How Do I Read Files Embedded in a JAR File in Java?

Reading Files from Jars in Java

Loading files from jars is a crucial task in Java applications, especially when dealing with configuration or resource files. In this case, we'll explore how to read an XML file bundled within a jar file.

To begin, we need to obtain the InputStream object representing the file within the jar. We achieve this using the getResourceAsStream method of the Class class:

InputStream input = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/classpath/to/my/file");

Notice that the path starts with a forward slash (/). However, this doesn't refer to the file system path but to the classpath location. If your file resides in the "org.xml" package and is named "myxml.xml," the path would be "/org/xml/myxml.xml."

Once you have the InputStream, you can read the file's contents using methods such as read or readLine. Additionally, you can wrap the InputStream in a BufferedReader or Scanner for more convenient reading.

For instance, to read the entire file into a string, you could do:

BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(input));
String content = reader.readLine(); // Read the first line
while (content != null) {
    // Process the line
    content = reader.readLine(); // Read the next line
}

By following these steps, you can effortlessly access and read files from jars in your Java applications.

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