how to call properties file from utility class

> in = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/WEB-INF/sql.properties");

try:
in = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/sql.properties");

with your properties file in:
/WEB-INF/classes

You can save the reference in the application context

In fact you could probably put it in a servlet class and load it at startup so it's ready immediately for access

Is props initialized?

I would rather suggest that put properties file in a classpath, and access it with

String fileName = obj.getClass().getResource("/sql.properties").getFile();
File file = new File(fileName);

This is package independent so evenif you move your sql.properties file from

some.pkg. folder to some.other.pkg , you dont need to change the code for that. just change the env classpath setting and will work.

> I would rather suggest that put properties file in a classpath, and access it with

Thats what Pat is attempting as I understand it.
And what the suggestion I posted above will achieve.

yep, objects you were right partially..in the sense that code you gave was perfect. but

with your properties file in:
/WEB-INF/classes

this line was not required..only requirement is that file should be in classpath..
somehow i am not comfortable with putting propertis file with .class files...it should be outside of ear file.

>..only requirement is that file should be in classpath..

this line is ambiguous...what I meant was...the directory where .properties file resides should be in the classpath..not the file itself.

> i am not comfortable with putting propertis file with .class files.

but you want them in the classpath :)  whats the difference?

you could put them in:

/WEB-INF/classes/props/sql.properties

And then use:

in = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/props/sql.properties");

For this example another suggestion would be to specify the properties in web.xml, and not worry about an external properties file at all.

There is one other thing though.  How are you getting your code to compile???  As the method call getClass() is not static, you will need an instance of the class in order to use it.

Very true.... I guess he didn't post the exact code.

Problem solved, here is the working code now:

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.Properties;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

public class MyProperties {

  static Logger logger            = Logger.getLogger(MyProperties.class.getName());
  private static Properties props = null;
  private static InputStream in   = null;
 
  static {
    try {
      in = MyProperties.class.getResourceAsStream("/sql.properties");
      props = new Properties();
      props.load(in);
      logger.info("sql.properties loaded");
    } catch (Exception e) {
      logger.error("Unable to load sql.properties, the error is: " + e);
    } finally {
      try {
        in.close();
      } catch (Exception ignored) {}
    }
  }
 
  public static Properties getProps() {
    return props;
  }
}


I really appreciate everyones input on this. I would like to split the points up because it was a combination of  Objects, mayankeagle, and grim_toaster's comments that helped me get this working. Can I even split them up 3 ways or is there a better solution? What would make everyone happy? Because I'm happy that it's working now :-)

CEHJ: I just wanted to mention that I appreciate your suggestion as I know that would work as well. I was going to revert to that if I couldn't get this working but I really prefer this approach as I don't have to bother with load-on-startup in the web.xml and because I plan to add to this class later as well. Thanks :-)

-Pat

You have allocated enough points to this question to split between all the people who have answered on this page. Just click on the Split link and then you can split points between everyone, giving them as much as you want, out of 500.

Mayank.

:-)

http://www.objects.com.au/staff/mick

Done. Thanks all.

-Pat