get path of image file that is outside the project in java

Question

I use this code to display image that locates outside the my java project, but I got NullPointerException every time and I can only use images that are inside my project directory. why ?

Icon welcomeImg = new ImageIcon(getClass().getResource("D:/img/welcome.png"));
or 
Icon welcomeImg = new ImageIcon(getClass().getResource("D://img/welcome.png"));

JLabel welcomingLb = new JLabel(welcomeImg);

`welcome.png` sounds like an application resource, possibly a splash-screen. Is it either? If so, the advice to use `File` objects is not the way to go. See [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/8462092/418556) for more details. — Andrew Thompson, Dec 22 '11 at 00:40

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 22 '11 at 00:11

2

getResource expects the resource to be on the classpath.

If you want to read from a random file, use a File, or use the ImageIcon constructor that takes a file name.

answered Dec 22 '11 at 00:11

Dave Newton

156,572
25
250
300

Jean Logeart · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-22T00:30:51.767

2

You do not need to use the ClassLoader class to access your file since you are giving its full path.

Try instead :

Icon welcomeImg = new ImageIcon("D:/img/welcome.png");

Source : Javadoc of ImageIcon(String filename)

edited Dec 22 '11 at 00:30

answered Dec 22 '11 at 00:12

Jean Logeart

50,693
11
81
116

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

1

See: Loading resources using getClass().getResource()

Basically when you use getResource it is expecting the file to be on the Classpath. There is also a constructor for ImageIcon that takes a String filename, so you can pass the path to the Icon file directly.

Check out the JavaDoc for ImageIcon

edited May 23 '17 at 12:11

Community

1
1

answered Dec 22 '11 at 00:13

DaveJohnston

9,885
10
52
82

I am stuck with Java 1.2 at work because we are using an old JVM on Windows Mobile, so 1.4 is actually a step up for me ;) – DaveJohnston Dec 22 '11 at 00:32
*"First result on Google"* Not if you [add a '7'](http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=7090875) (usually). – Andrew Thompson Dec 22 '11 at 00:35

f1dave · Answer 4 · 2011-12-22T00:16:05.673

-1

You can try using a File, like so:

File f = new File("C:\\folder\\stuff\\MyFile.class");

edited Dec 22 '11 at 00:16

answered Dec 22 '11 at 00:11

f1dave

1,207
3
20
30

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Been a while. Edited to reflect. – f1dave Dec 22 '11 at 00:16
Well, that's worse, because those are backslashes and need to be escaped. – Dave Newton Dec 22 '11 at 00:17

get path of image file that is outside the project in java

4 Answers4