Question

I am working on a web-based program, using Java. I am not sure exactly how to phrase this, but I expect the program to be running from within the c:/Resin/webapps/apps directory. However, when I reference a file in the program like this: “../files/randomfile.pdf”, it cannot find that file. It works when I reference it like this: “c:/Resin/webapps/files/randomfile.pdf”. How to I change the “running location”? (And what is the technical term for this?)

try {
    Document iTextDoc = new Document(PageSize.LETTER, 27, 27, 35, 18);
    HttpServletResponse res = (HttpServletResponse) pageContext.getResponse();
    res.setContentType("application/vnd.ms-word");
    res.setHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + fileName + ".rtf;");

    RtfWriter2 rtfWriter = RtfWriter2.getInstance(iTextDoc, res.getOutputStream());     
    iTextDoc.open();
    iTextDoc.add(new Paragraph ("Testing RTF Letterhead with Logo"));

    // Use full classname to avoid ambiguity with java.awt.Image
    com.lowagie.text.Image logoImg = com.lowagie.text.Image.getInstance("../files/someimage.jpg");
    logoImg.setAlignment(Image.RIGHT | Image.TEXTWRAP);
    iTextDoc.add(logoImg);
    iTextDoc.add(new Paragraph ("Put other information about organization beneath logo"));
    iTextDoc.close();
}

I get the following error with the resulting file: Adobe Reader could not open ‘someFile.pdf’ because it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn’t correctly decoded).

However, if I change the getInstance command to this:

com.lowagie.text.Image logoImg = com.lowagie.text.Image.getInstance("webapps/files/someimage.jpg");

it works. So my guess is that the working directory (thanks for the term) needs to be set somewhere. I am using Resin — any idea where I should be setting this?

Thanks!

Answer 1

In a java program you can’t change the running location.

First you should find out where your program is running. You can do this by calling

System.out.println( new File( "." ).getAbsolutePath() );

Now you can specify your paths relative to this directory.