how do I set my database path for an executable jar file in my code?
My second question: is it possible for the database to be along side the executable jar? (and i can move my executable jar file with its database)
some_path/my_program_file.jar
some_path/my_database.sqite

The best option is externalizing the database path instead of hardcoding it, and letting the user choose where to put the actual sqlite file.
You could put the sqlite file in the same directory as the program archive, but please note that this does not really help in locating the file from your code, because relative paths are definitely resolved against the JVM (process) working directory, not the location of the JAR:
new File(".").getAbsolutePath()
There are ways to get the location of the JAR:
getClass().getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation()
but they are deploy-dependent, so it's not a very robust strategy to rely on.
Most Java program are configured with external files put in well-known locations (like the current JVM directory or a .myapp/conf.properties in the user home), and individual properties can be overridden in the starting command line, as either system properties -Dkey=value or program arguments (there's a library to simplify this)

Java uses relative paths when you do not specify the absolute path. I'm not sure if it works for the DriverManager though. What this means is that if you call jdbc:sqlite:my_database.sqite it should look for my_database.sqite in the folder the jar is executed from. So if the user calls java -jar my_program_file.jar from the folder where the database is it will work. If the user calls the jar from another location it won't. To fix that, you have to grab the path where the jar is located, like so:
return new File(MyClass.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation().getPath());
This was showcased in another SO post.

How to run a JNLP file with SQLite DB?

I'm new to JavaFX. I have a JavaFX Application which is generating a jar and a JNLP file. As a DB I'm using SQLite db. The system runs fine when running it on Netbeans IDE but does not get going with built files (jnlp, jar). Problem is the JNLP is unable to find the db location when running with JNLP.
How can I fix it?

How is the DB installed?
Presuming the installer can accept an 'installation path', I would tend to:
Use an installer-desc element to start Java code.
That pops a JFileChooser to allow the user to create/select an installation directory
That it then passes (that path) to the DB installer, and..
Persists the path using the PersistenceService
When the main GUI starts, it can:
Read the DB path from the PersistenceService
Invoke/start the DB.
For demos. of some of the parts of that, see:
The PersistenceService.
The installer-desc that invokes the ExtensionInstallerService.

Sign your application to give it the permissions it needs to run correctly in jnlp mode.

If you have permissions on the machine you're running on and the user accepted them you should be able to write a new database file to the local system.
Make sure that you check that the database exists and if not create it. Failing that, what is the exception?

How to run database program outside the Netbeans IDE?

I am really new to database and this is my first program in database using java Netbeans 7.1 --- It is summer on our country now and I am a student with the course I.T. Our next subject on programming is about database and since there's no class I spend my time learning database for preparation for the next school semester and I refer to this site as my guide for the first database program I currently making now.
http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/java/databases_and_java_forms.html
I did everything in the tutorial and I actually done doing the program.
The final thing I did is I clean and build the program since I want the program to run with out opening the netbeans again I downloaded the JRE and make my database_form.jar as a jar executable. "database_form" the name of my Netbeans Project. I do that by making javaw in JRE.7 as my dafault when opening any jar files.
Anyway, this is how i run the program.
Running Program in Netbeans IDE
Using Netbeans, before my program works I first need to "Start Server" on JavaDB. because if I didn't do that an Exception occurred "Err. connecting to server localhost 1527 and so on"
Running Program using jar executable alone.
The Problem is there's an Exception and Err in connecting still occurred.
What I want to achieve?
I want the program to run without opening the Netbeans IDE and going to Java DB to click the "Start Server", I dont want to do that anymore. Or my second option is to start the server using command prompt so that I just have to make a bat file so that whenever I open my program database_form.jar I just place the bat file on my desktop and run it.
Second Problem!
Actually, I already try my second option by using command prompt to start the server but I forgot how I did it, I just found it on some website the only thing I remember is the Exception says "Failed to lunch the server because the database Employees is missing. Employees is the name of my created database.
The O.S. I am using is Windows 7.
Thank you for all the reply and sorry for the long text I just want to be specific, :D

Right, from your description there seems to be a couple of things you are confusing.
First, databases are typically run as servers with multiple clients connecting to them thus allowing they contain to be shared. When you start Java DB you are starting the Java DB database server.
That said, lightweight databases, such as Java DB can be run in an embedded mode as explained here. Remember that the directory you point to with the derby.system.home property will need to contain the database files, if not you'll need to create that programatically too.
Second, there's various ways to run a Java application outside of an IDE, but jars themselves are not executable in the same way an exe file is in Windows.
The simplest way is to call the java executable passing the necessary classpath and the name of the class containing the main method. For example if I had a class called com.example.Application that had been compiled to a directory C:\dev\example\classes the following command line would run the application:
java -cp C:\dev\example\classes com.example.Application
If there were dependencies on external libraries, as there will be in your case on the Derby JDBC driver, then those would also need including in the classpath resulting in something like:
java -cp C:\dev\example\classes;C:\dev\lib\derby.jar com.example.Application
There's a full set of document on the Java launcher here.
Now, back to the jar. Like I said, jars are not executable but there is something that's know as an 'executable jar'. This is the same as any jar except there are some special additions to the manifest to specify the application entry point or main-class and the class-path as described here.
Once the main-class and class-path are specified in the jar's manifest, the following command line would run the application:
java -jar C:\dev\example.jar
You can even associate the jar extension with the java exe and double clicking the jar will cause the application to launch (though on a dev machine it's probably more useful that the jar extension be associated with WinZip or simlar in order to open that jar).

The default database in Netbeans is Derby/JavaDB. So you need to:
add the jar of javadb/derby in our classpath (it maybe already present, as it is bundled with java when you install it in Ubuntu)
setup a path with the jdbc URI to save the database data
I personally recommend the usage of hsqldb or H2 for this: they support in-memory database, very useful for stand alone project with no persistence data or for tests.

If you use window, add ODBC Data Sources from Administrative Tools to your Java Derby driver and run jar.

How to include sqlite db file into jar in netbeans?

I use sqlite in my java application. When I run it from Netbeans, it works well. The sqlite db file is located in the root project directory (same level as build.xml).
This is the code to access the database file:
DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:sqlite:database.db");
However, when I build the project, and run the jar file outside netbeans, I always get this error: no such table: table_name
My question: where is the correct location to put the "sqlite db" file? Is it possible to package it inside the JAR file?
I have tried to package my application into a single JAR file (similar to Eclipse's FatJar), but I still get that error. In this case I modify the build.xml as explained in this blog:
Netbeans single JAR
I also tried to create a database folder in the src directory and then put the db file inside the folder (src/database/database.db) and access it using
DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:sqlite:src/database/database.db");
I can run it inside netbeans. But when I run it outside, I got this error:
path to 'src/database/database.db':C:\Windows\system32\src' does not exist
I know there are similar questions to this in stackoverflow, but most of them don't have a concrete solution. Let me know if someone has found a better one.
Thanks a lot.

Problem solved!
I made a mistake in the way I execute the JAR file. Previously I run the JAR file by right click on it and open it with Java SE binary. I need to do this because in my PC the default program to open JAR file was set to another software.
It turned out that I have to set the default program to Java SE Binary and the double click the JAR file in order to run my application. Using this way I can run and access the sqlite db file without a problem.
I hope this can help others who may get the same problem as I had.

probably you need to point your app to include your app base directory in the classpath.
the command to run your app should be something like:
java -cp . YourAppMainClass
the "-cp . " is the command option that tells java to include current directory in the classpath.