java path problems

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Hi folks, i made a java programs which uses some files for its execution

...
File report = new File("./reports/myReport.jrxml");
...

I created a jar file and i put the jar file and above mention report file in /opt/myJavaProgram/

my directory tree is like follows
/opt/myJavaProgram/myJar.jar
/opt/myJavaProgram/reports/myReport.jrxml

now is the question
if i run the jar file using java -jar myJar.jar it works fine
and it will NOT work if i use java -jar /opt/myJavaProgram/myJar.jar

i guess that is because working directory related problem. but i cannot figure out how to get rid of it

any idea to solve that?
Thanks in advance!

-supun

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Please note

if i run the jar file using java -jar myJar.jar it works fine
and it will NOT work if i use java -jar /opt/myJavaProgram/myJar.jar

supun@supunz /opt/myJavaProgram $ java -jar myJar.jar // this works fine

supun@supunz ~ $ java -jar /opt/myJavaProgram/myJar.jar //this is not

[Rob Spoor]

That's because . is the directory where the program was started from - /opt/myJavaProgram in your first example, and your home directory (~) in the second.

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Rob Spoor wrote:That's because . is the directory where the program was started from - /opt/myJavaProgram in your first example, and your home directory (~) in the second.

Thanks Rob!  

But i was looking for something like to force java or program to consider relative path from it's jar location.

Anyway thanks for your time Rob

-supun

[Campbell Ritchie]

Why are you running your work from /opt rather from a home directory?

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Why are you running your work from /opt rather from a home directory?

I need to create a desktop shortcut entry and here is how its looks like

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=My Software
Exec=java -jar /opt/myJavaProgram/myJar.jar
Terminal=false
Type=Application

anyway Thanks Campbell Ritchie!

[Campbell Ritchie]

. . . and what is wrong with keeping your .jar somewhere in /home? Your desktop link shou‍ld work nicely however.

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:. . . and what is wrong with keeping your .jar somewhere in /home? Your desktop link shou‍ld work nicely however.

found a working solution with the help of a friend (Rob Brew)

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=My Software
Exec=bash -c 'cd "/opt/myJavaProgram" && java -jar myJar.jar'
Terminal=false
Type=Application


Thanks Rob & Campbell Ritchie!

[Tim Holloway]

Actually, I think there's supposed to be a "working directory" directive for that desktop link file, so that would eliminate the need for the "cd" command in the Exec directive.

Note that "/opt" is supposed to be a shared system directory, so it's not er, optimal, for use as a single-user app.

In fact, if you want multiple users to have the ability to use the same app, you can put the executable in /opt - preferably a subdirectory of /opt, but you should use the Java Preferences system if you need per-user files.

Probably even better would be to put the Java app under /usr/local (or /usr/local/bin*), use Java Preferences for per-user data, and put any common data files under /var/lib. And while you're at it, add a shell script to run the java -jar command so that the Exec is more Linux-friendly.


*Note that there are attempts being made to reduce the number of "bin" directories in Linux, so check current recommended practices in the LSB.

[Lakshan Dissanayake]

Tim Holloway wrote:Actually, I think there's supposed to be a "working directory" directive for that desktop link file, so that would eliminate the need for the "cd" command in the Exec directive.

Note that "/opt" is supposed to be a shared system directory, so it's not er, optimal, for use as a single-user app.

In fact, if you want multiple users to have the ability to use the same app, you can put the executable in /opt - preferably a subdirectory of /opt, but you should use the Java Preferences system if you need per-user files.

Probably even better would be to put the Java app under /usr/local (or /usr/local/bin*), use Java Preferences for per-user data, and put any common data files under /var/lib. And while you're at it, add a shell script to run the java -jar command so that the Exec is more Linux-friendly.


*Note that there are attempts being made to reduce the number of "bin" directories in Linux, so check current recommended practices in the LSB.

Thanks Tom!