How to change the path that jar files use in java Web Applications - apache

Question

I have written a java Servlet web application, using NetBeans 7.2.1. The program have some jar file libraries that I have attached to the project. The application runs fine using NetBeans and Apache Tomcat 7.0.27.
My problem is that some of the jar file libraries that I am using in the project, need to access to some folders and files. I put these folder and files on the same directory as the whole NetBeans project is. but I got this exception:
Exception: java.lang.RuntimeException: java.io.FileNotFoundException
So I used these codes to find out where should I put them:
out.println("current directory: " + new File(".").getAbsolutePath());
out.println("current directory: " + System.getProperty("user.dir"));
out.println("current directory: " + getServletContext().getRealPath(("/")));
So I figured out that the current working directory is:
C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache Tomcat 7.0.27\bin
My question is that how can I set different directory address for each web application? I have many web applications and some of them use the same resource file names. I can't just put all of them in one directory.
Please note that I don't have access to the source code of jar files to change the. I just need a way to set the absolute path that the jar files use.
I have the same problem when I put the WAR file on the unix server. The extracted WAR file is in this location on the server:
/data02/tools/Apache/Tomcat/apache-tomcat-6.0.37/webapps/BANNEROnline
But I figure I should put the resource folders and files in this path (moosavi3 is my username!):
/home/moosavi3
How can I change the path?

Answer 1

The working directory is the directory from which java.[exe,bin] is started. I assume the bin directory is where the tomcat start-up script is? If the jars are all using this working directory I don't believe there is a way to make different web-apps have different working directory, they're all loaded on the same jvm (java.exe) from the same working directory.
A working directory is the directory from which a binary is started, it is not some arbitrary value that you can change.
I suspect these jar files where meant to be run as standalone applications and expected the filesystem resources they are trying to access to be in the same location as themselves.
Any filesystem resources would have to be moved to the location of your java.exe so that the correct file path resolution can result from your jars.

Answer 2

Standard Servlet project requires external libraries to be placed in the 'WEB-INF/lib' directory under project root. You can search google for 'servlet directory structure' and do your own research for more information. Shared libraries between web applications can be placed in the 'lib' directory under tomcat root, they should be picked up by tomcat jvm. My recommendation would be to keep the dependencies project specific, because you may need different versions in different projects in the future.
Update:
Read this page on the tomcat documentation, it will explain exactly how the project should be structured, and how to add a library that will be shared across all web applications:
http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/appdev/deployment.html
Update 2:
The following Stackoverflow link explains several options how to add a static file to your web application, that will available at runtime.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/2161583/940754
Update 3:
Add a path to the classpath using the project's manifest:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/deployment/jar/downman.html