Question

Java - File Location Configuration on Unix Box

Asked by: Pungwick

Dear Experts,

I have the below Java Code and it seems to work fine when the specified path exists on my machine however when I deploy the code to a UNIX Box it doesnt work.

What I want to do is configure the code so that when I deploy this code onto a UNIX box I can specific a file as I have done on a normal pc in this code

package com.test.uk.eve;

import java.io.*;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;

// Referenced classes of package com.test.uk.eve:
//            ResultItem

      
    implements Serializable
{

    private static HashMap FILE_HASH_MAP = new HashMap();
    private static String fileName = "C:\\Factory\\Projects\\Build\\file.txt";

    public Utilities()
    {
    }

    public ResultItem getResultem(String theAction, String msisdn, String erId)
    {
        String key = theAction + "-" + msisdn + "-" + erId;
        String value = getValueGivenKey(key);
        ResultItem resultItem = new ResultItem();
        String strValueArray[] = parseValue(value);
        if(strValueArray == null)
        {
            return null;
        } else
        {
            String responseCode = strValueArray[0];
            String responseText = strValueArray[1];
            resultItem.msisdn = msisdn;
            resultItem.responseCode = responseCode;
            resultItem.responseText = responseText;
            return resultItem;
        }
    }

    public String[] populateStrArrayWithParameters(String key)
    {
        String strArray[] = new String[3];
        String deLimiter = "-";
        if(key == null)
        {
            return strArray;
        }
        int index = key.indexOf(deLimiter);
        for(int counter = 0; index != -1 && counter <= 1 && !key.equals(""); counter++)
        {
            strArray[counter] = key.substring(0, index);
            if(index + 1 <= key.length())
            {
                key = key.substring(index + 1, key.length());
            }
            index = key.indexOf(deLimiter);
        }

        strArray[2] = key;
        return strArray;
    }

    public String[] parseValue(String value)
    {
        String strArray[] = new String[2];
        String deLimiter = "-";
        if(value == null)
        {
            return strArray;
        }
        int index = value.indexOf(deLimiter);
        if(index != -1)
        {
            strArray[0] = value.substring(0, index);
        } else
        {
            strArray[0] = value;
            strArray[1] = null;
            return strArray;
        }
        if(index + 1 <= value.length())
        {
            strArray[1] = value.substring(index + 1, value.length());
        }
        return strArray;
    }

    public static String getValueGivenKey(String key)
    {
        if(key == null)
        {
            return null;
        } else
        {
            return (String)FILE_HASH_MAP.get(key);
        }
    }

    public static ArrayList readFile()
        throws Exception
    {
        File file = new File(fileName);
        FileReader fileReader = new FileReader(file);
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(fileReader);
        ArrayList list = new ArrayList();
        for(String strLine = br.readLine(); strLine != null; strLine = br.readLine())
        {
            list.add(strLine);
        }

        br.close();
        fileReader.close();
        return list;
    }

    public static HashMap popualateHashMap()
        throws Exception
    {
        ArrayList list = readFile();
        if(list != null)
        {
            String deLimiter = "=";
            for(int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++)
            {
                String strEachLine = (String)list.get(i);
                String key = "";
                String value = "";
                if(strEachLine != null)
                {
                    int index = strEachLine.indexOf(deLimiter);
                    if(index != -1)
                    {
                        key = strEachLine.substring(0, index);
                        if(index + 1 <= strEachLine.length())
                        {
                            value = strEachLine.substring(index + 1, strEachLine.length());
                        }
                    } else
                    {
                        key = strEachLine;
                        value = null;
                    }
                    FILE_HASH_MAP.put(key, value);
                }
            }

        }
        return FILE_HASH_MAP;
    }

    static
    {
        try
        {
            popualateHashMap();
        }
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println(e);
        }
    }
}

I hope someone can help

Regards
Pungwick

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Asked On
2007-06-04 at 07:23:49ID22611077
Tags

java

,

file

,

unix

,

location

Topic

Java Editors & IDEs

Participating Experts
1
Points
50
Comments
10

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Answers

 

by: marklorenzPosted on 2007-06-04 at 07:42:24ID: 19208884

You should not be hardcoding slashes in paths - they are different between Windows and Unix.  Instead, you should use:

String pathSeparator = System.getProperty("path.separator");
String fileSeparator = System.getProperty("file.separator");

See how these are used here:
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-1998/apptowin32/UserInfoApplet.java

Mark

 

by: PungwickPosted on 2007-06-04 at 08:19:21ID: 19209221

Could you give me an example on how I can change my code to reflect what you have said?

Because using the function pathseperator I can replace the "\" making the path of the file neater but how would this help then when it comes to specifiying a UNIX path?

Hope you can help

regards
Pungwick

 

by: PungwickPosted on 2007-06-04 at 08:55:29ID: 19209567

Mark,

I have tried the below:

public String fileSeparator = System.getProperty("file.separator");
private static String fileName = fileSeparator + "test" + fileSeparator + "file.txt";

Is this correct? The question here is how is the value of the fileSeperator defined?

Will this value be configured automatically dependent on Operating System?

Any ideas?

 

by: marklorenzPosted on 2007-06-04 at 09:16:03ID: 19209718

That is correct - you use it to construct your path.  The actual character used depends on the system you are running the code on.  So, Windows uses "\", Unix"/", Macintosh ":".  You should not have to do more than use the System.getProperty("file.separator") and it will run on all OSs.

You can read more here:
http://www.particle.kth.se/~lindsey/JavaCourse/Book/Part1/Java/Chapter09/fileClass.html

Mark

 

by: PungwickPosted on 2007-06-04 at 10:08:00ID: 19210170

Mike,

I was wonderimg how could I use the same concept but by using class loader?

I mean right now the value of the file is being hard coded right? is it possible to specify the name of the file instead and then load the file in by searching using the Classpath?

Unsure how to do this your help is very welcomed

Regards
Pungwick

 

by: PungwickPosted on 2007-06-04 at 10:24:43ID: 19210299

Mike,

What I am trying to do is to specifiy the file name only and this picked up by using the Classpath.

Do you know how I can do this?

Regards
PUngwick

 

by: marklorenzPosted on 2007-06-04 at 10:38:32ID: 19210395

Picking up a file based on the classpath is different than pulling in an OS-specific character for referencing a file. You can reference either relative or absolute to the installation root.

Relative would look like:
..\images\sample.gif

Absolute would look like:
myproject\images\sample.gif

Has your problem been resolved?
Mark

 

by: PungwickPosted on 2007-06-04 at 10:51:18ID: 19210509

Mark

How do I do this via the classpath? Say I have specfied the Jar files in my class path and part of the Jars is the file that I am interested in loading.

Do you get what I mean?

regards
Pungwick

 

by: marklorenzPosted on 2007-06-04 at 11:10:54ID: 19210654

The files in the jar have their own path - if you open a jar file (e.g. using 7-zip or winzip), you will see that all the files are still referred to by their complete path.

If the jar is on the classpath, it will look in the jar. But it can still be referenced relative or absolute.

You can read about this here:

Relative and Absolute Paths
http://www.extropia.com/tutorials/unix/relative.html

relative paths
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/javatips/jw-javatip109.html

absolute path names, and relative path names
http://www.d.umn.edu/~gshute/unix/unix.html

Mark

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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