How to create file on server with file path relative to application?

java spring-boot file-upload vaadin-spring-boot
steady_progress picture steady_progress · Oct 26, 2017 · Viewed 8.2k times · Source

In my Vaadin spring boot application, I need to upload files to the server and save them there.

Uploading files locally to my desktop works fine, But I want to deploy the application to a server, so I want to save the uploaded files in a directory relative to the base path of my application.

I created a folder called "input_files" as a direct child of the root application folder (applicationName -> input_files). When a file is uploaded, the content of the file is supposed to be written to a newly created file inside this "input_files" folder.

Code: 

class FileReceiver implements Upload.Receiver, Upload.SucceededListener {
  private File file;

  public OutputStream receiveUpload(String filename, String mimeType) {
    String basePath = VaadinService.getCurrent().getBaseDirectory().getAbsolutePath();                
    FileOutputStream fileOutputStream;

    try {
      //this line would work:
      //file = new File("/Users/username/Desktop/input_files/" + filename);          

      //this line does not work:
      file = new File(basePath + "/input_files/" + filename);


      fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream(file);
      labelFilename.setCaption(filename);
    }
    catch (final java.io.FileNotFoundException e) {
      new Notification("Could not open file", e.getMessage(), Notification.Type.ERROR_MESSAGE).show(Page.getCurrent());
      return null;
    }
    return fileOutputStream;
  }

  public void uploadSucceeded(Upload.SucceededEvent event) {

  }
};

The important line of code is this:

file = new File(basePathOfApplication + "/input_files/" + filename);

This line does not work. No file is created inside the input_files folder.

********************************UPDATE**********************************

Error message displayed on the screen:

enter image description here

Error message in the console:

com.vaadin.server.UploadException: Upload failed
    at com.vaadin.server.communication.FileUploadHandler.streamToReceiver(FileUploadHandler.java:631) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at com.vaadin.server.communication.FileUploadHandler.handleFileUploadValidationAndData(FileUploadHandler.java:460) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at com.vaadin.server.communication.FileUploadHandler.doHandleSimpleMultipartFileUpload(FileUploadHandler.java:413) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at com.vaadin.server.communication.FileUploadHandler.handleRequest(FileUploadHandler.java:290) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at com.vaadin.server.VaadinService.handleRequest(VaadinService.java:1568) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at com.vaadin.server.VaadinServlet.service(VaadinServlet.java:381) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:742) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:231) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52) [tomcat-embed-websocket-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:99) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.HttpPutFormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(HttpPutFormContentFilter.java:105) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.HiddenHttpMethodFilter.doFilterInternal(HiddenHttpMethodFilter.java:81) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:197) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) [spring-web-4.3.10.RELEASE.jar:4.3.10.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:198) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:96) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:478) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:140) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:80) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:87) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:342) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:799) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:66) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:868) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1455) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1142) [na:1.8.0_111]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:617) [na:1.8.0_111]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.16.jar:8.5.16]
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745) [na:1.8.0_111]
Caused by: com.vaadin.server.NoOutputStreamException: null
    at com.vaadin.server.communication.FileUploadHandler.streamToReceiver(FileUploadHandler.java:559) [vaadin-server-8.1.0.jar:8.1.0]
    ... 43 common frames omitted

Answer

madhead picture madhead · Oct 29, 2017

Make sure that your application can create files in the directory /private/var/.... Most probably, it can not. I don't know much about Vaadin, but the folder itself may be a "read-only" / "temporary" directory to store unpacked classes and data required for the application. This directory may not be intended to store any uploads and dynamic content.

The documentation states:

Returns the context base directory. Typically an application is deployed in a such way that is has an application directory. For web applications this directory is the root directory of the web applications. In some cases applications might not have an application directory (for example web applications running inside a war).

So, it may be even null, which will break you code too.

IMHO, it's better to use another, dedicated directory for uploads that can be specified via application config. Or use a well-know location, like /tmp.

Also, make sure to create parent directories first with file.getParentFile().mkdirs().

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