Adding a non-jar dependency to my maven project

Question

I'd like to add an XML file to my project's dependencies. I've been pretty successful in doing this but unfortunately I've found that my XML file is not added to the classpath (which kind of makes sense as it is not a jar file).

The reason I want to have the XML file in my classpath is so that I could load it as a resource.

What is the recommended way of doing this, if it is at all recommended?

Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, put it in the resource folder. By default that's src/main/resources. If you put a file in there, it'll become available in your classpath.

Alternatively, you could modify your pom to say your folder where the xml file is in is a resource folder. But, I consider this a bad practice if your xml file is under your src/main/java directory.

Answer 2

This solution works for me. I am using a WMQ table channel file from a Nexus repository.

        <dependency>
            <groupId>wmq</groupId>
            <artifactId>wmq-channel-tab-file</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.0</version>
            <type>tab</type>
        </dependency>

... 

<plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.8</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>copy</id>
                        <phase>package</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>copy</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <artifactItems>
                                <artifactItem>
                                    <groupId>wmq</groupId>
                                    <artifactId>wmq-channel-tab-file</artifactId>
                                    <version>1.0.0</version>
                                    <type>tab</type>
                                    <overWrite>true</overWrite>
                                    <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/${project.artifactId}-${project.version}/WEB-INF/classes</outputDirectory>
                                    <destFileName>wmq-channel-tab-file.tab</destFileName>
                                </artifactItem>
                            </artifactItems>
                            <!-- other configurations here -->
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>