Display website in java

Question

I have the following method which will launch and load a page an HTML page in the default browser:

try {
            String url = "file:///C:/Users/Steve/Google%20Drive/Higher%20National%20Diploma%201/Semester%201/Assignments/Object%20Oriented%20Programming%20(Java)/Steve_Azzopardi_HND3/help/lotto.html";
            Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
            desktop.browse(new URI(url));
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            System.out.println("Help file was not found");
        }

It works fine but I want to make it more versatile, meaning if I move the file it won't break the link. I have moved the file to the directory of the project so when I move the project the HTML page moves with it. How can I do such a thing?

EDIT : updated code

try {
            String url = new File("help/lotto.html").getAbsolutePath();
            System.out.println(url);
            Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
            desktop.browse(new URI(url));
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
            System.out.println("Help file was not found");
        }

Url output : C:\\Users\\Steve\\Google Drive\\Higher National Diploma 1\\Semester 1\\Assignments\\Object Oriented Programming (Java)\\Steve_Azzopardi_HND3\\help\\lotto.html

Exception stack trace : java.net.URISyntaxException: Illegal character in opaque part at index 2: C:\\Users\\Steve

Answer 1

You could put it in the classpath ( best solution in my opinion ). But you can also do this in java:

String currDir = new File("").getAbsolutePath(); //project directory

Put the file in a directory you would like to use, for example the project directory itself. Put the html file there, and if you move your project you move it too.

But I think you want to create a html folder inside the directory:

project_path/help/lotto.html

Then you can load it like this:

try {
       File f = new File("help/lotto.html");
       URI uri = f.toURI();
       Desktop desktop = Desktop.getDesktop();
       desktop.browse(uri);
} catch (Exception ex) {
       System.out.println("Help file was not found");
}

Answer 2

Put your resource in the classpath so that your path address becomes the path of the file in your working directory. I think that should solve it completely.