File Pathing problems in Java applet

Question

I am having issues with my java web start applet in netbeans. I cannot get the pathing right for files and images that need to be accessed by the applet from the place where it is run from (i.e the server). Basically I am using images on the local machine to display icons of folder and pdf files, this works all well and good when I run the applet in a non-web context, however attempting to use it in a server sense causes failure.

Here is the code causing problems:

company.readCompanyFile("C:\\Users\\Chris\\Desktop\\ArFile Clients\\" + companyName + "\\"
                    + companyName + ".cmp");

this is just a simple buffered reader attempting to read in files stored in this location. Is the problem that these directories should instead be nested within the programs root directory which is:

C:\Users\Chris\Documents\NetBeansProjects\ArFile

An example reflecting the information I have given above would be great

EDIT: Here is the error message that is given by the Applet

BadFieldException[ The field <extension>href has an invalid value: C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients,C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients]
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.getAttributeURL(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.getRequiredURL(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.handleResourceElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.access$800(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat$2$1.visitElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.visitChildrenElements(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat$2.visitElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.visitElements(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.buildResourcesDesc(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.parse(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptor(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptor(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptorFromCache(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptorFromCache(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.applet.JNLP2Manager.initialize(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.initManager(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.access$200(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Error while initializing manager: BadFieldException[ The field <extension>href has an invalid value: C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients,C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients], bail out
BadFieldException[ The field <extension>href has an invalid value: C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients,C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients]
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.getAttributeURL(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.getRequiredURL(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.handleResourceElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.access$800(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat$2$1.visitElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.visitChildrenElements(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat$2.visitElement(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLUtils.visitElements(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.buildResourcesDesc(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.XMLFormat.parse(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptor(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptor(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptorFromCache(Unknown Source)
at com.sun.javaws.jnl.LaunchDescFactory.buildDescriptorFromCache(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.applet.JNLP2Manager.initialize(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.initManager(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain.access$200(Unknown Source)
at sun.plugin2.main.client.PluginMain$2.run(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Error while initializing manager: BadFieldException[ The field <extension>href has an invalid value: C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients,C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\ArFile Clients], bail out

Answer 1

I was using relative file pathing, this does not work in a Java Web Start context, Absolute pathing must be used in order for the application to function.