File not found. Why not?

Question

Okay, I'm trying to load a file in Java using this code:

String file = "map.mp";
URL url = this.getClass().getResource(file);
System.out.println("url = " + url);
FileInputStream x = new FileInputStream("" + url);

and despite the file being in the same folder as the class it says it can't find it (yes, it is in a try catch block in the full code).

However, it finds another file using the same code with a different name:

URL url = this.getClass().getResource("default.png");
System.out.println("url2 = " + this.getClass().getResource("default.png"));
BufferedImage img = ImageIO.read(url);

Why can't my code find my map.mp file?

Answer 1

You're trying to use a url as if it's a filename. It won't be. It'll be something starting with file://. In other deployment scenarios there may not be an actual file to open at all - it may be within a jar file, for example. You can use URL.getFile() if you really, really have to - but it's better not to.

Use getResourceAsStream instead of getResource() - that gives you an InputStream directly. Alternatively, keep using getResource() if you want the URL for something else, but then use URL.openStream() to get at the data.