java - Cannot load properties file from resources directory

Question

I imported a project from a Git repository and added Maven nature to it in Eclipse. In the resources folder, I added a configuration file called myconf.properties. Now, whenever I try to open this file from my Java code, I get FileNotFoundException. The file is also present in the target/classes folder generated after maven compiles the project.

Can anyone tell me what can be the problem? My Java code that tries to load this file is:

props.load(new FileInputStream("myconf.properties"));

where props is a Properties object.

Can anyone give me some hints on how to solve this issue?

Answer 1

If the file is placed under target/classes after compiling, then it is already in a directory that is part of the build path. The directory src/main/resources is the Maven default directory for such resources, and it is automatically placed to the build path by the Eclipse Maven plugin (M2E). So, there is no need to move your properties file.

The other topic is, how to retrieve such resources. Resources in the build path are automatically in the class path of the running Java program. Considering this, you should always load such resources with a class loader. Example code:

String resourceName = "myconf.properties"; // could also be a constant
ClassLoader loader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
Properties props = new Properties();
try(InputStream resourceStream = loader.getResourceAsStream(resourceName)) {
    props.load(resourceStream);
}
// use props here ...