Error loading fxml files from a folder other than the bin folder

Question

I am a fairly new java programmer. I only have about five weeks of experience, starting from zero, and I am having problems getting javafx fxml files created in Scene Builder to load correctly if they are not in the same folder as the controller classes.

I am using

Win7x64 running jre7x86 for this build

Eclipse Juno Service Release 1
Build id: 20120920-0800

jre version 1.7.0_07

javaFx version 2.2.1-b03

SceneBuilder version 1.0-b50

My scene loader code is

private static final String RESOURCE_PATH = "/resources/";
public static Stage buildStage(@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") Class pClass,
         String stageTitle, String resourceLocation)
   {
      Stage temp = new Stage();
      Pane page = null;
      try
      {
         page = FXMLLoader.load(pClass.getResource(RESOURCE_PATH + resourceLocation), null,
               new JavaFXBuilderFactory());
      }
      catch (IOException e)
      {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }
      Scene scene = new Scene(page);
      temp.setScene(scene);
      temp.setTitle(stageTitle);
      temp.setResizable(false);
      return temp;
   }

I know that the project directory is the /workspace/projectName/ so theoretically the loader should be able to find the files if it's given a relative path right? The error I'm getting is

Exception in Application start method
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.RuntimeException: Exception in Application start method
    at com.sun.javafx.application.LauncherImpl.launchApplication1(LauncherImpl.java:403)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.LauncherImpl.access$000(LauncherImpl.java:47)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.LauncherImpl$1.run(LauncherImpl.java:115)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Location is required.
    at javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader.load(FXMLLoader.java:2737)
    at javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader.load(FXMLLoader.java:2721)
    at javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader.load(FXMLLoader.java:2707)
    at outofunit.system.StageFactory.buildStage(StageFactory.java:32)
    at outofunit.desktop.ArcMaster.start(ArcMaster.java:28)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.LauncherImpl$5.run(LauncherImpl.java:319)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.PlatformImpl$5.run(PlatformImpl.java:206)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.PlatformImpl$4.run(PlatformImpl.java:173)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication._runLoop(Native Method)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication.access$100(WinApplication.java:29)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication$3$1.run(WinApplication.java:73)
    ... 1 more

I've tried giving the loader an absolute path as well but it just isn't accepting anything that isn't directly in the same directory. I'm grasping at straws here trying to figure this out.

I've tried to research this on my own but I haven't gotten much, the few answers on here that seemed similar didn't seem to help, that or I am too dense and/or inexperienced to make sense of them. They are JavaFX 2.0 loading fxml files with event handlers fails and JavaFX 2.0 FXML resource loading error

A buddy of mine was able to overcome this problem by using this code

public void load(String pFileName, Stage pStage, String pTitle)
   {
      String fName = RESOURCE_PATH + pFileName;

      try
      {
         String externalForm = getClass().getResource(fName)
            .toExternalForm();

         InputStream inStream = new URL(externalForm).openStream();

         FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader();
         Pane p = (Pane)loader.load(inStream);

         pStage.setTitle(pTitle);
         pStage.setScene(new Scene(p));

         mWindowControl = loader.getController();
         mWindowControl.setUp(pStage);

         pStage.show();
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
         e.printStackTrace();
      }
   }

The biggest difference and the reason why I haven't been using his code is because my root pane is an Anchor pane instead of a normal pane, and his way URL instream forces a normal pane. Am I at fault for not using a normal pane as my base? I would love any help or input you guys can give. Thank you.

Edit: So I've been working on this problem and the error message has changed.

I changed the code to this

private final String RESOURCE_PATH = "resources/";
public void load(String pFileName, Stage pStage, String pTitle)
   {
      String fName = RESOURCE_PATH + pFileName;

      Pane page = null;

      FXMLLoader fxmlLoader = new FXMLLoader(getClass().getResource(fName));

      try
      {
         page = (Pane) fxmlLoader.load();
      }
      catch (IOException exception)
      {
         throw new RuntimeException(exception);
      }

      Scene scene = new Scene(page);
      pStage.setScene(scene);
      pStage.setTitle(pTitle);

      mWindowControl = fxmlLoader.getController();
      mWindowControl.setUp(pStage);

      pStage.show();
   }

but the error I'm now getting is

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Location is not set.
    at javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader.load(FXMLLoader.java:2021)
    at outofunit.desktop.WindowLoader.load(WindowLoader.java:136)
    at outofunit.desktop.WindowLoader.load(WindowLoader.java:62)
    at outofunit.desktop.ArcMaster.start(ArcMaster.java:30)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.LauncherImpl$5.run(LauncherImpl.java:319)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.PlatformImpl$5.run(PlatformImpl.java:206)
    at com.sun.javafx.application.PlatformImpl$4.run(PlatformImpl.java:173)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication._runLoop(Native Method)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication.access$100(WinApplication.java:29)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication$3$1.run(WinApplication.java:73)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

I don't understand how the location is not being set

Answer 1

Both exceptions say "the (FXML) file you are trying to load cannot be found in the location you have provided". Your filename is wrong or its path. Give your package structure or at least the path of class file that includes load(String pFileName, Stage pStage, String pTitle) method and the path of FXML file you want to load. Read the javadoc API of getResource() and examine sample codes about it on the net.

Answer 2

It's a path issue, java needs to know where to get the file from the package hierarchy. So using "/package1/resourcename.fxml" should find the source from the root of the tree. You normally leave off the "/" at the start as you are already at the top of the package tree.

Answer 3

I was having the same problem. Looked inside my Jar (with Winzip) and see that the FXML file isn't there. Turns out my ANT script building the jar files was only including the *.class files from the bin directory of my project.