Java: How to use Scanner class to read text file in resources folder

Question

import java.util.*;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        File source;
        Scanner input;
        String name;
        String id;
        Pokemon x;
        ArrayList<Pokemon> pokelist = null;

        try {
            source = new File("/resources/gen1pokemon.txt");
            input = new Scanner(source);
            input.useDelimiter(",");
            while(input.hasNext()) {
                id = input.next();
                name = input.next();
                x = new Pokemon(id,name);
                pokelist.add(x);

                input.nextLine();
            }
        } catch(Exception e) {
            System.out.println(e);
        }
        System.out.println(pokelist.get(0).getName());
    }
}

I have a text file in my resources folder and I am trying to read that using the Scanner class, however I get an error. java.io.FileNotFoundException: \\resources\\gen1pokemon.txt (The system cannot find the path specified)Exception in thread "main"

Any ideas what could be causing this? I looked around and tried putting "class.getResource("file name")" reference, but I got an error doing that too when declaring file.

Answer 1

Application resources will become embedded resources by the time of deployment, so it is wise to start accessing them as if they were, right now. An embedded-resource must be accessed by URL rather than file. See the info. page for embedded resource for how to form the URL.

To use the URL in a scanner, get an input stream from it , then use new Scanner(InputStream) .

Answer 2

Have you tried /src/resources/gen1Pokemon.txt ?

Paths can be a bit tricky, try about with different versions depending on the project's structure.