How do I read a resource file from a Java jar file?

Question

I\'m trying to access an XML file within a jar file, from a separate jar that\'s running as a desktop application. I can get the URL to the file I need, but when I pass tha

Answer 1

Looks like you want to use java.lang.Class.getResourceAsStream(String), see

http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/Class.html#getResourceAsStream(java.lang.String)

Answer 2

You don't say if this is a desktop or web app. I would use the getResourceAsStream() method from an appropriate ClassLoader if it's a desktop or the Context if it's a web app.

Answer 3

If you use resources extensively, you might consider using Commons VFS.

Also supports: * Local Files * FTP, SFTP * HTTP and HTTPS * Temporary Files "normal FS backed) * Zip, Jar and Tar (uncompressed, tgz or tbz2) * gzip and bzip2 * resources * ram - "ramdrive" * mime

There's also JBoss VFS - but it's not much documented.