Path error with JasperReports

[D. Formenton]

Hello,

I am developing a web application (JSF) with NetBeans 7.1 and JasperReports 4.5.1.
I have a problem with determining the correct path in which to place the folder 'reports' that contains the *. Jasper and how to retrieve files from code.

The fragment that does not work is as follows:

public void printList() {
    Connection conn;
    String reportSource = "/reports/ElencoPersone.jasper";
    JasperPrint jasperPrint;

    Map<String, Object> params = new HashMap<String, Object>();
    params.put("cn", "");
    try {

      InitialContext ctx = new InitialContext();
      DataSource ds = (DataSource) ctx.lookup("MerchandisingConn");
      conn = ds.getConnection();
      
      jasperPrint = JasperFillManager.fillReport(reportSource, params, conn); // Error row
      JasperViewer.viewReport(jasperPrint, false);
    } catch (JRException e) {
      int a = 1; // To set breakpoint to see the Exception
    } catch (NamingException ne) {
      int b = 1;
    } catch (SQLException sqlex){
      int c = 1;
    } catch (Exception ex){
      int d = 1;
    }
  }

The error is "java.io.FileNotFoundException: \reports\ElencoPersone.jasper"

Thanks to all who want to give me their suggestions.

Domenico

[Tim Holloway]

Since what came back was a filepath in Windows format, I'll assume you're running on a Windows machine. Windows, unlike Unix/Linux does not have a single filesystem root, but rather one root per drive, and in the absence of an explicit drive ID, it will use the "current" drive, which isn't guaranteed predictable. So a better path would be something like:

String reportSource = "C:/reports/ElencoPersone.jasper";

If you want to store the report template as part of the webapp (WAR) itself, you need a slightly different approach. Probably something like this:

InputStream reportSource = request.getResourceAsStream("/WEB-INF/reports/ElencoPersone.jasper");

I placed the reports prototype directory under WEB-INF for better application security. I'm fairly certain that Jasper can use an inputstream as a template source.