[FIXED] External properties file in spring

Issue

I have a java,spring and not spring boot command line program with maven , which when i build a jar with all dependencies using maven-assembly-plugin , it includes application.properties, what i need to know is how to read the external application.properties and not the jar one.

I am reading the property file as:

@PropertySource(value = { "classpath:application.properties" })

If I print the classpath, the classpath does only include the jar and not the current directory.

Solution

Here is what you can do:

@PropertySources({
    @PropertySource("classpath:application.properties"),
    @PropertySource(value = "file:/etc/config/my-custom-config.properties", ignoreResourceNotFound = true)
})

This ignoreResourceNotFound is available since spring 4.3 and is pretty self-explanatory.

You can also opt for "programmatic" approach. In pure spring (not spring boot as you've mentioned in the question):

@Configuration
public class CommonConfig {
...
        @Bean
        public static PropertySourcesPlaceholderConfigurer propertyPlaceholderConfigurer() {
            PropertySourcesPlaceholderConfigurer ppc = new PropertySourcesPlaceholderConfigurer();
            ppc.setLocations(new FileSystemResource("/etc/config/my-custom-config.properties"),
                    new ClassPathResource("config/application.properties"),
            return ppc;
        }
...
}

FileSystemResource is for accessing resources available externally in the file system

ClassPathResource is for accessing resources in the classpath

Answered By - Mark Bramnik
Answer Checked By - Cary Denson (JavaFixing Admin)