How to access static resources(WEB-INF) folder from and write tests for it

Question

I need to load a file resource when starting my server. So I placed the file under webapp/WEB-INF.

The problem is that the unit tests fail.

I try to load the file using:

URL url = Utils.class.getClassLoader().getResource(fileName);
File file = new File(url.getFile());
BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(file), "UTF-8"));

But the class loader does not find the file. It seems like it is looking for it at

file:/C:/<local path>/<my project>/target/test-classes/

• There are different contexts for during normal mode and test mode

I tried also the solution suggested here but it didnt work

Answer 1

It is a relatively complex process how classpaths are overriden and resolved in tomcat, but the simple answer is that WEB-INF is not part of the classpath so you can't access it from your webapp like that. WEB-INF/classes is where you can read files from.

Probably you want to read through this q/a which should give you all the potential solutions