How to open file in another directory in java?

Question

How to open a file that is not present in the current directory but in another directory. For example, I have a folder F:/test and my file is in F:/test/test2/doit.txt and D:/test3/doit2.txt

What to enter in path in parameter while making File object as follows :

File f = new File("/test2/doit.txt");

Answer 1

Irrespective of which operating system, a file for example, demo.txt can be accessed like

File file = new File("/d:/user/demo.txt");

in Windows where the file is at D:\user\ and

File file = new File("/usr/demo.txt");

in *nix or *nuxwhere the file is at /usr/

Also, a file if wanted to be accessed relatively can be done as (considering the Windows example) :

Suppose I am in the songs directory in D: like:

D:/
|
|---songs/
|   |
|   |---Main.java
|
|---user/
    |
    |---demo.txt

and the code is inside Main.java, then the following code works.

File file = new File("../user/demo.txt");

Answer 2

Assuming that you are running your program from F:/test you should use something like:

File f = new File("./test2/doit.txt");

Using hardcoded absolute paths isn't a good idea - your program might not work when user has different directory structure.