Argthtjtr

I have a simple Java program that connects to a database. The connection is configured in db.properties file. My program works fine.

When I want to compile it into a executable jar file, I will place the properties file in the same folder so user can easily edit the properties file and change the connection settings to their liking. The slight problem here is my dbpath where I have to specify the exact directory to read the properties file.

I was wondering if I can save it in the same folder and set the path to current directory so no matter where the user save the folder, it will always be able to read the db properties without hardcoding the path.

Code:

 Properties props=new Properties();

                String dbpath = "C:\Users\nickywan123\Documents\db.properties";

                FileInputStream in = new FileInputStream(dbpath);



             props.load(in);

             in.close();



             String driver = props.getProperty("jdbc.driver");

             if(driver!=null){

              Class.forName(driver);



                }



                String url=props.getProperty("jdbc.url");

                String username=props.getProperty("jdbc.username");

                String password=props.getProperty("jdbc.password");



                Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url,username,password);

I've tried different solutions to get location of jar file such as Get location of JAR file
but it doesn't return the location I want to be able to read it.

I appreciate any suggestion

I will place the properties file in the same folder so user can easily edit the properties file and change the connection settings to their liking

The problem you're facing comes down to the fact that the working directory, where the application is run, may not be the same as the location the application and its files are stored. You can not rely on the location been fixed.

Instead, you should adopt the conventions of the platform and store the files in a "common" location (which is fixed).

On windows that might be ...

System.getProperty("user.dir") + "/AppData/{App name}/{folder name}/{file}"

On MacOS that might be ...

System.getProperty("user.dir") + "/Library/Application Support/{App name}/{folder name}/{file}"

On Linux that might be ...

System.getProperty("user.dir") + ".{Appname}/{folder name}/file"

What about this, the jar file and properties file should be in the same FOLDER. Then user can decide where they want to store/keep the folder, which is the best solution to this?

Doesn't matter, you still run the risk of the "working directory" been different from the "installation directory", which is "why" the above solution was developed - this is not just a Java issue, but affects all programs

You may also run into issues with OS privileges ... looking at you Windows 😠

"Another" solution is allowing the user to pass in the file/location via the command line, allowing them to run the Jar from anywhere, while allowing them to specify the location of the properties file they want to use ... meaning they could have more the one based on there needs