Why can't I access the image in JSP file using realpath?

Question

I have a sample index.jsp file and in the same directory I also have 1.png.

These all work when I access the jsp file, I can see the image I have

<img src="1.png"/>
<img src="<%= request.getContextPath()%>/1.png"/>

But this does not work fine:

<img src="<%= request.getServletContext().getRealPath(File.separator)%>1.png"/>

When I inspect the source I see:

<img src="C:\tomcat\webapps\multi-web\1.png"/>

and this is where the image really is. But in the browser I can not see the image. Why is that?

Answer 1

Because that would open a file located on the end-user machine, and not on the web server. The browser won't let an HTML page do that: it would represent a security hole.

Answer 2

Image can't be access with real path of location by Server, because html page will be run User browser. Image should be access with server URL.