creating a file from WEB-INF

[nikil shar]

hi all,
am writing a servlet which is meant to pass a file into another system. its a static file so i have put it inside my 'WEB-INF' directory but for some reason the code can not instantiate the file.

File f = new File("/WEB-INF/test.afp");

 if (f.exists() && f.length() > 0) {
//call the other system
}

the code doesnt get inside the if statement since it fails at the if statement check to see if file exists. is there something wrong with my code ??

ta.

[Mark E Hansen]

Have a look at ServletContext.getResourceAsStream("...").

[Sony Agrawal]

Is it possible to access a file using such a path??
I mean a path where in "WEB-INf " is present ??
File f = new File("/WEB-INF/test.afp");
If that is the case then can't someone illegally access the class files if they know the server location and project name

[William Brogden]

 File f = new File("/WEB-INF/test.afp");   

Implies an absolute path starting with /WEB-INF - look into the ServletContext getRealPath() method.

Note that if you create a file under /WEB-INF the servlet container can NOT serve it directly, you will have to provide a servlet which can access that directory.

Bill

[Mark E Hansen]

sony agrwal wrote:Is it possible to access a file using such a path??
I mean a path where in "WEB-INf " is present ??
File f = new File("/WEB-INF/test.afp");
If that is the case then can't someone illegally access the class files if they know the server location and project name

Your servlet can access content under /WEB-INF, the web container cannot.

[Sony Agrawal]

Thanks for the reply people..

So as i understand the bottom line is,"The only way to access the contents of the WEB-INF directory is only through the servlet"