How to use ClassLoader.getResources() correctly?

java resources classpath classloader getresource
MRalwasser picture MRalwasser · Mar 4, 2011 · Viewed 200.9k times · Source

How can I use ClassLoader.getResources() to find recursivly resources from my classpath?

E.g.

  • finding all resources in the META-INF "directory": Imagine something like

    getClass().getClassLoader().getResources("META-INF")

    Unfortunately, this does only retrieve an URL to exactly this "directory".

  • all resources named bla.xml (recursivly)

    getClass().getClassLoader().getResources("bla.xml")

    But this returns an empty Enumeration.

And as a bonus question: How does ClassLoader.getResources() differ from ClassLoader.getResource()?

Answer

rec picture rec · Jun 24, 2013

The Spring Framework has a class which allows to recursively search through the classpath:

PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver resolver = new PathMatchingResourcePatternResolver();
resolver.getResources("classpath*:some/package/name/**/*.xml");

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