846: Highlights

• Java's resource locators provide a flexible means for accessing text, image, and audio files.
• Resource locators used with standalone applications can obtain files in the directories specified by the value of the CLASSPATH variable, and in subdirectories of those directories.
• Java's security mechanism restricts all files read via a browser to the directory where the applet is stored, and to the subdirectories of that location.
• If you want to open an input stream on a text file, then instantiate the following pattern:

  URL url 
    = name of colocated class.class.getResource(file name);  
  InputStream stream= (InputStream) url.getContent(); 
  InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(stream); 
  

• If you want to load an image file, then instantiate the following pattern:

  URL url =  
    name of colocated class.class.getResource(file name);  
  ImageProducer producer = (ImageProducer) url.getContent(); 
  Toolkit toolkit = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit(); 
  Image image = toolkit.createImage(producer);