Debugging getResource*

Question

How do you debug getResource-style methods that are failing, returning null?

I am sure the file it\'s looking for is there, but it\'s returning NULL. How do I know w

Answer 1

Since getResource() searches the classpath (as others have mentioned), it might be helpful to dump the actual classpath being searched before your problemsome getResource() call:

log.debug("classpath is: " + System.getProperty("java.class.path"));

//the line that is returning null
... = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResource("foobar");

What is probably happening is that the files/directories you think are on the classpath are actually not (perhaps an invalid path is being set somewhere along the way).