Question

I need to upload an image file and generate a thumbnail for the uploaded file in my JSF webapplication. The original image is stored on the server in /home/myname/tomcat/webapps/uploads, while the thumbnail is stored in /home/myname/tomcat/webapps/uploads/thumbs. I’m using the thumbnail generator class I copied from philreeve.com.

I have successfully uploaded the file with help from BalusC. But using Toolkit.getImage(), I can’t access the image.

I used the uploaded file’s absolute path, like so:

inFilename = file.getAbsolutePath();

The relevant code from the thumbnail generator is:

public static String createThumbnail(String inFilename, String outFilename, int largestDimension) {
    ...
    Image inImage = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(inFilename);
    if (inImage.getWidth(null) == -1 || inImage.getHeight(null) == -1) {
        return "Error loading file: \"" + new File(inFilename).getAbsolutePath() + "\"";
    }
    ...
}

Since I am already using the absolute path, I don’t understand why it is not working. I have also used the following values for inFilename, but I always get the “Error loading file…”.

• /home/myname/tomcat/webapps/uploads/filename.ext
• /uploads/filename.ext

But I did check the directory, and the image is there. (I uploaded using /home/myname/tomcat/webapps/uploads/filename.ext, and it works.) What is the correct path for the image in that directory? Thank you.

Update

I got the code to work by using:

Image inImage = ImageIO.read(new File(inFilename));

I still don’t understand why Toolkit.getImage() does not work though.

Answer 1

Are you sure it’s a JPEG file? Use an image viewer to make sure nothing bad happened to the file during upload (or that it was an image to begin with).

Also, use new File(inFilename).exists() to make sure the path is correct. I also suggest to print new File(inFilename).getAbsolutePath() in error messages because relative paths can hurt you.

That said, the rest of the code looks correct.