Question

In my Java application I want to implement the option to dump/restore a PostgreSQL database. Some google research showed me that calling pg_dump/pg_restore via Java’s ProcessBuilder is probably the best way to achieve this.

Now I’d like to determine the system’s directory of pg_dump.exe/pg_restore.exe without asking the user to specify it manually. How can I find the PostgreSQL installation path through Java?

Thanks in advance and
all the best,

Matthias

Answer 1

You can’t do that portably. I suggest that you just call the programs without path by default and rely on the user having set an appropriate path, and have a way for the user to configure the paths explicitly. You can also look in some likely directories for a default configuration. But it will be quite fragile in general, especially if you want to cover all of Windows, Linux, and Mac, say.