Where do I put my skin files for a desktop libgdx project

Question

I'm using libgdx for a desktop game/prototype and I want to start getting into UI design. I followed the answer here:
Default Skin LibGDX?
to download the necessary skin files but I'm not sure where in my project to put the ui directory with these files.

I have tried to put it right in the project directory along side libs and src, so there's libs, src, ui, Referenced Libraries, and JRE System Library but when I reference the Skin with new Skin("ui/uiskin.json") it is throwing a filenotfound exception. Should this be down in my com. package in the project viewer in Eclipse?

I understand for an Android app you use the asset folder, but I don't have one in my project since it's a desktop app, even if I were to just add it.. I still don't know at which level unfortunately. This is probably really simple.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The skin files are being looked up as "internal" files. On Android, this will look through the Android asset directory and CLASSPATH, but with the Desktop backend, only CLASSPATH will be searched.

To be consistent with the way things generally work in Libgdx, create a directory called assets next to the src and libs directories in your desktop project. Then put your ui directory inside assets. This isn't strictly necessary (see below) but will make your project a bit more compatible with other Libgdx code and projects. With an Android project the desktop assets directory is normally linked to the Android assets directory, but without an Android project you should create a regular directory.

If you used the Libgdx Libgdx "setup tool" the desktop project's assets directory should already be on the CLASSPATH. If not, you will also need to add this assets directory to your CLASSPATH: Right click on the project -> Properties -> Java Build Path -> Source tab -> Add Folder ... -> Select the assets directory.

To be clear, if you don't want to mirror the Libgdx conventions above, you just need to make sure the directory containing your skin files is on the CLASSPATH, then they will be found as "internal" Libgdx files (for example, you could add the ui directory directly to the CLASSPATH, and then look the files up without the explicit ui/ prefix).